Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by julespendragon
Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
5.0
THE GIST
The Little Prince – originally in French, Le Petit Prince – is an enchanting little tale about an aviator’s chance meeting with a little boy who happens to be visiting Earth from another planet. The aviator crashes in the Sahara desert and damages his airplane to the point where he cannot fly any longer. Left with little food and water, the aviator ponders his predicament. As he worries, he is approached by a young and serious blond boy; the two become friends. After revealing the boy is actually true blue royalty, the little prince tells his story, in this poignant allegorical tale.
MY REVIEW
“Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.”
Do we live in our own little world, where we assume everyone loves us? This book is a strange experience to read, not the light fairytale I was expecting, but it is still worth reading. In a manner, the book speaks to the child in each one of us. He talks a child’s language, follows their idiom, feels their sorrow and loneliness, and ultimately triumphs in their search for poetic justice. There is a clever play on the word “Little” – it helps us enter the children’s world and experience it through their eyes. In the process, we discover happiness in the ordinary, mundane things, that we usually put aside as adults. Indeed, it is easy to get so caught up in the mad rush of daily existence, that we conveniently forget that there could be more to life than chasing a job, worry over a meeting, an appointment, or the next salary raise.
The book takes a strange view of adulthood as if adults truly do not see the goodness and creativity in the world around them. It reminds me of a quote from C.S. Lewis: “…some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.” This book, in many senses, is a fairy tale for adults who have seen more of the world than children, but still, wish to find that innocent beauty in nature and humanity.
The Little Prince – originally in French, Le Petit Prince – is an enchanting little tale about an aviator’s chance meeting with a little boy who happens to be visiting Earth from another planet. The aviator crashes in the Sahara desert and damages his airplane to the point where he cannot fly any longer. Left with little food and water, the aviator ponders his predicament. As he worries, he is approached by a young and serious blond boy; the two become friends. After revealing the boy is actually true blue royalty, the little prince tells his story, in this poignant allegorical tale.
MY REVIEW
“Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.”
Do we live in our own little world, where we assume everyone loves us? This book is a strange experience to read, not the light fairytale I was expecting, but it is still worth reading. In a manner, the book speaks to the child in each one of us. He talks a child’s language, follows their idiom, feels their sorrow and loneliness, and ultimately triumphs in their search for poetic justice. There is a clever play on the word “Little” – it helps us enter the children’s world and experience it through their eyes. In the process, we discover happiness in the ordinary, mundane things, that we usually put aside as adults. Indeed, it is easy to get so caught up in the mad rush of daily existence, that we conveniently forget that there could be more to life than chasing a job, worry over a meeting, an appointment, or the next salary raise.
The book takes a strange view of adulthood as if adults truly do not see the goodness and creativity in the world around them. It reminds me of a quote from C.S. Lewis: “…some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.” This book, in many senses, is a fairy tale for adults who have seen more of the world than children, but still, wish to find that innocent beauty in nature and humanity.