Kaleidoscope - Brian Selznick

 

The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a book that I often return to and is one that is frequently borrowed from the school library; I think it's the sheer beauty of the illustrations and the way they are completely integrated into the story that really appeals to me, so when a copy of Kaleidoscope arrived for me, I was thrilled and immediately intrigued.  It found its way to the top of my reading pile and became my next read.

The blurb didn't really give much away for me and, if anything, made me more curious about the plot.  What I quickly found is that this is a book of shorter stories which are taken from the lives of James and, rather like a kaleidoscope with its changing shards of colours and changing shapes, the stories change.  Sometimes, they are fragments of dreams, at other times they are parts of a journey or a walk.  All feature either a ship, a garden, a library or a key and the book is split into 3 parts: morning, afternoon and evening.  

I think the book feels very much like a kaleidoscope (hence the name I would assume!) in that the lives of James and his friend are broken up (as the pictures in a kaleidoscope are) and their fractured stories are put back together again through the series of short stories that form this book, looking at friendship, loneliness, grief, loss, hope.

As with Brian's other books, the illustrations form a key part of the book with each story beginning with a double page kaleidoscopic image followed by a one page illustration that links to the story.  Each pencil drawing is beautiful in its own right and worthy of spending time staring at, examining, exploring ... they are beautiful in their own right.

I'm happy to admit that I was a little confused by the book at the beginning, largely because I think I went in with expectations of the way the story would be presented and this is unlike any other book I have ever read (refreshingly so).  Once I had looked back at the first few chapters, I decided to just read without expectation and to allow the book to unfold and I found myself completely immersed in it.  If I'm honest, I'm struggling to explain the book as I think that it will be something different for everyone who reads it (in fact, I believe it will be different for me when I go back to reread it, which I fully intend to do).  Kaleidoscope is mesmerising, haunting, thought-provoking, magical, heart-breaking, soothing and completely unique.  It's a book for so many people, starting from aged 10 all the way up to anybody else who wants/needs to read it.  I urge you to let go of your expectations and to read this master-piece - this is undoubtedly going to be a book that will become a classic of our times.

O's opinion

When Mum finished reading Kaleidoscope and just sighed, I knew that when I got my hands on it I would absolutely love it. What I found brilliant was that although we know one of the two constant main characters is called James, it is never revealed who the other main character (always referred to as 'I') is. This makes it very unique for each reader, as you can take so many different messages from one passage if you read it in another way. The use of short stories only a few pages long makes this a good book to get lost in, telling your mum 'just one more!' again and again. The stories appear, at first, not to have any link, however, as you progress through the book, you realise that the stories are linked together and this draws you in even further - and this is what makes the novel so different to any other. This enables the reader to easily dip in to the stories for a quick read, or sit down for a long haul. Kaleidoscope is wonderful because it made me really think about the characters and what was happening; it is a very different book and I loved it.