graysocks
01-18-2008, 12:48 AM
A short children's book written by a French aviator, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, in 1943 during the war.
Ostensibly a children's book, it makes several profound and idealistic points about life and human nature. In it, Saint-Exupéry tells of his being stranded in the Sahara Desert, thousands of kilometers away from inhabited places, where he meets a young extra-terrestrial (though entirely human-appearing) prince. In their conversations, the author reveals his own views about the follies of mankind and the simple truths that people seem to forget as they grow older. The essence of the book is contained in the famous line uttered by the fox to the Little Prince: "On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur, l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." (It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye). There are also two other main points in the book, both spoken by the fox. They are: "You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed" and "It is the time you have spent with your rose that makes your rose so important".
Throughout the book the children's view on the world, on the main points of the human life and relations between people, which is represented by the Little Prince and partially by the narrator, is set off against the "grown-ups" revealed in memories of the narrator and in the characters, met by the Little Prince on asteroids. But the author underlines, that the "'grown-ups' are like that. One must not hold it against them. Children should always show great forbearance toward grown-up people."
Although a children's book, it has philosophies behind it, that in itself, laugh at the thought of this book being called a children's book. Shunning the increasing rationality of the capitalising world and hoping not to forget what is important; not the "serious" issues of adulthood. this book had a big effect on me last year. Ava is of the little prince himself!
Anyone read this, and if so, share or feel differently about it?
Ostensibly a children's book, it makes several profound and idealistic points about life and human nature. In it, Saint-Exupéry tells of his being stranded in the Sahara Desert, thousands of kilometers away from inhabited places, where he meets a young extra-terrestrial (though entirely human-appearing) prince. In their conversations, the author reveals his own views about the follies of mankind and the simple truths that people seem to forget as they grow older. The essence of the book is contained in the famous line uttered by the fox to the Little Prince: "On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur, l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." (It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye). There are also two other main points in the book, both spoken by the fox. They are: "You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed" and "It is the time you have spent with your rose that makes your rose so important".
Throughout the book the children's view on the world, on the main points of the human life and relations between people, which is represented by the Little Prince and partially by the narrator, is set off against the "grown-ups" revealed in memories of the narrator and in the characters, met by the Little Prince on asteroids. But the author underlines, that the "'grown-ups' are like that. One must not hold it against them. Children should always show great forbearance toward grown-up people."
Although a children's book, it has philosophies behind it, that in itself, laugh at the thought of this book being called a children's book. Shunning the increasing rationality of the capitalising world and hoping not to forget what is important; not the "serious" issues of adulthood. this book had a big effect on me last year. Ava is of the little prince himself!
Anyone read this, and if so, share or feel differently about it?