THE LITTLE PRINCE
BOOK REVIEW
By Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The Author
This author was a military pilot who won several literary awards in France for his literary work as poet too. He wrote this novel during he was exiled in the United States. He was there in a personal mission to persuade its goverment to quickly enter the war against the Nazi Germany. Saint-Exupéry was a succesful commercial pilot before World Warr II, working air mail routes in Europe, Africa and South America.
In his memories the author recount that he has used his aviation experiences in the Sahara to create more of his books. In fact, he recognised that the polt of this novel is based on it.
When he wrote the novel he was very ill and he never saw how succesfully The Little Prince has been.
Summary
During eight days both of them are in the desert trying to repair the plane and the little boy explains the pilot why he is he on Earth. Here begin a great friendship between two people who are at the same time different and very similar.
REVIEW
Most of the story explain why the little prince is on Earth. He leaves his planet because is in love with a rose but she is taming him and he decides to explore the rest of the universe. Through the travel that the little boy make we can learn which are the values that people must to follow being adults or children (frindship, humility, democracy) and what things we have to value.
It is an adventure book but we can think it is a drama because of the ending is a little sad although it is lovely too.
There are two main characters. On the one hand the pilot, who try to recover the child thinking. And on the other hand the little prince, a very special person who came from a tiny planet where things are different, where what is essential is invisible to the eye.
There are more characters that help the little prince to understand the adult behaviour. These are a flower, a fox, a snake, a king, a conceited man, a drunkard, a business man, a lamplighter and an eldery geographer.
I suggest this book for children and also for adults. It is a novel written with a easy vocabulary so young people can understand it easily and the main message is for all of us.
Relevant Vocabulary
- Growns-up: adults
- Forberance: patience
- Twilight: light after sunset
- Thorn: spine
- Tippler: person who enjoys alcoholic drink
- To tame: to tie
- Sorrow:extreme sadness