When I first saw The Invention of Hugo Cabret, I immediately knew that Brian Selznick was something special. I had never seen any book that was as beautiful or as unique as that, and until Wonderstruck came along last month, I hadn't again.
Being one of those readers who actually reads the acknolwedgement pages, I was particularly struck by a comment that he made about early cinema. Before the "Talkies" as they were often referred to, movies were accessible to both the hearing and non-hearing community. Once the talkies came, an entire community was suddenly cut off from this particular form of entertainment, and although there have been some strides made (like captioning in select theatres and movies), it's amazing to think that 80+ years from when Rose's story begins, it is still largely true.
Rose's story is much like the world she lives in- silent, and entirely visual. There is some text in the illustration, but the author challenges readers to do something that perhaps we don't do enough- really look at what you are seeing. The illustrations are the story, and without a narrator to tell you what you need to know about the character, they become doubly important to pay attention to.
Ben's story is somewhat more straightforwardly told, but is equally as compelling. What develops is the story of a lonely boy who latches onto the idea of finding the father he never knew after his mother's death, and who is learning how to cope in a recently silent world.
Although the story is largely about deaf culture, it is also about much more than that. With Wonderstruck, Selznick reminds readers how much magic and wonder there actually is to be seen in this world.
