Ok so I read it in English so it should rightly be "The Little Prince" but it sounds so much better to say "
le peu-ti praaaance". I've owed you this book review for months now. I finished it on Jan. 17 for heaven's sake! [Book Review Update: I've also finished "Reading Lolita in Tehran" "The Stranger" and "Franny and Zooey" since then... so more book reviews to come!]
But Le Petit Prince is a classic, it's one of the highest selling books (80 million--I just checked wikipedia) of all time! The story is told from the perspective of an aviator who has crashed in the desert. Though it switches from first to third person, which is a bit odd. I was surprised that the story was told from an adults perspective, as I had assumed it was from the perspective of the prince himself. How wrong I was. The story revolves mainly around the aviator trying to get the little prince to tell him his story, which is difficult as the prince does not like answering questions. Saint-Exupery, the author, was actually an aviator himself and he and a friend crashed in the Sahara one time. They had 1 days worth of liquid, which they ran through in a day, and by the third day they stopped sweating entirely because their bodies had no more liquid. Supposedly on the fourth day a Bedouin traveler found them and administered some sort of native rehydration trick that saved their lives. Many think that the story of the The Little Prince was drawn from this experience. (My source on that is wikipedia, which I think in this case can be trusted.)
The story of the little prince contains profound insights into life, which are mainly told in the story through the fox. He says at one point that "It is the time you have spent with your rose that makes your rose so important." It isn't the financial worth of something that makes it important, it's the amount of time you spend on or with something or someone. The fox also utters these famous lines (
en francais, because
bien sur, I am just that pretentious.)
Which translates to "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye." That is an excellent view, one that of course appeals to children, but also adults who want to let them heart guide them in their endeavors. I fully believe that as well, that the most important things in life: love, happiness, and friendship cannot be seen, but only felt.
The Little Prince is a childrens book, but I believe that adults can get the most out of it, as they are more likely to pause to think about the words and the underlying meaning of the book than children are.
Isn't the watercoloring on that copy absolutely stunning?? I'm not sure which language this version is, Korean?. Photo credit is
weheartit.
Click the photos for credits.
That image of the book is the book I have, I think I got it at a used bookstore somewhere, I don't quite remember. It's hardcover and has the pictures, but they're only in black & white. Whereas my french copy has color photos, but I can't understand most of it.
C'est domage! I actually read a bit of Le Petit Prince in highschool french class, and totally did not understand it. I think it was the fact that the flower talks, so I assumed I was confused and there was another character there besides the flower. Foreign languages are so confusing...
But that's my review of Le Petit Prince, I recommend everyone go read it immediately! It's a very fast read and a charming little story. :)
Either way I thought this cover design by Jesse Walker was pretty cool. Notice how when it's open it becomes like the full typewriter? Pretty cool.... Also if you look at the picture below when you open the book you see what looks like a photo negative of the typewriter, right? Apparently for every chapter in the book the author Steven Hall has "negatives" of the chapters available to the world. I haven't read any yet, but it seems as if they're supplements, things you don't know from the book. Some are on the internet, and not all of them have been found yet, but that could be why the artist chose the negative image. And how cool is that? That there's even more to the book than the book! Like a treasure hunt! But it also reminded me that I really want to reread the Raw Shark Texts so I can do a review of it on here. (I last read it Summer 2007. I bought it at an English bookstore on Rue de Rivoli, read it on the Chunnel to London, on the train to Brighton, back on the train from Brighton to London which was like 4 times longer than necessary because of "flooding on the tracks in New Crichton", and then while waiting for my bf to arrive from Italy while at our hostel in London. So it took 2 travel days to read. The day I finished was also the day the Deathly Hallows came out at midnight in England. While I was reading it on the Chunnel I met a charming man who was German, living in Paris, but going to London to interview for a job at Burberry. I always wondered if he got the job. I hope he did, he seemed like a great guy. Sorry that was the longest aside... Needless to say I haven't read it in over 2 1/2 years and want to!)
