◐ Book Name: The Little Prince
◐ Author: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
◐ Synopsis:
A stranded pilot meets the little prince in the desert, who tells him his story of how he landed on earth, and the rose he loved that he left behind.
◐ Review: 5/5 ⭐
I’ll admit: this book did not appeal to me when I first started it. I had never read it before, but had heard of it for a long time; perhaps it gave me unreasonably high expectations. I kept this little copy I’d bought in England for years before I finally picked it up, in the mood for a light, easy read.
As I read this strange tale of a little alien prince traveling around other different planets, I wondered what exactly made this book so beloved to so many.
Let me tell you, because this is a children’s book, and the best children’s books speak profound truths hidden in subtlety. Before I got very near the end, my disdain turned to enlightenment. Because this book is a marvel unlike anything I’ve read before. Unique.
What threw me off was a lack of plot, and as it progressed, I kept wondering what on earth was going on. The narrator encounters a prince from another planet, who tells him to draw a lamb, then tells him the story of his journey from his own small planet to Earth, complete with other little planets, a talking rose, and a wise fox. It’s just the strangest setting.
Yet somehow, somehow it all comes together midway through, and I thought, “So, this is why.”
I got it all wrong! I should have judged her by her actions, not her words. She filled my life with fragrance and light. I should never have run away! … But I was too young to know how to love her.
I’m unsure what else to say without ruining it, so I will simply say that this book, for all its seeming simplicity, made my heart feel lighter, and also made it twinge with sadness, and I am unable to tell you how it managed to do both at the same time.
It’s a tale of valuing the important things, of treasuring those you love, and of seeing clearly things that others are too preoccupied to see. It’s about holding onto the ones who change your life, and loving, and understanding. It’s about holding onto the wonder you had as a child. And yes, it’s also about loss and missingness and sadness.
❝ 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 – 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵. ❞
By the time I got to this quote, I was going to break my heart over this book. If you read it, maybe you’ll understand what I mean.
It’s such a little book, little enough to be read in one sitting. So small one wouldn’t think it could leave as strong an impression as it does.
I’d never cried over a book, but this book, so small, reminded me of another little one, so small, who filled my whole world. And I found that by the end, I was weeping quietly, and I still don’t think I’d be able to tell you why.
Quotes
This is my secret. It’s very simple. You only see clearly with your heart. The most important things are invisible to the eyes.
If a person loves a flower that is the only one of its kind on all the millions and millions of stars, then gazing at the night sky is enough to make him happy.
All grown-ups were children once (but most of them have forgotten)
‘You know, when a person is very, very sad, they like sunsets.’
‘And were you very, very sad on the day you watched forty-four sunsets?’
But the little prince did not reply.
I want to try and describe him so as not to forget him. It is sad to forget a friend.
I wonder whether the stars are lit up so that eventually each person will be able to find their own star.
You only understand the things you tame.
Whether it’s a house, the stars or the desert, the thing that makes them beautiful is invisible.
Once you have allowed yourself to be tamed, you run the risk of feeling sadness…
When you look at the sky at night, because I’ll be living on one of them, because I’ll be laughing on one of them, to you it will sound as if all the stars are laughing.
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