Rating: 
Summary: Inspiring
Review: This is an inspiring book. Thousands of imaginable possible metaphors there make it as beautiful as misterious. As any uncommon book that allows you to reconcile with yourself, it deserves to be read.
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Summary: A Heart-Expanding Look at the World
Review: This book is an all-time classic and deserves more than five stars!The story of The Little Prince can be read at many different levels of meaning. In fact, the wider your mind and heart, the more you will appreciate the story. But the narrower your mind and heart, the more you need this story. On the surface, it is a bizarre tale of an aviator stuck in the middle of the Sahara who encounters a small blond boy who tells him far-fetched stories about travel among the planets. At this level, you need to suspend disbelief and simply go with the story to consider the ways that becoming more child-like are valuable to the aviator. It makes him more understanding and open. He has wanted to maintain connection with his child-based self, and does so. It does not matter if you want to believe that the child actually travels amongst the planets or not. You can also read the aviator as having been affected by the heat and dehydration, so that he is imagining the Little Prince in his delirium. From that perspective, we are dealing with an internal dialogue of the aviator in evaluating what is most important to him in life, as he considers the possibility of losing his. At a different level, you can see the Little Prince's travels to other planets as an allegory for all of life. What are we seeking for? How do you know when we have found it? How can we lose what is important? The examples of self-absorbed adults, beginning with the aviator, provide many cautionary tales. Beyond that, you can read this as science fiction. How would an alien see humans? How would an alien react to humans? Would an alien want to stay or go home? A religious person can see an allegory to the life of the spirit. Christians will see a Christ-like figure in the Little Prince. People of other religious beliefs will see instead God in each person. Someone with a profoundly humane perspective will see the story as being about orienting ourselves towards caring for and loving each other and nature. An existentialist will see this as a tale of the futility of much of what we do, much like The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus. I could add many more interpretations, but do not want to burden you. These illustrations are here to simply help open you to the idea of reading (or rereading) the story. Most people read this when they are too young to capture its broader meanings, and it is one of those books that changes as you age. As a child, you identify with the Little Prince. As an adult, the aviator becomes more important. At some points in your life, you may identify even more with the people on the tiny planets described here. So this is also like holding up a mirror to yourself to see how you have changed. That is also a very valuable thing to do. Many will argue that the fox's lesson is the core of the book. While I agree that that is one logical reading, I think that how one draws a sheep that will live a long time and not eat a flower is the core lesson here. That part of the story comes near the beginning. Be sure to pay attention to it and think about it as you go forward. I will say no more here about it. After you have finished reading and thinking through this wonderful fable, I suggest that you determine if those you love have read it lately. If they have not, this would be a good time to get them a new copy and encourage them to begin or renew their acquaintance with Saint-Exupery. During the process of reading the story again, I happened to also find an abridged audio tape by Louis Jourdan at the library that I highly recommend. Your understanding of the book will be greatly enhanced by this great, magical reading. It is one of the best audio readings I have heard. If you can listen to the tape and reread the story, that is the best combination. Keep drawing from your mind!
Rating:
Summary: Very warm & touching.
Review: To me this book is best appreciated by a mature adult. I first read it when I was 8 or 9..in Thai. I think I was attracted to it mainly by the drawings inside. I finished only 2 chapters and thought it was no fun. About 20+ years later, I picked it up again and was very glad I did. I much more got the essence of the book. Can deeply (if not fully) understand the underlying messages. I really like the philosophy presented there. It's an amazing feeling how life experience enables one to understand these things. I also like the warm and touching feel around the Little Prince, even though the story ends with sadness. The character on each planet always left me with something to really think about or someone to relate to in real life. And..boy, I like that.
Rating:
Summary: multifaceted and rewarding
Review: I wonder what commonality it was that lead several of the early aviators to be such great authors. There's Beryl Markham's West With the Night, the various works of Saint Exupery and in addition to the writings of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, the Lone Eagle himself, Charles Lindbergh, won the Pulitzer for The Spirit of Saint Louis. Certainly they had all lead fascinating and exciting lives, so they had good material to work with when it came to autobiography and memoirs, but how then explain the slight but enchanting fable of The Little Prince? Saint Exupery's classic tale can be read on many levels and enjoyed by readers of any age. He tells the story of being stranded in the desert and meeting a tiny blond boy. This Little Prince proceeds to tell of his travels from planet to planet until he arrived on Earth and of what he has learned along the way. The most important thing he reveals is a secret that was taught him by a fox that he tamed: And he went back to meet the fox. "Goodbye" he said. "Goodbye," said the fox. "And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." "What is essential is invisible to the eye," the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember. "It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important. "It is the time I have wasted for my rose-- "said the little prince so he would be sure to remember. "Men have forgotten this truth," said the fox. "But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose. . ." "I am responsible for my rose," the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember. This is the central lesson of the story--love and responsibility for one another. And just as this is essentially the message of Christ, from here on in the rest of the story is a fairly straightforward Christian allegory. As Saint-Exupery is dying of thirst, the Little Prince leads him to a well, the water of which is uniquely refreshing. Then the Little Prince announces that the time has come for him to go away, that a snake will bite him and it will look like he is suffering greatly, but that he will live on in Saint-Exupery's heart and mind and can never die. Regardless of whether you read the story as simply a delightful children's fable or read it as an existential or a Christian myth, or read it multiple times and find a different meaning each time, it is endlessly rewarding and quite beautiful. If you want an ideal introduction to the book, check out one of the etexts online, they are excellent examples of the best aspects of the Web--presenting the entire story (in various languages) and illustrations in lucid formats. GRADE: A-
Rating:
Summary: French Classic
Review: A touching fable of an interstellar guest. It makes you reflect upon society and its problems. The end is sad and foreshadows the tragic end of Saint-Exupery's own life. Sensitive, expressive, and pessimistic, and therefore distinctly French, this book is a must read classic.
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Summary: "If you tame me,we will need each other"
Review: This is a great little book for children and open minded adults
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Summary: Please help.
Review: Can someone please explain the ending of this book to me in the next review? And did the little prince go through any real changes?
Rating:
Summary: Complex message behind the seemingly simple plot
Review: A tremendously good book. The writer makes the story look simple. Simple words with cute pictures. But there are messages hidden between the lines, up to us to interpret what we want to see. Children can enjoy the child story. Adults can enjoy the hidden story. Great book that's sure worth the money.
Rating:
Summary: An inspiration to many adults
Review: I had heard that that this book was not really for children though they sell it in the childrens section of selections... Adults that read this realize that it was designed for the more settled mature readers....but a very wonderful inspiration to all that reads it ...I do wonder who determined that this was a juvinile book, People tend to be very narrow minded when it comes to titles and illustrations...I believe that this book has been designated in correctly and would definately be a good book to be re evaluated by the ones who rate and decide the age group of whom it was intended...Please read the other many reviews on the book especially one from the intelligent 12 year old...he said it plain and simple this is not really a childs book...but he loved it anyways...Thank You for your time..
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful fable that wins our hearts!
Review: Ever since this wonderful little fable was first published half a century ago, it has been winning the hearts of its readers. I first had to read The Little Prince in my high school french class...it was the first real French text that I had ever read. I fell in love with its poignant messages, the tender innocence...so many things make this book unbelievably rich. This book can be read at many levels and will be enjoyed by children as well as adults. If only we had that speacial secret in our hearts and minds: "On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux."
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