As I read The Invention of Hugo Cabret, I knew I had seen the film adaptation or at least part of it at some point, but I could not remember the details clearly. It was an odd sensation almost like deja vu as I read the story. Flashes from the film adaptation would strike me with a vague feeling of I know this story, but not so much as to spoil me enjoyment of the text. I partly believe one of the reasons I appreciated the book form is because it had a multimodal feel to it reminiscent of a moving picture or automaton. My largest takeaway was interplay of form with the content made for more opportunities for meaning making.
The more traditional text and expanded text interacted to facilitate the telling of the narrative. The consistent
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For example, Judith Hayn writes in her review for The Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy that, “ The title of this book refers to more than the invention found by the young hero; as the adventure builds to a climax, Hugo literally invents himself, becoming not a frightened 12-year-old but a confident, polished young man.” The title serves both as content and function for telling the story both with Hugo as inventor and invented. The dynamic nature of Hugo’s character from hidden orphan to inventor whose invention is the very tool used to tell the story of his evolution is indicative of this convention used by Selznick.
Ironically, even though magic is a and the role of the magician is present in the narrative, I didn't focus on this as much, but reading Will Hochman’s review of Selznick’s work reminded me of what I had overlooked or failed to really give focus to more fully. In his review he writes about the interplay between text and image as being so much more than anything short of,”...magic in the tradition of Houdini.” That the novel is an example of what Rosenblat would consider an, “...act of literature as an event in time.” The act of reading The Invention of Hugo Cabret creates a new order /a new