Comment by aweb 3 days ago
Very surprised and sad to see so many dismissive comments of the book. It's a really popular one in France for a very good reason. It's so creative, poetic and touching that I doubt you can read it and stay indifferent.
If you've never read it, do yourself a favor and do so! It's quite short, and I hope you'll like it.
I missed hearing about the 2015 version and will seek it out now. Thanks for the pointer!
I'll let the accolades speak for themselves:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Prince_(2015_film)#...
But don't read about the plot! Go in as blind as possible. The experience is much more meaningful if you don't know the story beats.
All I will say is that you have to watch it to understand how it relates to the book. :)
And outside France too!
I would add that there is something in it for all ages. I have read it many times, between ages 6 and 25 and in different languages. The later readings were for language learning without any expectations but each time I finished it, I was deeply touched.
With that it’s also a great one to read with kids.
This book got a bad reputation in Brazil because a famous actress (who supposedly isn't very bright) once said it was her favourite book.
When I finally decided to give it a try, I found it to be a very interesting read.
So, you can bet people who show disdain for it probably haven't read it. Or they have weak character and are afraid to be considered dumb by association.
Your comment made me think of Charli XCX's recent post https://itscharlibb.substack.com/p/the-realities-of-being-a-...
Who was the actress?
There are probably more people around the world who know about The Little Prince from the distinctive illustrations that show up everywhere, than there are people who have actually read the book. It's like Peter Rabbit. Everyone instantly recognizes the illustrations, but often has a hard time explaining what the book was about.
> Very surprised and sad to see so many dismissive comments of the book
I cannot see that many dismissive comments. Those I can see are things like dismissing it purely because its not recent, or because the commentor has not read it which really say more about the person being dismissive than anything else.
It is very popular (in translation) in the UK (and other Engli8sh speaking countries) too.
Well... enough bad memory of some teacher wanting us all to read and ponder this thing in class, seemingly with the confused notion that this would be some kind of lesson in psychology.
I think the author would be very surprised if he'd been there to see what amount of fluff has been generated around his nice and simple quasi-autobiographical codebook.
We were read parts of it in kindergarten. I was fascinated by the desert, at the time I loved deserts, even if I saw one only as an adult. Two years later I borrowed it from the school library. My friends teased me because they thought it is girly. I read it and found a bit confusing and boring.
Later it got more popular and adults found all kinds of deep things. It was so sentimental I've never got back to the book if I hadn't read it first as a children's book. In my mid twenties I got my own copy from a girlfriend who saw me as a little prince.
Now about a week ago I reread it again. Well, you can find all kinds of things in it but I think you should read it as a kid first time.
Children need to learn a lot of things they understand only as adults. It builds a real connection to the stories and ideas. Adults cannot absorb new thoughts anymore. They try but it's too late.
Like if you haven't read Nietzsche and Dostoevsky first time at the age of say 16 or 18 you will never be an intellectual. You didn't get the right impulses at the time. You cannot built on shallow experiences you can have after the childhood and youth.
The book has been extremely transformative for me at multiple points in my life as I've aged. If I could only recommend a single piece of fiction, it would probably be The Little Prince.
I also highly recommend the 2015 animated film adaptation. It has a rock-solid cast, and presents the classic story within entirely new layers of interpretation that speak to multiple generations at once. It's a real tearjerker that only gets more potent with age.
I'm also not sure why so many commenters here seem confused or negative towards The Little Prince. It is a timeless, culture-invariant treatise on the most precious and important facets of human existence.