A Heart-Expanding Look at the World, 1. September 2007

This book is an all-time classic and deserves more than five stars!The story of The Little Prince can be read at many different levels of meaning. In fact, the wider your mind and heart, the more you will appreciate the story. But the narrower your mind and heart, the more you need this story.On the surface, it is a bizarre tale of an aviator stuck in the middle of the Sahara who encounters a small blond boy who tells him far-fetched stories about travel among the planets. At this level, you need to suspend disbelief and simply go with the story to consider the ways that becoming more child-like are valuable to the aviator. It makes him more understanding and open. He has wanted to maintain connection with his child-based self, and does so. It does not matter if you want to believe that the child actually travels amongst the planets or not.You can also read the aviator as having been affected by the heat and dehydration, so that he is imagining the Little Prince in his delirium. From that perspective, we are dealing with an internal dialogue of the aviator in evaluating what is most important to him in life, as he considers the possibility of losing his.At a different level, you can see the Little Prince's travels to other planets as an allegory for all of life. What are we seeking for? How do you know when we have found it? How can we lose what is important? The examples of self-absorbed adults, beginning with the aviator, provide many cautionary tales.Beyond that, you can read this as science fiction. How would an alien see humans? How would an alien react to humans? Would an alien want to stay or go home?A religious person can see an allegory to the life of the spirit. Christians will see a Christ-like figure in the Little Prince. People of other religious beliefs will see instead God in each person.Someone with a profoundly humane perspective will see the story as being about orienting ourselves towards caring for and loving each other and nature.An existentialist will see this as a tale of the futility of much of what we do, much like The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus.I could add many more interpretations, but do not want to burden you. These illustrations are here to simply help open you to the idea of reading (or rereading) the story. Most people read this when they are too young to capture its broader meanings, and it is one of those books that changes as you age. As a child, you identify with the Little Prince. As an adult, the aviator becomes more important. At some points in your life, you may identify even more with the people on the tiny planets described here. So this is also like holding up a mirror to yourself to see how you have changed. That is also a very valuable thing to do.Many will argue that the fox's lesson is the core of the book. While I agree that that is one logical reading, I think that how one draws a sheep that will live a long time and not eat a flower is the core lesson here. That part of the story comes near the beginning. Be sure to pay attention to it and think about it as you go forward. I will say no more here about it.After you have finished reading and thinking through this wonderful fable, I suggest that you determine if those you love have read it lately. If they have not, this would be a good time to get them a new copy and encourage them to begin or renew their acquaintance with Saint-Exupery.During the process of reading the story again, I happened to also find an abridged audio tape by Louis Jourdan at the library that I highly recommend. Your understanding of the book will be greatly enhanced by this great, magical reading. It is one of the best audio readings I have heard. If you can listen to the tape and reread the story, that is the best combination.Keep drawing from your mind!

       Schön - Schöner -am Schönsten, 19. August 2001

Wer den 'Kleinen Prinzen' liebt und gar nicht genug von ihm bekommen kann ,der sollte dieses Buch mal in Englisch lesen! Die schönsten Worte in einer anderen Sprache kennenzulernen, ein echt schönes Erlebnis! Kann ich jedem wirklich empfehlen. Wie auch bei der deutschen Fassung sind der Fantasie und Interpretation keine Grenzen gesetzt. Auch in Englisch ist dieses Buch zum Weinen schön. "It is such a secret place, the land of tears." Eine Empfehlung an alle, die den 'Kleinen Prinzen' schon auswendig kennen und doch nicht genug von ihm bekommen können!!!

       French Classic, 19. September 2000

A touching fable of an interstellar guest. It makes you reflect upon society and its problems. The end is sad and foreshadows the tragic end of Saint-Exupery's own life. Sensitive, expressive, and pessimistic, and therefore distinctly French, this book is a must read classic.

      -, 2. August 2000

Lovely, just lovely. All children should be read this, and often.

       A children's book? No. And adult book for children too., 24. Juli 2000

I read this book for the first time when I was about 30 years. I thought it was cute in the beginning. Toward the middle I thought it was clever and touching. At the end I was rocked to the core.

Like most masterpieces, you won't be able to say why you like it or love it, if you do. And you won't be able to explain why a book, written in French, seems to flow fine in just about any language.

Each time I read it now, I get some little detail or some magic thought that I missed the last time and all the time before. But I can't tell you why I like it so much. Or why all the people I have given it to have fallen in love with it.

I DO know that anyone who does not like this book is probably someone I do not want to know.

By all means read the many reviews here. You will find a hundred reasons why other people fell in love with the Prince and his story. And you will also meet adults who are in too much a hurry to enjoy anything that is really important, adults who are more interested in facts than what the facts mean and who care more about money, power and prestige than love, friendship and simple beauty.

I suspect that such people are the ones who who wrote the few negative reviews here. Perhaps other people who did not like the book read it at the wrong time, under the wrong conditions.