The Little Prince

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Summary: The Little Prince
Review: This is a children's book?

Perhaps. Maybe, as Saint Exupery implies, adults are too sophisticated, too wise, too adult, to understand the eloquent common sense about living a rational life. It takes some thought, insight and reason to comprehend the innate meaning. It's the ultimate 'take time to stop and smell the roses" book, which brings to mind an anecdote from 'Art and Fear' by David Batles and Ted Orland, quoting Howard Ikemoto:

"When my daughter was about seven years old, she asked me one day what I did at work. I told her I worked at the college -- that my job was to teach people how to draw.

"She stared back at me, incredulous, and said, 'You mean they forget?'"

The Little Prince is just as incredulous about many attitudes he encounters on Earth; on his travels, he keeps meeting adults who are wrapped up in their self-importance and egos. Surely, Saint Exupery understood the difference; his dedication was to "Leon Werth" in 1943 France, which he "corrected" to read, "To Leon Werth when he was a little boy."

It's a book of wonderful important things which children understand (it made me appreciate once again the importance of rotten crab apples) but which we set aside as adults. Children will understand it instinctively in their hearts . . . . . think of reading a few pages every night as a child falls asleep. Adults will love the allegories, and it will truly bring back memories of their own rag doll, or blankie (to use a term from Peanuts), or worn baseball glove, or even their own squishy soft rotten apples.

As adults, we are all familiar with advertising; but, how manjy of us realize that advertising is lies -- not in an absolute literal sense -- but because it emphasizes terrible destructive myths and untruths to us (Do things really go better with Coke?)

Written in 1943, when Adolf Hitler dominated much of Europe, the Little Prince meets an "absolute monarch" who tells him, "Accepted authority rests first of all on reason. If you ordered your people to go throw themselves into the sea, they would rise up in revolution." In other words, absolute authority depends on being reasonable; unreasonable orders reflect a failure of the person giving the order, not a fault of anyone unable to carry out such an order.

"When one wishes to play the wit, he sometimes wanders a litte from the truth," Saint Exupery writes. Balance that with an observation by Pablo Picasso, "Computers are useless -- all they can give you are answers."

In a world jammed with billions of facts and little or no understanding, this book is a reminder that a full and complete life is more than "the bottom line" of anything. Had I read it as a little boy, I don't think I'd have understood its wisdom; had I read it as an young adult, I don't think I'd have understood its wisdom; having at last read it, I hope I'm not to late to understand its wisdom.

Rating:
Summary: disappointed.
Review:
i have read this book a number of times, its a brilliant story. however, this is a terrible translation from the french. it is definately lacking in eloquence and poetic flow. if you are looking to buy this book in english,i would go with katherine woods translation.
i bought this copy for a gift, and i am -so- disappointed that i am going to buy the older translation on ebay.

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Summary: A book for grown-ups
Review: Antoine de Saint-Exupery's book is often thought to be a children's novel, and I admit, when my class and I started reading it, we all thought it was a bit below our level of reading. Nothing could be further from the truth. Saint-Exupery's tale shows what we all lost when we made the transition from child to adult, when we got involved in "matters of consequence" and stopped using our imaginations. I would highly reccommend this book to anyone who misses seeing the good in the world. This book showed me that innocence can still be found in such a world of corruption and violence, we just need to know where to look for it. If you have children, are around them, or are just a child at heart, this is a book that you need to read. It raises the question as to whether children are really cute and naieve, or if we as adults merely forgot to look at the drawing close enough. It is a tale of friendship, imagination, and love. After reading this book, I doubt anyone can look up at the stars and not smile.

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Summary: with beauty comes immesurable sadness
Review: I read this book as a child and didn't appreciate the wisdom it offered in a small boy and a difficult flower. I stumbled upon it last year in a bookstore, and sitting on the floor in the children's section, I read with new eyes, finally recognizing the genius of Saint-Exupery. His way of revealing beauty, comforting loneliness, and recognizing truth is utterly compelling. This story is a model of what true friendship between two unlikely people can be. Discovery outweighs fear, beauty outweighs eventual sadness and loss - the risk is worth it

One phrase sums up the entire book, and, therefore, friendship and love. When situations get difficult, when people are lost, or sad, or may cause you pain, remember the fox who knew the value of a single person. The color of wheat....

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Summary: ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS EVER!!!!!
Review: I read this book in my 5th grade class last year, and I loved it!!! It was so wonderful and really made you think about life, death, and that the things that are really impoortant are invisable! I REALLY SUGGEST YOU READ THIS BOOK!!! It brings you to thinking about imaginary things that everyone dreams about (that are extremely real in this book). So live your biggest dream and READ THIS BOOK!

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Summary: The journey of growing up
Review: I thought this was an extraordinary book. It taught me so many things about growing up and all about life. Some people found it hard to understand because of the metaphors, but i think it's just a matter of whether you want to take the time to understand it or not.
When i started reading "The Little Prince," i thought it would just be another boring book that was assigned to us, just to waste our time. This was so much more than just a book i was forced to read, it was one of the very few that i enjoyed reading. From talking flowers to laughing stars, this book kept me interested.
I followed the boy through the journey of his life from the unhappy parts such as the baobabs, to the happy touching moment such as the laughing stars. This is a truly touching book and i plan on reading it again some time in the future.

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Summary: Serious? Which is more Serious?
Review: I've been told that this book is very valuable and from watching the movie 'Eloise', I just jump to the chance of buying this. Such a slim book for invoking deep thoughts. Simple language yet indepth meaning even if you don't have a clue who Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was (The Little Prince is thought to be a disguised autobigraphy).

Open with the tale of a child trying to communicate his thought to adults (his parents) by drawing a boa constrictor from outside and inside. How he had problem to explain it, his conclusion that adults need more explanation about things than children who knew them by heart and the ending of his artistic debut (this part was a witty one, makes you ask yourself, who are you? an ignorant adult, who needs much explanation, or a child, who understand things by heart).

And then, when this child grown to be a pilot (after cut from his artist one), he crashed his plane into a dessert. In the middle of nowhere, came a little child, in grand apparel like a prince, asking to draw him a sheep! Bewildered, he draw it, with a few attempts, since his only drawing ever was the boa constrictor. Then the tale of the little prince (the pilot named him because the child had never answer any questions he asked nor gave him any name) began.

There is one part about stars near the end which touch me so deeply though I don't really feel right about the little prince's decision in the end since it did not reflect the creativity by which he came to Earth.
Overall, read it and find what the really serious matters are in your life.

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Summary: Human frailties exaggerated to absurdity
Review: It starts with a little boy trying to draw an elephant that has been swallowed by a giant snake. Everyone said his sketch looked like a hat, so instead of becoming an artist, the boy became a pilot. His plane crashes in the desert and as he tries to repair it, a little prince arrives and asks him to draw a sheep. The prince lives on a small asteroid, one of many that he can visit, and each one contains a person with an exaggerated human characteristic.
There is the one with a single flower, another with a King who rules the entire planetoid universe, and demands absolute obedience. However, he is very careful to never utter a command that cannot be obeyed, so he is in many ways a wise ruler. Another has only a conceited man, who believes all others admire him. There is a businessman on another, whose entire life is spent counting and adding the stars. A lamplighter, which has been given the order to light the lamp at dusk and extinguish it at dawn, is on another asteroid. Since the asteroid is small, the night only lasts a minute, so the lamplighter does nothing but light the lamp and then turn it off. A geographer resides on another, but all he does is write down what the explorers describe to him. He considers it beneath his station to actually examine the universe himself to see if it conforms to his maps. A drunk resides on another, and the reason he drinks is to forget his shame in drinking.
This is a delightful story, suitable for children and adults. Interwoven with the fantasy, there is a great deal of satire at human, especially adult foibles. Each of the inhabitants of an asteroid is a person with an exaggerated human weakness. While their world is physically very small, their minds are as well, and in the end, the main character learns much about what really matters in life.


Rating:
Summary: nothing is lost with time.
Review: One of my absolute favorites.

This book is something you read as a child; it was magical and it held you in ways you could not understand. And there were so many things in it that seemed above your young head. But you think you get them at the time.

You read it again when you're older....

and it's all the more magical.

You understand - completely.

Everyone should read this book at least twice.

Rating:
Summary: A Story for Every Age
Review: The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery is a wonderful story that relates to all ages. On the superficial level it is a great children's book that makes kids interested in reading and the great illustrations allow everyone to visualize what the author intended. For the adults a deeper meaning is found below the interesting level that reveals facts of "weird adults."

The way in which the characters are portrayed add so much to the story. Each of the many characters are described in great detail and the cute pictures just make you want to read on and on. The story is so true to life readers end with an uplifted view of life or an idea that a change to make their life more simple is needed. I recommend that everyone read this great little story to either themselves, their children, or their grandchildren. Everyone will appreciate The Little Prince.