From Goodreads:"Moral allegory and spiritual autobiography, The Little Prince is the most translated book in the French language. With a timeless charm it tells the story of a little boy who leaves the safety of his own tiny planet to travel the universe, learning the vagaries of adult behaviour through a series of extraordinary encounters. His personal odyssey culminates in a voyage to Earth and further adventures."
Goodreads - The Little Prince
Awards:
- Prix du Festival d'Angoulême - 2009
Honestly, I don't know how to feel about this book. I read this over the course of 17 days and I really had to force myself through it. The general outline of the story is that a guy crashes his plane in the desert and his is trying desperately to fix it. In the meantime a tiny man known as the little prince shows up. They talk and the little prince tells of how he came from a different planet. He tells of the other planets he traveled to and what was on each of them. He eventually finds himself on Earth where he meets the pilot who has crashed his plane. The story ends with the little prince being bit by a snake and "traveling" back to his home planet and the pilot finally fixing his plane.
My first initial review of this book was that it was straight up awful. I didn't understand how this was a children's book because I felt that it was so poorly written. The book has been translated from French and I felt that there was some meaning lost in translation. I honestly felt that the book was scattered and that the mysterious little prince was so fictional it wasn't even funny. I enjoy fiction books, but I also enjoy fiction books that are somewhat believable. In my opinion it wasn't plausible that a little prince would come from a little planet from far away where he had a rose and three volcanoes. The book was repetitive and I found myself often confused as to if the little prince was telling the story or if the pilot was. This was my first reaction after reading the book.
Okay.. Now on to my second reaction after a little time to think about the book. I will admit that I went to Goodreads and I read reviews that had been posted by other people to see if they had the same dislike for the book. They didn't. All the other people absolutely loved the book. Loved it. I had to look long and hard to find a review that had three stars or less. A lot of the people stated that this was a book that should be read once as a child, once as a young adult, and once as an adult. I can understand where they are coming from in that perspective. My views have most definitely changed from when I was a child, and I still consider myself a young adult since I'm just starting to really do the whole life thing on my own. I think in 10 or 15 years I could read this book again and it would be like reading a totally different book. I thought the book was childish and a lot of make believe. I think that I felt this way because I don't act childish or have time for make believe. I am focused on being an adult and doing adult things like paying bills, going to work, and ensuring I'm insured. This shows me though, how much of my inquisitive nature I've lost. I don't ask why anymore like I did as a child. I don't inquire about things and I don't go out of my way to visit new places. While I would love to go visit other "planets" or places in real life, I find that I can't let myself because I tell myself I have to be an adult and do adult things. This book made me feel really old and showed me that my inner kid was definitely lost.
One good thing that I got from this book was the value of friendships. The little prince valued his rose that was on his planet and he also valued his friend the fox. In turn the pilot started to value his companionship with the little prince. This book really captured how we will go out of our way and do what we must for those we love. My friends are a very important component in my life and I think that is why I picked up on this as much as I did. I value my friends and family and would do anything for them. The little prince was the same way to an extent. He "tames" the fox and he "tames" the pilot. I think that taming was a metaphor for forming and making that relationship bond. The fox mentioned that if he was tamed then the prince would rely on him and the fox would rely on the prince. I love that part of the book because that is true. If you become close friends with someone you often tame each other and rely on each other in so many ways. I love the taming reference. It really captures what it is like to make a new friend or form a new relationship; it's hard and sometimes brutal, but totally worth it in the end.
This is a book that I'm torn between liking and disliking. To an extent I want to pass this book on to someone else, but I also want to keep it on my shelf and read it 10 years from now. I think that my views on this book would definitely be different and it would be a good reality check to see where my inner child is. Even though I liked the friendship aspect of this book I have to give it 1.5 out of 5 stars. This book just didn't do justice for me and I thought that it was written in a chaotic fashion. I think that if someone had read this book to me while I was a child I probably would have enjoyed it. Even though I gave the book a low rating I would still love for everyone to go read the book and see what they interpret from it. I will try to remember to read this book again in ten years or so and see if my opinion of the book has changed any. I still haven't seen the movie, but will try to remember to make an update on here once I do!
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