(Book Review--Fantasy, Children's Literature)
No "started" post for this book. (I'll explain down below.)
Finished: May 1, 2022
(This review is written using my new format for book reviews.)
My History with this Book
I'd be curious what other people's history with this book is. (Let me know in the comments.) I know it's supposedly a childhood classic, but it was never part of my childhood.
As far as I can remember, the first time I really heard about this book was in high school, when I became aware that it was a book often assigned to French students. (I never studied French in high school, but I had friends who did.)
I didn't know anything about the book. For a long time, I assumed it was just a picture book for very young children.
Why I Read this Book
Years ago, I bought this book as a present for my girlfriend (now wife) after seeing it in a bookstore in Saigon. It seemed like it would be a good for her to study English with. (I bought the book in English translation, needless to say.) I flipped through it at the time I gave it to her, but I didn't actually read it at that time.
Recently, however, our 3 year old daughter has become fascinated by this book. I don't really know why, but she sometimes latches on to a particular book, and wants us to read it to her over and over again. She doesn't understand all the words, but she just likes the ritual of being read to.
So, for the past few weeks, I've been reading this book over and over to my daughter. Except we never get all the way through the book. We usually start at the beginning, get maybe through the first 5 chapters, and then my daughter wants to flip to the end.
I began to get curious after a while to find out what was in the whole book.
I also started to read more about this book on Wikipedia, and the biography of the author on Wikipedia. And based on all the information on Wikipedia, I realized that this book is probably a legitimate cultural milestone. That is, it's been influential enough that anyone who has ambitions to call themselves "well-read" should probably read this book at some point.
And I also decided that this book was more of a novella than a picture book. I mean, sure, it had a lot of big bright pictures in it. But it also had enough actual text that it wasn't purely just a picture book. So I could count it towards my book review project.
So, yesterday afternoon, I just sat down and finally read the book from cover to cover. (I wasn't timing myself, but I think it took me less than an hour. Granted the first 5 chapters or so I was able to fly through pretty quickly because I had already read them multiple times to my daughter.)
And now here I am with my review.
The Reading Experience / Evaluation
Put this in the category of "nominally a children's book, but really heavy with adult themes".
Do children actually enjoy books like this? I don't think they do. I think this is the type of book that teachers and librarians really like, but children, left to their own devices, will gravitate more towards adventure books or funny books rather than something like this.
And this book is so melancholy for a children's book.
To be fair, a lot of old children's books are pretty melancholy. So this book has plenty of company in that regard. But I still think this was a trend in children's publishing that was drive more by adult sensibilities than children's sensibilities.
Also, I think it's pretty well understood these days that there are some abstract concepts that children just aren't mentally ready to process until their brain develops to a certain stage. I don't mean to say you'd be harming children by exposing them to these concepts to early, but I just mean to say I think the children won't be interested in these concepts. (Perhaps developmental psychology wasn't as well understood in the 1940s.)
From an adult standpoint, the big selling point of this book is that it's so easy to read. There are a lot of philosophical tidbits throughout the book.
A lot of the philosophy struck me as fairly banal, but admittedly I didn't do the work of wrestling with any of these concepts. Perhaps some of them were deeper than I realized.
The big problem is there's not much of a narrative. There wasn't really any engrossing story in this book that really hooked you in.
Nothing is really explained in this book. Granted, that's intentionally. It's supposed to operate by children's logic.
How does the little prince travel from planet to planet? It's never really explained, but I'm pretty sure we are meant to assume that he just flies through the air.
But this lack of explanation can also feel like a bit of a cheat at times as well. Particularly near the end. Why does the Prince have to shed his corporal form in order to travel back home? (He's been flying all around the solar system up until now. Why can't he just fly back home?) And if he sheds his body, then what travels back home? Does he live on as just a spirit? Or does he just get reincarnated into a new corporal form? The lack of any explanation about these points feels to me like it's just a cheat.
I actually found the Wikipedia article on the book (HERE) and the Wikipedia bio of the author (HERE) to be of more interest than the actual book itself. The author lead a fascinating life. The book was published at an interesting time during French history--it was published during World War II when the author was living in exile, and was banned in Vichy France. So I guess I enjoyed this book mostly as just a gateway to the commentary and history around it.
Indeed, there are several things in the book that seem to only make sense after reading the Wikipedia articles. (e.g. What's going on with that whole bit about the rose? It turns out it was based on the author's wife. What is that thing about the baobabs? It turns out it's a metaphor for fascism, etc.)
There's a lot of interesting stuff on Wikipedia, but I won't recount it all here. You can check out the articles for yourself.
Extended Quotation
It was then that the fox appeared.
"Good morning," said the fox.
"Good morning," the little prince responded politely, although when he turned around he saw nothing.
"I am right here," the voice said, "under the apple tree."
"Who are you?" asked the little prince, and added, "You are very pretty to look at."
"I am a fox," the fox said.
"Come and play with me," proposed the little prince. "I am so unhappy."
"I cannot play with you," the fox said. "I am not tamed."
"Ah! Please excuse me," said the little prince.
But, after some thought, he added:
"What does that mean--'tame'?"
"You do not live here," said the fox. "What is it that you are looking for?"
"I am looking for men," said the little prince. "What does that mean--'tame'?"
"Men," said the fox. "They have guns, and they hunt. It is very disturbing. They also raise chickens. These are their only interests. Are you looking for chickens?"
"No," said the little prince. "I am looking for friends. What does that mean--'tame'?"
"It is an act too often neglected," said the fox. It means to establish ties."
"'To establish ties'?"
"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 . . ."
"I am beginning to understand," said the little prince. "There is a flower . . . I think that she has tamed me . . ."
"It is possible," said the fox. "On the Earth one sees all sorts of things."
"Oh, but this is not on the Earth!" said the little prince.
The fox seemed perplexed, and very curious.
"On another planet?"
"Yes."
"Are there hunters on that planet?"
"No."
"Ah, that is interesting! Are there chickens?"
"No."
"Nothing is perfect," sighed the fox.
But he came back to his idea.
"My life is very monotonous," the fox said. "I hunt chickens; men hunt me. All the chickens are just alike, and all the men are just alike. And, in consequence, I am a little bored. But if you tame me, it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life. I shall know the sound of a step that will be different from all the others. Other steps send me hurrying back underneath the ground. Yours will call me, like music, out of my burrow. And then look: you see the grain-fields down yonder? I do not eat bread. Wheat is of no use to me. The wheat fields have nothing to say to me. And that is sad. But you have hair that is the color of gold. Think how wonderful that will be when you have tamed me! The grain, which is also golden, will bring me back the thought of you. And I shall love to listen to the wind in the wheat . . ."
***END QUOTATION*** From pages 73-74. I think this gives a good taste for the flavor of the book. The simple style. The philosophical tidbits sprinkled in here, but not fully expanded on. It could be really profound or it could just be simplistic. Either way, the reader has to do the work of interpreting it. I myself admit to just turning the pages and not losing a lot of time in contemplating the philosophy.
I don't know. 5 out of 10 stars. It was okay.
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