Book Review: “The Little Prince”

The first time I read “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was at eight years old. The book was well written and had charming illustrations, yet I could not make any sense of it. What a disappointment! Turns out, the story was never intended for a child, but rather for a grown-up who once was a child, and years later I decided to give “The Little Prince” another chance. 

After a plane crashes in the desert, its pilot, Saint-Exupéry, gets stuck in the middle of nowhere with a broken engine and hardly any water to drink. No mechanic is around, so he decides to start the difficult repair himself. In this life or death circumstance, Saint-Exupéry meets a serious boy, introducing him to the reader as “the little prince.” 

The two become friends and we learn that the little prince left his planet of three volcanoes and a rose, to travel the universe. If the story begins to sound strange, you are not mistaken. “The Little Prince” is a fusion of an autobiography, a fantasy and a moral allegory. Some call it a “poetic tale,” others an “adult fable,” but all agree this short novella consists of many layers. 

On the surface, the author discusses eternal themes of love, friendship, loss, and soul-searching. Figuratively, he compares an open-minded, sensible world of a child to dull existences many adults choose. By using symbolic characters, like a snake and a fox, Saint-Exupéry reminds us that we often lose our true values in the chase for the wrong ideals.   

Fox’s lines, “You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.” or “It is the time you have lost for your rose that makes your rose so important.” are quoted back and forth by generations of readers. His lessons capture the essence of being human, as well as help the little prince to realize – happiness can be found in simple things.

Finally, researchers believe that in the book, Saint-Exupéry describes his own experiences: gloom of a World War II, dramatic relationships with his wife Consuelo, and the continued search for inner peace in an overall chaos. Curiously, the plane crash part of the story is a true recollection of the author’s experiences during a forced landing in the Sahara desert. 

There is no right or wrong way to interpret “The Little Prince.” Of course, Saint-Exupéry found inspiration in what was happening to the world around him – just like we all do when we create. However, he did more than tell a story of his time. He was able to distort reality just enough, so his readers could discover their own, which I did. 

I discovered not only the wisdom of the book, but also the power of children’s literature. When your heart is ready – come back and reread “The Little Prince.” And if you’ve never read it before, don’t be discouraged by its symbolism. Instead, enjoy the mystery, because as the fox said “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

Find more book recommendations in this section of my blog. Happy reading!