"That's what makes it an adventure."

Last week, I went into the library to pick up a book that was on hold.

I was particularly excited about this book, because I had heard good things about it.

To my surprise (and slight dismay, for I have little spare time on my hands) the book was over 4 inches thick.

There's no way I'm going to have time to read this.

But as I let it fall open in my hands, I saw pictures.

Pictures. Hundreds and hundreds of pictures.

YES. The whole book is in PICTURES!!!

It is quite possibly one of the most brilliant books I have read this year.

The writing and storyline themselves are not the most genius: after all my SAT studying I found myself rewording sentences every now and then. But there are a couple very beautiful, very powerful moments in it.

AND THERE'S A MOVIE. Which is...AWESOME. Brilliant, wonderful, beautiful book-to-movie adaptation.



My favorite quote in the entire book is quite possibly the main reason I love this so much.

"Did you ever notice that all machines are made for some reason?" he asked Isabelle.

"They are built to make you laugh, like the [windup] mouse here, or to tell the time, like clocks, or to fill you with wonder, like the automaton. Maybe that's why a broken machine always makes me a little sad, because it isn't able to do what it was meant to do. "

"Maybe it's the same with people," Hugo continued. "If you lose your purpose...it's like you're broken.

"Sometimes I come up here at night...just to look at the city. I like to imagine that the world is one big machine. You know, machines never have any extra parts. They have the exact number and type of parts they need. So I figure if the entire world is a big machine, I have to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too."