If there is a novel or a book that I would recommend to the general public, then this would be the book that 
I’d be recommending to all of you. Besides it’s unflagging success of having more than 50 million copies sold since its 1st publication in 1943, just a year before the author Antoine De Saint-Exupery disappeared mysteriously after a plane crash in the desert.
Besides the many copies sold (and contuing selling a lot of copies every year) the novel has been translated into 102 languages and dialects, really speaking out for it’s success. A lot of people come to think what could be the mystery behind this novel that attracts people from all ages, from children to even adults. There are even people who think that the book has been written for the Adult’s Sake rather than the Children entertainment.
The novel’s stupefying characters that appear similar to us could be one of those reasons, since there are a couple of characters, if not all of them to which we can relate to. As all of us seem to be preoccupied with our respective doings, and are just as stupefying as the characters are. Besides the way that we may relate to the characters of the novel, there’s much more mystery behind The Little Prince that I’ve found out about which I want to share with you.
The Little Prince probably gives children an mix up between fairy tales and the reality, well, it’s not that hard for the children these days to understand that the world is not as they used to think it is, with all those purple dinasaurs and stuff they imagine the world to be. It gives them a bite of the real happenings of our world. It’s something “that falls between the artifice of entertainment, and the disappointments of the real world, a tiny foothold of the slippery shoals of reality.”
However, if we would come to label the novel to be a book intended for the children, this one totally differes from all the other storybook heroes. Why is that so? You might ask. If Superman has all the power in strength to never die, then the little prince does not have that might, or does he? It showcases the children another option to think. Unlike the usual heroes in the books we’ve all once loved, the little prince did not really succeed, or did he? All that we know, is, that he suddenly disappeared one morning. Whilst in the usual storybook heroes we always know, that they stay alive, and like I’m trying to emphasize here now, in the little prince? It’s not that case, or well, we really don’t know.
The Little Prince appears to be very attractive to the elder as well, one of the reasons could be the event in the 21st chapter of the novel, where the little prince comes to meet a wise fox on planet earth. A fox who has taught him more about taming, the importance of it, and a very secret that he has. According to the fox, what’s important is invisible to the naked eye. It’s with the heart that one can see truly. What we see, doesn’t matters, but what we feel is what does. Do you agree with him?
I do. Hmm.. There have been people who said that the little prince contains episodes of the life of christ which adds interest of reading the novel. If Christ has risen on the 3rd day and suddenly disappeared from his grave as he was supposed to be dead, so has the Little Prince disappeared the next morning when the pilot woke up.
There is a lot of comparison with the little prince to us, and to the story of christ. Yet most importantly mentioned, it has lot of comparison of our present situation on earth.
The message of the story is very simple, yet something which we don’t often think about. As the 20th century has begun and may very well end with the Titanic in the collective mind-a symbol of the hubris of the human being in their quest for dominion over nature. If you have come to read the book. You’ll notice the comparison to us right now. Like the little prince, who departed from his own planet, looking for men, seeking for other people. So do we nowadays deploy austronauts to look for living matters on other planets and universes. And after all, what is the planet that we return to? It’s our very own earth. Just like the little prince (who mysteriously disappeared the next day), might have returned to his own planet upon the realization that all what’s important and really matters to him is up there, the flower that has tamed him.
Alike a famous writer has written about the novel, “If we would come to suspended grown-up disbelief, then we would realize that our earth is a bigger universe than any other. The happiest and saddest of all landscapes.” The book then, in general, contains something for everyone. Besides the beautiful insights from which elders could learn from, and the nice story line that children may enjoy, there’s still something behind the whole book, which, from generation to generation; remains a mystery to everyone, the book has an aura about it.
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i do love and enjoy reading The Little Prince… it tells of the striking difference between an adult’s point of view and a child’s. I’d love to be a child again… with a child’s imagination and innocence.
know what..we have just studied this last week in our english class..i haven’t read the whole thing, i mean the book…i’m sure it will be fun to read it
@aika – it’s a great read aika.. and quite short too compared to the usual bestseller paperbacks
I am familiar with the book. but i have not read it yet!
I have not read it yet. I hope may magapaborow! hehe
try t0 read it itz fun….. 😀 super inspiring…..
I so love this novel. Nakaka-inspire. 🙂
Truly inspiring…=)
My older sister gave me her copy of the Little Prince when I was fifteen. As I near age sixty, it has remained my “bible” of sorts through these decades.
@Oliver→ That’s a nice story. The Little Prince has really touched the lives of many. I mean many.
Thank you, Kevin. I hadn’t planned to say anything more about my favorite book at the risk of inflicting boredom here or of being misunderstood, (“words are a great source of misunderstanding”, you know!) but the depth of the line “loveliest and saddest scene” has magnified so much since my 1964 introduction, that I hope all lovers of the book will someday find that, too.
We all travel through life much as The Little Prince did. So many wonderful and not-so-wonderful things lie before us. As I near the latter part of the journey, having experienced what was true love for me, a marriage that began-and ended- wonderful children, a work career, the loss of my grandparents and parents and some others that I loved,,,,well, just take out The Little Prince and reread it someday many years from now, and you’ll be able to tell what it is that I’m trying to say.
I *can* clearly say, however, that I continue to have great faith that the sheep did *not* eat the flower!
yeah i love it also its inspiring and represents love of a father to his son when the lonely pilot met the little prince he gained and realize love…
I so deeply appreciate the mystery behind the story…
The story just show how children are so preoccupied and wants to know everything, while the adults are the other way around, they are occupied with what seems to the li’l prince vain. I so love the part where the little prince realize how important hes flower is. and also the part where the li’l prince and the fox would depart…It makes you see what is essential in this life… “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
it is a very beautiful it really touches mt feelings!!!!!
where can i buy it???are there still available??
Hello Amber! 🙂 The Little Prince is a classic. 🙂 It's one of the books that is more often than not, ALWAYS available in ALL bookstores anywhere in the world! I'm a bookstore junkie and I always see this in the shelves of National Book Store and Fully Booked (if you're from Manille) 🙂 Just ask the store clerks! Happy reading. 🙂 Have a nice day.
i used to dislike any things connected with the frenchies due to the dominant english that have had influence my way of thinking but this book opened my eyes.
There is no shop where you can buy friendships…
I love the story..I was able to read it way back in my high school days with my teacher Mdm. Tejano.