Book Review: The Little Prince
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's ‘The Little Prince’ originally in French, Le Petit Prince , first
published in 1943, is a classic fable about a stranded pilot's encounter with a young prince who
travels from planet to planet in search of knowledge.
The little prince tells the story of a pilot stranded in the desert fixing his aeroplane, until
one day he meets a little boy – the Little Prince. The Little Prince tells the pilot many stories of
his magical journey from his little planet and of his encounters with different grown-ups. The
story focuses on how grown-ups are only interested in figures or matters of very little importance
in life, in which the Little Prince cannot understand. The story highlights how most grown-ups
miss out on the simple things in life, such as friendship, love and the beauty of the world because
they are too occupied with gaining wealth and power. They are tricked into believing that figures
or having money is important, but their life has no meaning.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry developed his authentic writing style that can be surely
recognized. The story is told from the first-person viewpoint. He lets the reader know only those
things that he knows himself. The author’s tone of writing may be described as ‘mysterious and
secret’, the entire story is centered around finding answers to life mysteries that cannot be
completely comprehended. He also used dexterous literary devices such as symbol, allegory,
foreshadowing, personification, and many more. On the entire story each character in the story
are deeply symbolic and even inanimate objects convey allegorical meanings. Overall, skilful
techniques used by the author in writing is very unique.
The story writing itself is kept very simple with no rhythm or rhyme, but the imagination
and maturity of the story keeps the reader interested. Along with the use of drawings by the
author to help the reader visualise some things which may be unfamiliar.
What I like most about ‘The Little Prince’ is the key message of: “It is only with the heart
that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.” –fox said.
It teaches the reader that it is important to look beneath the surface to truly understand
something, which most people fail to do as they are only interested in the value of something.
The Little Prince fox quote cannot leave the reader indifferent, as they deal with the deepest
spheres of human life. This is a very important message for any child or grown-up to understand,
in which the book demonstrates very beautifully.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince is one of the first masterpieces that can
equally satisfy the tastes of both children and adults. This charming story takes the reader on an
engaging trip all over the universe; a trip that results in fascinating discoveries and helps to
realize true values. Adventures that happen during this intergalactic space investigation keep
young readers' eyes glued to the pages of the book, whereas the novella’s hidden meaning
attracts a grown-up audience. For this reason, it is impossible to classify The Little Prince as
children's literature or adult literature: the book sends a relevant message to the readers of both
age groups. Overall The Little Prince is highly recommended to all children over the age of 8, as
younger readers may fail to understand certain words or the key message being portrayed. They
may also find the book too serious, lacking any fun or humour, while mature readers will
definitely appreciate the beautiful message in this old tale.
