Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince)

This book has eighty-five pages of text. Thats it, eighty-five. Take away 16 pages of full-page pictures, and the book is only 69 pages long. Then, if you include the smaller pictures scattered throughout the novel you are left with, I'd say, sixty-five pages. Sixty-five pages to tell a story of such power that it would go on to sell one hundred and forty million copies, making it the third best-selling book of all time. Sixty-five.
I wrote a review for The Little Prince perhaps six months ago on Goodreads. I remember writing something along the lines of "I won't say much in this review, as nothing I say can possibly do this book justice." And you know what, I still believe in that statement. Nothing I, or anyone else can say, will be able to fully convey the depth and magnitude of Antoine De Saint-Exupery's work. But I'll do my very best.
Right at the beginning of the book, a lone pilot crashes in the middle of a desert. Hundreds of miles from any inhabited land and with enough water only for a few days, he understands that he will either have to repair the plane or die. He goes to sleep, but is awakened at daybreak by a small boy who, of all things, asks the pilot to draw him a sheep. And so, hundreds of miles away from any inhabited territory and in danger of dying, the pilot meets the little prince.
And that is, now that I think about it, all that has to do with the pilot, more or less. The story then goes on to talk about the little prince's travels, until near the end when the story returns to him and the pilot.
And to be honest, the prince's travels on there own would have been quite unremarkable. I mean, he goes to a couple planets and talks with a couple foolish people. Then he travels to earth, chats with a plant, a fox, and several more people before finding the pilot. And that, in essence, is the entire plot.
But thats the thing about this story... it talks the entire story about the little princes wanderings, and him talking to the pilot, but these things by themselves are not the story. In fact, I would say that the story isn't about the little prince at all, but the lessons he teaches us.
In the story, the little prince, and the pilot, talk about there experiences. But from each and every one of these experiences, the reader can draw a message. For an example, I'm now going to write a short snippet from the story, one of my personal favourites. To give you some background knowledge, the little prince has been wandering around earth talking to people for awhile now, and this day seems no different. This time, he has found a salesclerk.
"Good morning," said the little prince.
"Good morning," said the salesclerk. This was a salesclerk who sold pills invented to quench thirst. Swallow one a week and you no longer feel any need to drink.
"Why do you sell these pills?"
"They save so much time," the salesclerk said. "experts have calculated that you can save fifty-three minutes a week."
"And what do you do with those fifty-three minutes?"
"whatever you like."
"If I had fifty-three minutes to spend as I liked," the little prince said to himself, "I'd walk very slowly toward a water fountain..."
A simple story, and yet one that, to me, rings with... truth.
It's like when your out for a long walk on a hot day. You desperately want a glass of cool water, but lets say you're still ten minutes away from home. You could just pop into a corner store or Starbucks to get a drink. But if you deny yourself that pleasure, and instead walk the remaining distance home before getting yourself a drink, I'd be willing to bet that the water at home would be much sweeter then water ten minutes before. Just like if we were all handed a billion dollars, I honestly don't think it would keep us happy for more then a week. Achieving something through your own hard work is so much more satisfying then having it handed to you.
And I honestly don't know if that example is any good. Maybe you think that the book sounds terrible, maybe your mouse is moving to get you away from this page right now. But no matter what you think of this post, no matter what you think of anything... go read this book. I swear, the world would be a better place if everyone read this masterpiece. It is hands down the best book I have ever read.

Thank you for reading,
-Mark

Have you read The Little Prince? If so, let me know what you thought of it in the comments. Put your favorite quote from this extremely quotable book as well, if your in the mood.