Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Book Review: The Little Prince

The Little Prince




I. Summary


In the first part of the novel, a man, who is the narrator, is disappointed with the world of adults because they have no imagination and have all the wrong priorities. He’s had no one he could really talk to, and has led a pretty lonely life.
And viola! A kid who is sitting in the sandy floor of the hot dessert he found. The narrator meets this little guy in the Sahara, far, far away from all human habitation. The narrator, who is a pilot, has had an accident with his plane and has been forced to land in the desert. The little prince, he discovers, is visiting from another planet. The two immediately hit it off and become good friends over the course of a week.
So, the little prince is prince of what, anyway? We learn that he lives on an asteroid named B-612, which is as big as a house. On it, there are three tiny volcanoes that come up to his knees: two are active, and he uses them to warm his breakfast; one is extinct, and he uses it as a footstool. And most importantly, on his planet is a flower whom he loves.
This flower is ill-tempered and vain, and her all-round bad behavior drives the prince away. But on the day of his departure, she admits she loves him and regrets that she never expressed it before. In any case, the prince has decided to leave, so leave he does, though the whole situation has that icky-sickly sheen of a bad break up.
The prince visits several tiny asteroids/ planets, which are inhabited by all sorts of strange characters—a king, a conceited man, a merchant, and so on—who are selfish and petty and successfully convince the little prince that adults are weird. Finally, he makes his way to Earth where he meets a wise fox who teaches him about trust and friendship. The fox’s lessons help the prince realize that he loves his flower, and that she is unique and special because of the relationship they share.
When he meets the narrator, the prince recounts his adventures to him and the narrator gets to share in the truths on life and love that the little guy has picked up along the way. After eight days in the desert, the narrator is out of water and the plane engine is starting to look unfixable. He and the little prince trek in the desert looking for a well and miraculously find one; also, the engine makes a speedy and surprising recovery.
So, all’s well that ends well, right? Hold onto your pants. We’re not done yet.
The little prince wants to return home to his tiny planet and his beloved flower. The way this is done, apparently, is to get bitten by a poisonous desert snake. This method sounds dubious to the narrator, but the prince is all about it. The snake bites the prince, who then collapses and disappears.
The book ends six years after the narrator met the prince. Of course, the narrator still misses his friend. So he wants us to keep looking for the prince, just like he is, and he asks us to inform him immediately if we ever spot the little guy.

II. Reflect –    It is funny to think of when we were kids, we did everything we  can just to let our emotions get through; crying, shouting, throwing tantrums and even acting out. But now that we have finally grown up and mastered the skill of speaking, why does it is hard for us to say or express how we really feel. This is what I have realized by reading this book. Grown-ups are really weird. We tend to tongue-tied ourselves thinking it is the best way to end up things-but it is a fallacy. We are creating our own advance presumptions, consequently, we are scare to know what the truth is. We cannot even decipher the things that are obviously IMPORTANT, unless it is too late.
Connect – like the Little Prince, we share the same emotional estate; leaving the one whom you treasured. The month of February is said to be the Love Month, but I guess it is not. By this root, I have realized two things I should always embedded in my mind for now on; we could not say what will be the future whatever we try to avoid things to mess up; and do not expect things in optimistic deem with, nothing more nothing less. In this constant bizarre world, the word “forever” does not exist at all. Maybe, this word was formulated by someone who was daydreaming and afraid of reality. However, I believe that things happened for certain a reason.
Question – I wonder where would be the Little Prince now. Is he still roaming around our planet or rather on other planets? or in other dimension or other universe? Is he would visit someday his earthly being friend? By chance, if his earthly being friend will meet their paces again, I guess this is fate for them to reconcile. Another thing, why did the Little Prince bestow “attachment” to his earthly friend when he was planning to leave him in the first place? Did he do it for the sake of his friend or he did it for his selfish justification?
Predict – I assume, the next time the Little Prince will love again (as he did to the Rose), he will love that one like it’s his first love, thus than to play safe with it. Taking up risk is not bad at all; it is not a sign of ignorance but rather is a symbol of a strong person who was challenged and trained by time. 

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