The Little Prince
Ratings1,521
Average rating4.2
I can't believe I didn't read this until I was in my 40s. But perhaps it is a book that is best read when you're ready to hear the laughter in the stars.
It was beautiful
And holds all the secrets to life
To write more would be a very silly grown up thing to do
‘'Just that,” said the fox. “To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world....”
“The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart.”
“You - you alone will have the stars as no one else has them...In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night...You - only you - will have stars that can laugh.”
Because there will always be a dedicated lamplighter and a child looking after a delicate rose in the world. And this is our source of hope...
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Innocent and beautiful and left me wanting to take pause when looking around.
I first heard, to my shame, of The Little Prince on Netflix and the short part that I watched (I watched it with the kids and stopped around the 20 minute mark) I felt that it was especially unique. So when I saw it was indeed a book, and a particularly famous one at that, I realised there must be something special in here. I wasn't let down.
I'm not quite sure what the Little Prince is, I want to have this great epiphany about the story but if I had one, I can't articulate it.
The tale is certainly beautiful in a way that makes me remember to forget all the serious stuff (and numbers) of adulthood and remember the time I used to wonder whether an entire universe could exist inside a raindrop.
It's a romantic escapism of a book and I hope to share the book with my children one day soon.
Este es el primer libro que les leo a mis hijas completo, la más chiquita lo único que recuerda es que “el piloto chocó el avión”. La grande recuerda un poco más, pero la mitad de las veces se quedaba dormida antes de llegar al tercer párrafo. Para mi fue una delicia releer el libro y conmoverme con su lectura y reflexiones que ya de adulto te haces al ir pasando cada momento del libro. Me da gusto haber podido estrenar a mis hijas con este libro a la lecturas nocturnas...
“¡Será tan divertido!... Tendrás quinientos millones de cascabeles y tendrás quinientos millones de fuentes...
Pero también calló, porque lloraba...”
Interesting and short. Parts are too deep for me and parts are beautiful
I don't think I've read an actual children's book in ages and only decided to pick this up for one of my reading challenge prompts.
I know this is a book for kids and it's translated from French, so some things may have been missed out - but it felt more like a book for adults with very profound messaging. It's about keeping the child in us alive, appreciating the little things we have in our life and having some optimism and hope that everything will be alright in the end. The illustrations were absolutely lovely and gave off this very gentle feeling. And the friendship between the main character and little prince was adorable, almost making me cry towards the end.
I guess most of you must have already read this book, but if you are like me and haven't experienced this before, then pick this up when you are in the mood for something sweet and short. It'll either make you smile or cry, but will definitely leave you feeling good.
I'm not one to discredit entertainment made for children so quickly, but needless to say I was a bit disappointed with the world renowned classic The Little Prince. Maybe I'm a cynic or an overly analytic reader, but to say that I got more than mild enjoyment from this book would be a lie.
The book starts off projecting what it's going to be like for the next 80 pages, of how growing up sucks and that creativity dies with it. Not a bad message, but it is the book's hill to die on with almost every page of the book repeating that same message. There is no nuance to it or any reason stated that adults become this way, they just do. Almost the entire beginning of the book is just dedicated to the prince going to different planets that represent the worst parts of adulthood in a disparaging way. Which is representative of the book's worst problem: its structure, which lends to awkward pacing problems that even with its small amount of pages - still goes on for far too long at some points.
The book does however stick its landing with its other (much stronger ending) about making something (or someone) meaningful, which lends itself to such a strong, poetic ending.
I'm probably not the target audience for this, but I just didn't find the magic in The Little Prince like everyone else on earth did. Maybe I do belong on the planet of those who have forever lost their imagination.
Everyone seems to love this book. I don't.
It's ok. There's a nice section where the prince makes friends with a fox. I liked that part! But I didn't understand what message the book was trying to tell me. “Don't become an adult” maybe? Possibly “adults are boring and care about stupid things?” There's definitely an anti-adult sentiment, but that's not particularly actionable.
The book argues these points through a bunch of caricatures — there's a king who “rules” nobody, and a banker who “owns” the universe. I guess the point is that believing something doesn't make it so? Or it's a bad allegory for “you also need other people?” Or something. In short, the storytelling is muddled, and the rest of it isn't charming enough to make up for it.
I'm not sure it's the book's fault, but my copy had some egregious english grammar. Maybe it was a bad translation, or a garbled ebook or something, but it was enough to frequently break my suspension of disbelief.
While this is actually my first time reading it, I have two very sentimental memories attached to The Little Prince. The first is a hazy childhood memory of an animated version which I haven't yet tracked down. The other - and the most special - is from high school; I vividly remember sitting in the auditorium during a lunch break with my dear friend, Wendi, as she read a good chunk of it to me in French. Of course I didn't understand any of it, but between Wendi's expressive delivery and the charming illustrations, it was kind of magical.
I reget to say that the experience of reading it finally in English wasn't quite as magical, but that is my own fault (and I haven't deducted stars for it).
I STRONGLY recommend avoiding this cheap Wordsworth edition. I usually love these, but it doesn't do any justice to the illustrations. In fact some of them were horrifingly distorted; they're converted to black-and-white and are very low fidelity. It's not fun, don't do it.
After sampling some of the audio versions, I also suspect there are better translations out there too.
But, as for the story itself, it was charming and sweet, with a little whistful sadness, but it didn't quite feel as deep as I was expecting. It was quite light, and there were several moments where I thought it was going to plumb some further philosophical depths, but it just kind of moved onto the next thing. This isn't a criticism - I enjoyed how it would introduce themes and then let them be. It made for a delightful and digestible read.
It's clear why The Little Prince has captured imaginations the world over, but please do yourself a favor and get a copy in full-color with a good translation. Or even better, if possible, have one of your favorite people read it to you in French.
This book has a lot in it. Yet, read in a half-hour. I see why so many references made to it: “adults don't understand” “they need things explained” “rushing everywhere” “look inside.” I also see why it wasn't in my childhood library - it's complex, about questioning authority and what is death. My parents would have never given this to us if they had seen it. And definitely not in school. For a kids book, it is too symbolic at times. Plus, too many big words for a kids book.
Writes a long winded review on Microsoft word about how great this story was, and how its finally something that is upliftingGoes on goodreadsSees 1st community reviewReads 1st lines: ‘You do understand that the Little Prince died?' HAS A FLASHBACK AND ALMOST CRIES, DELETES LONG REVIEW BECAUSE LIFE IS A LIE
WELL, now that you understand my thought process, I guess its time for my very short review. I picked this book because I judged it by the cover. My friend always teases me, saying I only read depressing stories. I wanted to prove her wrong by reading this. How bad can this children book be?
HA
I was wrong.
A very interesting read that I'd definitely recommend as it's way too short for anyone to not go through at least once (Listen to the audiobook which is a little under 2 hours to save time, you'll miss the pictures though). This book has been styled in a way that it may seem to be a children's novella. But to each, their own interpretation, the messages, and themes are something worth pondering upon even as an adult(or as the book refers, “the grown-ups”). We, humans, are often kids at heart and though we may not agree on everything from the writer's perspective, there's something that we CAN take from the book; curiosity and asking very different questions from those that we are used to asking. It's like a peek into the workings of a child's brain.
Looking forward to reading it in French now as that was highly recommended by a friend.
“They buy things ready-made at the shops. But since there are no shop where you can buy friends, people no longer have friends”
The little Prince, 1943 : “Oh come on that's absurd”
The little Prince, 2017 : “I can see”
Opinião no blogue: http://avidadelyne.blogspot.com/2017/06/junho-rrsp17-o-principezinho-antoine-de.html