Review: The Little Prince
The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery was a book that I had been waiting to read ever since I heard about it a few months back. This should be a lesson to all of you, never build up something in your head so much that it ultimately turns out to be a damp squib. I feel however that it is my duty to inform you that my current age is 26. Why is that important? It makes all the difference in the world in the case of this book and I’ll soon go on to explain why. According to the author, it is a book for children written for grown-ups.
First published in 1943, The Little Prince is the story about the little prince’s travels and the different types of people he meets along the way. The author is an aviator who has crashed in the desert and ends up meeting the little Prince while he is repairing his plane. The Prince goes on to tell him about his planet, his flower and the different people he has met on his travels. Some of the people he has met are: a king, a conceited man, a drunkard, a lamplighter and a geographer.
Now here’s my opinion about the story and I’m afraid I’m going to look very foolish when you read this but I need to stay honest to my reviews. I’m afraid I didn’t understand the story at all (insert wide eyed shocked emoji here). The surprising part is that the story is written in a manner that is so incredibly easy to read yet at the same time a reader knows that the author is trying to convey so much more than what is evident. A phrase that is often used in the book is that “grownups won’t understand”. So even though this book is written for adults, I think it is only a child that would understand the true depth of this book. I can’t say this for sure of course. I wish I had read this when I was younger because now I just feel really old and burdened down by the cares of the world. Since I read in the metro it makes it even harder for me to understand the little nuances that writer was trying to put across to his audience. I’m definitely going to give this book another shot when I’m a little older and when I have a comfortable couple of hours to reflect on what the writer is talking about. I did nevertheless learn a few obvious lessons from the book.
We are unique in the world because of who we love and who loves us.
It is not what can be seen that is important. The important things are always invisible to the naked eye and can only be seen by the heart.
The king taught us that we must judge ourselves before we judge others.
The vain man taught us that if we live for the admiration of others then we’ll never end up living for ourselves.
The drunk man taught us that we can often end up spiralling downwards in life by being ashamed of the decisions we make.
The businessman taught us that money isn’t everything. We are often so caught up in making money that we don’t even know what to do with it once we have it.
I definitely feel that this book should be essential reading in schools and while I’m not sure if adults would like it, I’d definitely suggest that they give it a shot if they have a couple of hours to spare.
My Rating: 3/5