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hadespatrochles's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
sheepysheepa's review against another edition
5.0
Ah, I feel so empty. I write this slumped in my bed. There were some chapters I could not fully understand and that's okay because I will be rereading it until I can see for myself whether the sheep has eaten the flower, the flower our little prince loves. Although I feel empty, it is not the kind where there is a hole in my heart (often happens when I finish a book) rather there is so much to think about. Maybe my heart has made room for those thought. And that is why I feel empty.
I was mistaking this book for 'The Happy Prince'. So the plot was not what I expected it to be. A happy surprise thanks to the Happy Prince!
I was mistaking this book for 'The Happy Prince'. So the plot was not what I expected it to be. A happy surprise thanks to the Happy Prince!
mrd2's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
abhishekjain's review against another edition
5.0
Such a beautiful story! Its popularity is well deserved.
ananyanoni's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
rakshit087's review against another edition
5.0
"All grown-ups were once children… but only few of them remember it."
It's one of those must read books and can be enjoyed by both children and adults alike. Loved every page of it, plus it has pictures :))
"It is only with the heart that one can see clearly. What is essential is invisible to the eye."
It's one of those must read books and can be enjoyed by both children and adults alike. Loved every page of it, plus it has pictures :))
"It is only with the heart that one can see clearly. What is essential is invisible to the eye."
jessiedev's review against another edition
5.0
my best friend in college had a tattoo of the three huge baobabs encasing the lazy man's planet, and everyone who saw it thought it was broccoli.
aylinmoon's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
thaurisil's review against another edition
4.0
This is the story of a pilot whose plane crashes in the Sahara desert. While repairing it, he meets a little prince from a foreign planet Asteroid B-612. The prince is innocent, and asks many questions, but rarely answers any. As the pilot builds his friendship with the prince, he learns many lessons about love and what matters in life.
The book was written by a French aristocrat and military pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and published posthumously at the end of WWII. The narrator's experience of being stranded in the Sahara desert with only a week's supply of drinking water left, and the loneliness of an uninhabited desert all around him, draws on Saint Exupéry's experiences as a war pilot and his time in the Sahara desert.
The prince comes from a tiny planet, where the greatest danger is from baobabs. The baobabs, when small, resemble other plants, but if they are not distinguished from rose-bushes and destroyed when small, they may potentially grow too large to be destroyed, spread all over the planet, bore through its core with their roots, and destroy the planet. It is a metaphor for Nazism, and other forms of evil. When the seedlings of evil are recognised early enough, they may be killed in their infancy. But when allowed to spread over the planet, they grow wild and uncontrollable, and cause much destruction.
The prince has a flower on his planet. It appeared one day, and while beautiful and heavily perfumed, it is also tempestuous and arrogant. The prince learns that while the flower thinks highly of itself with is beauty and its thorns, it is really a vulnerable creature whose thorns are useless for protecting it from predators. He waters it and protects it, placing a glass globe over it every night to protect it from the wind. When he arrives on Earth, he finds a garden with five thousand roses just like his flower, and he realises that although his flower pretended to be special, it was not. He lies down and cries. Later, he meets a fox, who asks him to tame it, with "taming" meaning "to establish ties". Through his friendship with the fox, he learns that both his rose and the fox are special. As he tells the other roses, "But in herself alone she is more important that all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that I have watered".
The rose was apparently inspired by Saint-Exupéry's wife, with whom he had a tumultuous relationship, but whom he loved. The little prince talks of how the five thousand roses are empty, and that what he is looking for cannot be found in five thousand roses, but can be found in one single rose. It is a beautiful story of loving the ones close to us even when they are far away, and loving them in spite of their flaws, and having the grace to pretend not to see their weaknesses, and to help them hide their flaws.
All this comes after the prince travels through seven planets, including the Earth. On the other six planets, he meets a king who rules nobody, a conceited man who asks to be admired though there is no other being on his planet to be compared to, a tippler who drinks to forget that he is ashamed of drinking, a businessman who constantly counts the stars he owns although there is no benefit to either him or the stars for owning them, a lamplighter who lights and extinguishes a streetlamp every minute and never gets the sleep he craves, and a geographer who knows nothing about geography because there are no explorers on his planet. Each of these characters gain their pride and identity from ridiculous notions of importance and self-worth, and the prince increasingly believes that adults are extraordinary. It is the fox who tells him what is important: "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
There are many other gems in this book. Reading it first in my adulthood has caused it to lose some of its appeal, but I think it would be a magical book to read as a child.
The book was written by a French aristocrat and military pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and published posthumously at the end of WWII. The narrator's experience of being stranded in the Sahara desert with only a week's supply of drinking water left, and the loneliness of an uninhabited desert all around him, draws on Saint Exupéry's experiences as a war pilot and his time in the Sahara desert.
The prince comes from a tiny planet, where the greatest danger is from baobabs. The baobabs, when small, resemble other plants, but if they are not distinguished from rose-bushes and destroyed when small, they may potentially grow too large to be destroyed, spread all over the planet, bore through its core with their roots, and destroy the planet. It is a metaphor for Nazism, and other forms of evil. When the seedlings of evil are recognised early enough, they may be killed in their infancy. But when allowed to spread over the planet, they grow wild and uncontrollable, and cause much destruction.
The prince has a flower on his planet. It appeared one day, and while beautiful and heavily perfumed, it is also tempestuous and arrogant. The prince learns that while the flower thinks highly of itself with is beauty and its thorns, it is really a vulnerable creature whose thorns are useless for protecting it from predators. He waters it and protects it, placing a glass globe over it every night to protect it from the wind. When he arrives on Earth, he finds a garden with five thousand roses just like his flower, and he realises that although his flower pretended to be special, it was not. He lies down and cries. Later, he meets a fox, who asks him to tame it, with "taming" meaning "to establish ties". Through his friendship with the fox, he learns that both his rose and the fox are special. As he tells the other roses, "But in herself alone she is more important that all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that I have watered".
The rose was apparently inspired by Saint-Exupéry's wife, with whom he had a tumultuous relationship, but whom he loved. The little prince talks of how the five thousand roses are empty, and that what he is looking for cannot be found in five thousand roses, but can be found in one single rose. It is a beautiful story of loving the ones close to us even when they are far away, and loving them in spite of their flaws, and having the grace to pretend not to see their weaknesses, and to help them hide their flaws.
All this comes after the prince travels through seven planets, including the Earth. On the other six planets, he meets a king who rules nobody, a conceited man who asks to be admired though there is no other being on his planet to be compared to, a tippler who drinks to forget that he is ashamed of drinking, a businessman who constantly counts the stars he owns although there is no benefit to either him or the stars for owning them, a lamplighter who lights and extinguishes a streetlamp every minute and never gets the sleep he craves, and a geographer who knows nothing about geography because there are no explorers on his planet. Each of these characters gain their pride and identity from ridiculous notions of importance and self-worth, and the prince increasingly believes that adults are extraordinary. It is the fox who tells him what is important: "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
There are many other gems in this book. Reading it first in my adulthood has caused it to lose some of its appeal, but I think it would be a magical book to read as a child.
deepat's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
A crazy, funny, deep book. There were so many parts that I read and reread, to fully absorb the meaning. I loved how the author was poking fun at humans and their strange ways. The chapter about the businessman was so dangerously close to the truth, omg! So was the chapter about the trains. A quick read too.
“It is only with one’s heart that one can see clearly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.”