The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery | Book Review

Wrote this review a long time ago. 😛

The Little Prince lay on my Kindle bookshelf for a long time now. [Like many other books.] But what can I say about this book? What can I say apart from the fact that I should have listened to the reviews that already existed? That I should have expected to be blown away like I did? That I should have seen the wrecking ball coming at my heart? That I should have steeled myself against the disappointment that comes with a book ending too soon?

Then again, if I had done all this, would I have had the same experience as I now have? The answer is a resounding no. Being unprepared for a book such as The Little Prince is the best thing that you can do for yourself. Despite all the reviews and all the raving that has been happening on the Internet, I started reading The Little Prince with a load of skepticism that I usually reserve for the classics. [There’s that word again: ‘classic’.] And now, having read two of them back-to-back, it feels like I’m thawing towards it. Stories like The Little Prince need to have a stronger claim over the term ‘classic’. There isn’t a world that wouldn’t flock to the classics if we do this.

The Little Prince, originally written in French by Antoine de Saint-Exupery and translated to English by Richard Howard, is about a prince from a faraway planet who happens to visit planet Earth and chances upon the narrator in the Sahara Desert. The narrator, a pilot, has crash-landed there, away from any civilization and is telling us the story six years after it took place. He starts off by talking about grownups and how weird they are and takes us through the Little Prince’s narration of how he got to Earth. An unseemly bonding follows.

Simple, yet hard-hitting, The Little Prince is everything that they said it would be. And so much more. I smiled, I laughed, I was surprised – but nowhere, and I tell you, nowhere was there any negativity. It’s a satire on humankind and the drudgery of being an adult, yes. It works its magic by pointing out what is wrong with grownups, not in an accusatory manner, but in a matter-of-fact way. The Little Prince is one story that doesn’t have to talk about murder and love in weird ways to be termed a classic. [Sorry.]

The Little Prince is a fairytale-ish story, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it is only for kids. I’m close to 30 and I absolutely enjoyed it. Yes, my heart broke at a number of points in the story. Yes, I gulped back tears. Yes, I couldn’t control my emotions as the story ended and the Little Prince left this world (yes, you know what I’m talking about). And yes, I will read it again, even if it is to get my heart broken again. Despite all this, yes, I did enjoy the book in the sense that it is one that will remain close to my heart for a long, long time to come.

For those who haven’t read this book already, I just have one thing to say: Read it as soon as possible! You won’t regret it!

Rating: 5/5 stars

Until next time, keep reading and add melodrama to your life. 🙂

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