I have finally read The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. While texting a friend, I said to her I think one of the issues I have with this book is that it has been so popular and pushed so hard as one of the greatest books ever written, that I think my skepticism came to light early on. I mean, how can anything be that good? If you have to force people to think something is good by pushing it so much, it has to have something wrong with it.
And one of the things I felt was wrong? It is terribly lofty. It sounds like a book that was written for adults, not for children. It deals with life and death, it is a theme of even if someone/something is not there, it is still “out there in our memories” and it is about appreciating the little things. I did not really find anything that a modern child might feel connected to. Now, in the 1940s perhaps things were less “Adult Book” and “Children Books” and it was just “A Book” so we all read the same thing, but these themes are a lot to take in.
Of course, there is also the artwork that I’ve heard great praise about. They are fine. The colors are okay, the details okay. But nothing grabbed me there. Therefore, this book is a product of its time. The colors and style are based on a different era, country and experiences. My friend informed me he was having mental health issues at the time and his wife told him to write this book. That does reinforce my feelings on things. This is a man contemplating life and death. He is dealing with war, plane crashes, injuries and being in the middle of one of the world’s most trying times.
Overall, this book is a good study into the man and his feelings. It is a good study in the era it was written in. This is a study in human nature and the right reader will find it and love it. The wrong reader will not like it. And this reader appreciates the experience and knows that a read again is possibly the answer to any issues I have.