Thursday, May 28, 2015

“A Book That Was Originally Written in a Different Language” 2015 Challenge; THE LITTLE PRINCE by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Originally published in France in 1943, and translated into 250 different languages. 
 
Let me start off by saying that when I ordered this book, I thought it was a children’s book.  Just from looking at the cover, anyone would think so.  Except, when I finally had it in my hands, I found that that was far from the case.  It’s close to a hundred pages long, most with a full page of text, and wording that small kids wouldn’t understand.  If my teenage son were to read it, (not too likely since he’s at that “I hate reading” stage), he might grasp the concept of the book, but there would be no chance for my younger ones.   


THE LITTLE PRINCE  / LA PETIT PRINCE
                           by Antoine De Saint-Exupéry

 
 
 
 


BOOK DESCRIPTION

“Six Years Ago,” writes Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, “I made a forced landing in the Sahara, alone, a thousand miles from help, and faced with the necessity of repairing my motor by myself within the number of days my supply of drinking water would last.  The first morning I was awakened by a gentle but determined voice which said, ‘If you please, draw me a sheep.’”  Thus it was that he met the Little Prince, whose strange history he learned, bit by bit, in the days that followed. 
The Little Prince lived alone on a tiny planet no larger than a house.  He possessed three volcanoes, two active and one extinct, although one never knows about volcanoes.  He also owned a flower, unlike any flower in all the galaxy, of great beauty and of inordinate pride.  It was this pride that ruined the serenity of the Little Prince’s world and started him on travels that brought him at last to the Earth where he learned finally, from a fox, the secret of what is really important in life.
To preserve his memory of the Little Prince, Saint-Exupery has made some forty watercolors, whimsical, gravely meticulous in detail.  Each is an almost essential part of the story.
There are a few stories which in some way, in some degree, change the world forever for their readers.  This is one.

 
MY REVIEW
4 out of 5 *Stars*

I have to say, this book took me by surprise.  It’s iconic… a classic.  I had heard so many good things about it, but once I started reading it, I didn’t understand all the hype.  It was slow and confusing, and I didn’t get it.  Then, all of the sudden something clicked.  It started to pull me in, and finally after finishing it, I’m in awe.
I heard at one point that this is a book that needs to be read more than once in a lifetime.  Where you are in your life at the time signifies how the story will be perceived.  I couldn’t agree more.  It took me a week to read this book when it should have only taken me a day.  I would read, then stop because my kids needed me, I had to get something done, or I had to go to the store. Whatever it was, I was too busy to give the book any time.  I took me deciding to dye my hair and having 40 minutes of down time to sit and give it the time it deserved.  Let me tell you, I got a real eye opener once I did.  It was successful in teaching the “grown-up” Rebekah an important lesson.      
Toward the beginning of the book, Saint-Exupéry talks about how he doesn’t like grown-ups because they never could see outside the box.  As I was reading, I was giddy, thinking that I have a creative mind and I can think outside the box, so he would like me.  I would be the exception!  Then, it started discussing how misguided a grown-ups sense of importance can be, and I knew that I was sunk. 

Throughout the book, there’s one saying that pops up quite a few times, “Matters of consequence.” The little prince traveled to different planets before landing on Earth, and at each planet was a grown-up that he got to speak with.  All of them would talk about matters of consequence, whether it be ruling over the stars, owning the stars, fixing something… all the stuff that grown-ups perceived as important.  None of them had time to be a friend because they were all too busy.  Kind of like I couldn’t give the book time because I was too busy with my “matters of consequence”.
I liked how the book was written as if an autobiography.  It makes the reader go back with him into his own memory when he himself met the little prince.  I’ve read too many books to count that were in first person, but nothing that made me forget that it was just a story.  This one did.  It was as if the little prince was real and was someone that I would most want to find.  It’s almost depressing that he’s fictional.  Or is he…..
 
 
Overall, this was a wonderful book that I recommend to everyone.  Yes, it’s slow moving, but there are so many hidden messages for people in the text that it makes one curious to see what another person will get out of it.  This was the lesson I learned… Yes, groceries, soccer practices, PTA, and house cleaning are important, but one cannot forget to stop and recognize the other things that are just as important, but not as noticeable like having conversations with your family, laughing, helping another person, doing something that makes you smile… or sitting down and taking time to read a good book.  Till next time…

20 books down, 32 to go!

Happy Reading, Everyone!!     

No comments:

Post a Comment