Nick Pateras | Le Petit Prince
BOOK REVIEW
Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Written in child-friendly fashion but doubtlessly much, much more than just a children’s book
Another of the all-time classics, you are simply depriving your mind if you’ve not read this short novella. Ostensibly targeted to and written for children, it stabs at the dour, uncreative and flock-minded character of adults by exploring the innocent Little Prince’s adventures as he travels through the universe and eventually spends time assessing Earth’s inhabitants with the author, whom he encounters in the desert. It is regrettable that this book, like so many others, is often read or prescribed to children before they can appreciate its magnitude: its true value lies in rereading it at an older age and thus I think it a worthwhile exercise for every grown-up to devote an evening to diving amongst its pages.
"All grown-ups were once children...but only few of them remember it."
So sprinkled with barely-veiled aphorisms is the book that I read every chapter twice to ensure recollection of its lessons. Amongst these that will forever stick out in my memory is the Prince’s interaction with the man who endlessly counts his stars for no reason other than being able to brag about his ownership of them. Particularly given my recent graduation from a very pro-capitalist undergraduate degree and my subsequent dash from the rat race’s starting line in an attempt to keep up with my peers, this tale struck a chord with me about the frivolity of our ambitions if they remain unfulfilling. I shan’t elaborate in much more detail on this but I do believe a reader of any background and nature will be able to draw from this book and appreciate the truisms about our behaviour that live within its metaphors.
-NP, Oct. 2013