Rating: 
Summary: A Book to Read for a Lifetime
Review: This book gets 6 stars! Antoine de SaintExupery, though writing at a level at which children can comprehend the plot, delves deep into a social and psychological discussion regarding the human experience. He has a profound understanding of the way 'adults' (modern society) incorrectly view the world, its citizens, and what they have to offer. Lessons taught by this book range from personal relationships to business, touching on the subjects of guilt, greed, power, and love. While all of these topics are thoroughly discussed, you never feel as if you're being lectured or hit over the head with symbolism. So much is buried between the lines that one reading of this book will not suffice to gain the infinite wisdom it possesses. Read it as a coming-of-age story for society: once every few years for the rest of your life. This simple, 96 page story about a little boy speaks volumes louder than you could imagine.
Rating:
Summary: Simply unputdownable
Review: This is one of those lesser known books which falls in the must-read category. The books author, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, was a WWII pilot from France. He wrote this book with two sets of readers in mind - the children and the adults. After reading this book the children should vow not to become like adults (which unfortunately they all end up becoming) and the adults sigh and hope they were children once again (which they unfortunately cannot become). The book evokes childish curiosity and selflessness while openly ridiculing adults (and rightly so).The book, illustrated by the author himself, is the story of an Airman's discovery in the desert of a small boy ('The Little Prince') from another planet. The Little Prince recounts his intergalactic travels where he meets kings, conceited men, drunkards, businessmen and lamplighters. All these 'types' of people have some characteristic or the other which the author uses to parody adults. According to Saint-Exupéry, all grown-ups fall in one of these categories. The Little Prince's stories only reinforce the Airman's view that all grown-ups are very odd and that they are only concerned with themselves. I read this book whenever I am feeling down and it never fails to lift my spirits up. Of course I moan the fact that I did not read this book when I was a child. Then I might have tried harder not to turn into this conceited, mechanical grown-up with meaningless pursuits.
Rating:
Summary: Likely the Most Beautiful Book Ever Written
Review: This is, almost without a doubt, the finest book I have ever read. I am an avid reader, and am studying to become an English professor. There is something to be said for the brevity of this book. There are thousands of other books that punch around in the dark for hundreds of pages, never equaling the sheer mass and grandure of this bold-fonted, well-illustrated novella. It clocks in at just over 90 pages, and manages to sum of some of the most important life wisdom that has ever been put into print. Exupery's other efforts fall dramatically short of this work, but one can hardly let that disassemble his status as a man of not only literary, but of honest human brilliance. For me, this book is what it is to be a man. To be a person. I don't have any real heros from a perspective beyond skill in the artistic world, except perhaps The Little Prince.
I remember my 6th grade teacher calling me stupid for reading this book in class. That it was a children's book, and what happened to me reading all those NOVELS. I don't expect everyone to understand this book. I think it is truly an individual experience, and as a result, some will find it uncomfortable. Be that as it may, I urge anyone to read this book, of any age over 13. I urge you to read it five years later. And again, and again. You will watch yourself grow.
This is probably the most stunningly beautiful thing I have ever read. Its beauty is immense and often overpowering. It's like standing at the foot of the reddest sunset, a giant glowing ball towering thousands of feet above you as you crane your neck to see how far it goes. Yes, despite how much I hate a metaphor involving a sunset, it's that good.
I've read the new translation, and it's lacking. It's been dumbed-down. My personal copy is from Harcourt Brace & Company, copywrite 1943 and again in 1971. This, trust me, is the one you want. It will most likely be in hardcover, with a library binding, possibly. It is available used, and will cost you half of what the new and inferior paperback will. Trust me, it IS an important destinction. Otherwise I wouldn't mention it.
Anyway, thanks for reading. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: You make the story...
Review: This story is beautiful because it can be both cherished by a child and an adult, although most adults believe that they receive more out the story than a child. This is not true a child will see it one way while an adult will see it another. It is written in a style to where it can be seen in whatever direction one might want to interpret it, and even those who want to take it literally can as well and still find it a good story.
Overall it is an easy read maybe for an adult can read it within a day, its elegant and one won't find themsleves lost on what is being said. If one wants to find the deeper meaning must realize each character encounter is important, take a moment and relate it and how you may want to see them thats up to you.
I recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: This Little Prince..
Review: When I saw this tittle for the first time, I thought it was a gorgeous children story with great illustration. Instead I found it as an imagination story with deepness thinking and meaning. I like the story a lot, not a whole part because I still didn't understand all either. Maybe I have become a boring adult who can't see simple imaginations through that little prince's eyes, but at least I've tried. I keep that book in my hon dana so I can read parts that I like any times. I like the part when the writer drew a boa constrictor digesting an elephant, and no adult can understand the picture. Seems like adult always needs explanation. I like the part when the writer judge adults only like figures, I know that's true if you can see it through your real daily life. The writer told us about his meeting with a little prince who has three volcanoes in his planet and loves his haughty flower. The little prince has visited many other planets lived by different adults. The little prince seems confused by adult complex's way of manner. Why they can't make their life more simple, why they like being acclaimed, being admired and always busy with matters of consequence. Instead of collecting many `good things' for his own, the little prince only worried with a flower in his planet. After reading this book, I decide not to be an adult, which is impossible of course. Starting from tomorrow, I just want to slower my walking to office, just to feel more the warm of the morning sunshine above.
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