Book Discussion: The Little Prince ~ Caution May Contain Spoilers!

This is such a short book I didn't think there was really any point to having two threads. I haven't finished re-reading it yet, so don't want to say anything until I do, other than it's wonderful to be revisiting this story, I love it. I started smiling as soon as I saw the elephant in the snake :-)

What's everybody else think?

It's one of the enduring images I have too. Youc an so easily imagine a young chil rying to explain to a bemused adult why this hat shaped drawing is really an elephant and a snake. I just hope I always retain the sense of wonder to appreciate elephants wherever I might find them.

I'll start it tonight. I saw a fox this morning as I was taking my constitutional. It made me think it's time to start rereading.

I'm getting ready to start too. I've never read it in English before--read it in French in tenth grade or so--so I expect I'll pick up on a lot of stuff I missed now that I'm reading instead of deciphering.

I have it in French, too. That's where I learned the verb "to laugh."

#1 What's everybody else think? " C'est un chapeau"

I'm just kidding - I love it. It's got to be one of the best first chapters ever.

My only copy is also in French and given that I really have spoken very little French since I took A level French, which is longer ago than I really care to admit, I might be a little slow.

hahahahah! I am reading away in English, making progress, and thinking: "ah, I should go find a copy in French". Especially since I joined in a public French discussion group last Tuesday. I love the book and I hope I can find the time to find it, and read it, in French, too.

I reread Le Petit Prince (in French, obviously) earlier this year. It was easier to pick up after a 10 years than I thought it would be. I was able to infer the meanings for most words that I didn't know. I actually read it to myself out loud, which was fun.

I also think I got more out of it this read-through. I first read it back in high school and I'm not sure I appreciated it as much then.

I first read it in Spanish many years ago. (I don't know where my Spanish copy is at the moment, though! :( ) And then a friend sent me a French edition from Switzerland years later. I haven't gone through that one all the way yet. Might do that soon.

I also want to get an English copy now...!

Oh, and incidentally, I'm planning on reading through the list of books mentioned in "LOST" and this is one of them! :D (I don't know if I'll have the time/money/inclination to read ALL, though, especially not before the final season starts on January!)

I looked for my old hard back (English) copy last night and couldn't find it. I suspect it's been liberated by a child. Not feeling up to the French, I picked up a paperback edition I bought that also contains some of his other work. This translation was done in 2000. I had no idea there was a new translation. It'll be interesting to see how it compares with the older one.

I had owned a copy in French since high school, but never learned enough to read it... I finally picked up a copy in English this year and read it for the first time. Such a profound little story.

So, OK, back to the book. Don't you just love the King who changes his commands so that the people acting independently are suddenly, without their being even consulted, doing exactly what the King is telling them to do. Does this remind anyone of anyone?

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. It's too bad more grown ups don't read The Little Prince and learn lessons from it.

I hadn't read it before now. Very glad I did. What a great book. I have to buy my own copy now, because the one borrowed from my library is now filled with post-its with notes. When I reread a book I like to see what I thought of it the first time, so I am simply forced to buy a copy, so I can save my notes :-)

I love the passage about the elephant in the snake. A short passage, but it says so much about the differences between children and adults. To bad we grow up

I was given this book by a friend when I was in my teens. She raved about it, it left me so cold I couldn't/wouldn't pick it up again. I was going to get it and read it again with my adult mind, but I see I've gotten rid of it. Now I may never know, but you all intrigue me with your love for it.

I response to MrsLee, did anyone see My Dinner With Andre? At this point, I think I understand where Andre was coming from. I know it probably makes me seem like a person who no longer sees the elephant, but given the life of whimsy I actually lead, I'm pretty sure I'm not. In any case, I'm glad so many of you enjoy the book.

Psst... LG...

The elephant was ~INSIDE~ the boa. That'w why you couldn't see it...

Wow, that's deep, WHL.

Yes, deep inside the boa...

OK, kids, let's get back to the deeper meanings in the book.....

(-;

Gotta say, I found perverse pleasure in that cartoon!

Oh noes! :(

That's one of those jokes I hate myself for enjoying and it makes me laugh out loud!

I worked with a kid once who looked like the drawings of the Little Prince. I loved reading that book to him and he loved that he klooked like the drawings. Ah, sweet memories.

It is such fantastic book! So many messages and lessons without being too heavy handed. I have such vivid memories of the scenes in that book.

I've finally managed to review it here I'm sure it needs spellchecking idotproofing and the like. I'll get around to it.

I did actually find the middle section where the Prince is visiting all the other asteroids a little bit too heavy handed. They are all too obviously lessons for a child, don't be greedy or arrogant or bossy etc.

Perhaps though the rose is my favourite life lesson. Some things are special just because they're yours, and the correlated lesson, you can makes anything special by putting the effort into caring about them. Somehow children's toys today that come with all the bright buttons and noises don't seem as inspiring of care as an old rag puppet does.

For those who don't want to buy a copy, there are free versions available on wiki, and MobileRead.

I think this is the first time I have read the entire book. I've read a chapter or two, thought 'well, that's cute', put it down and never picked it up again. Can you tell I was never a Winnie-ther-Pooh fan?

I agree with much of reading-fox's review. I especially think the ending of your review is lovely, poetic even.

But, I see the piece as one work with one overriding theme from the first page boa constrictor to the middle moralistic section and finally to the little prince's death: things aren't always what they seem.

A volcano can be extinct (but you never know). People can proclaim that they are doing IMPORTANT work--but are they? A rose can be the only blossom of its sort in the universe. But maybe it isn't. A field can be full of identical roses--and yet they aren't identical and can be loved as individuals. A rose can say it is frail, but is it? And what is death if not an onward journey?

I'm listening with my heart for the stars' laughter like tinkling bells ...... I haven't found it yet but maybe it's because I haven't loved them enough yet. I'm working at it.

I'm the sort that doesn't believe that the sheep would ever, ever, ever eat the rose.

edited to add an R--instead of IMPORTANT work I had written IMPOTANT--which is a slip I find interesting.....

Your review is charming, reading_fox. If that doesn't persuade people to read it, nothing will.

Does anyone remember the movie version from the 70s? I only saw it once, but Bob Fosse danced the snake. Whew!

I dimly recall a movie that I saw in Somerset West c. 1973. Couldn't tell you much more than that, tho'. (Thinks: if it reached that particular flea-pit then, it must have been quite elderly already ...)

I've added the 70's musical to my Netflix queue....(which is almost 400 movies long, thanks in good part to LT). Besides Fosse dancing the snake, Gene Wilder is the fox which reviews say is sort of creepy and menacing.

There are two more versions of TLP on Netflix. Once is a 26 episode cartoon series; one is a remake done in claymation. Neither called out to me to add them, unless someone remembers them as outstanding.

I wasn't very enthused by The Little Prince. I understand what it's trying to say but it didn't appeal to me very much. I think we can appreciate and love things in general without having to make that one meaningful connection. It doesn't make our appreciation any less important, especially to the person doing the loving. Parts of The Little Prince seemed to belittle that. Sorry to be a party-pooper :o(

Hi sanddragon--I think it's very boring when everyone has the same view of a book. Do you mind elaborating a bit on the parts you thought belittled the person doing the loving?

Watched the musical The Little Prince. 3.5 stars. But I LOVED Gene Wilder as the fox--thought he was the best part.

Are we about ready to start the Picture of Dorian Gray?