The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry - 1 of 2

2020 Reading Challenge - Day 182

July 1, 2020

Book 52 - The Little Prince
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1943)
 Part 1 - page 1 to 50
Reading Time - 30 minutes

I have read The Little Prince several times over the last few decades and I always read it with fresh yes. It is a charming little story, deceptive in its simplicity. Every time I read it, I think I might come closer to the meaning at the heart of this fable... and every time I fail!

Oh sure, there are truths within it that I get... that we adults have complicated life to a ridiculous degree... that we focus on things that are not important at all... and yet I always leave the book wondering... But what does it mean!!??

In the first half of the book, we meet the Aviator (narrator) who tells us how his faltering plane landed in the desert far from civilization. And how he met the Little Prince who asked him to draw him a sheep. The Aviator, not being the best artist, offered several sheep to the Little Prince who rejected them all. With a bit of a flippant attitude, the Aviator then drew a box (with holes) for the Little Prince and told him the sheep was inside the box. Excellent!! During the course of their conversations, the Aviator peaces together the story of the Little Prince and how he came to leave his tiny Little Planet with its three volcanoes... and a precious new flower. The new flower was a bit demanding and the Little Prince headed off on a voyage which took him to several different planets. We aren't told how he managed the trip... that is not important! He meets a number of characters - a King, a Geographer, a Tippler, and others... and takes away important lessons from each.

I read a few articles about The Little Prince... one author said it's a story about war (it was published in 1943). And that the Little Prince's precious flower represents his wife... That explanation seems like... and adult explanation. Because we adults desperately want to know what something means... but as soon as we pin it to the wall, dissect it and say "Voila - this is what it means!"... we have lost it. That, I think, is what the Little Prince would say... asking about the meaning of the book is an adult question... and is not important. Can we just enjoy the story as it is? Without attempting to dissect it and squeeze a deeper meaning out of it?