Week 5 - I'm Late!

Sorry! I completely forgot to write my blog post, so here we go.
Last (this) week, I started reading The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick. This. Book. Is. Amazing. I think I read it when I was younger, but I don't remember. What I do know is that I recently watched the movie based on the book, Hugo, for about the fifth time. Because I watched it so recently, I'll often find myself thinking, “Hey, this is different.”
For one thing, Isabelle was a lot more prominent in the movie. She helped Hugo get through the movie: gave him advice, helped him escape the Station Inspector, etc. She was actually a character. In the book, she's less of a character and more of a plot device. She's a way to introduce the key Hugo needs and a way into Papa George's house. That's it. It honestly makes me kind of mad. She was such a good character in the movie, but the book it's based on didn't give her much of a role at all.
Secondly, I feel like a lot of characters and events got cut out of the movie to make room for things that don't matter or weren't in the book at all, like the Station Inspector's side of things. The actor was great and all, and it gave him more of a round character, but he's hardly in the book at all so far, so if the story flows this well just mentioning him, why did they have to cut out characters like Etienne, who is pretty cool, to make room for the Station Inspector making eyes at a florist? On the topic of Etienne, he's not super important, but he's pretty awesome. He's got an eyepatch. So yeah. Also, he helps Hugo with a bunch of stuff, burt got cut out of the movie so Isabelle could help out instead. Another thing that got cut out seems a lot more important, that being the fact that Hugo breaks his hand and Isabelle breaks her ankle. It actually causes a bunch of tension, and makes things harder for them in general.
Also, I like the way you can sort of see into Hugo's head. I see a lot of elements from the movie that didn't make as much sense, and now I see Hugo's explanations and reactions. It helps me connect more with him and the story in general.
Sorry if this is turning into a movie review.
Anyways, besides differences with the movie, this book is amazing. Like I said, there's a lot of a connection to the characters. They're very relatable and interesting. But the thing that really draws me to this book is the illustrations. I mean, wow. Selznick did all of the drawings, and there are so many of them. Every single one is gorgeous. What I love about this is , a) pencil sketches are my aesthetic and b) the way the words and pictures are intertwined is incredible. The only other book I've seen do this is Wonderstruck. Every time I see this form of storytelling, it gives me chills. Somehow, even without words, the story is understood perfectly. And when there are words, they don't feel out of place. Selznick is seriously a genius. If I can find more of his books, you can be sure I'll write about them here.
The thing about this book is that, even though it's 500+ pages, it's something that doesn't take long to read because at least a third of those pages are illustrations, and some pages without illustrations aren't even a full page. It's awesome, but it means that after this week I'll probably finish it. Talk to you then!