(Book) The Little Prince written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Ok, this is one my eternal favourites. I read this again after atleast five years. This book, like Animal Farm, can be finished in less than forty minutes, but the effect that this has on you is so profound that its essence stays with you for a long long time.

The best books, I have always believed, are the ones whose certain phrases and words come to you at the right moment; when you are feeling something similar and these words come rushing back to you. That's when you realize that the book has really been internalized.

This for me is a prime example of this. The parable of the rose in the story is one of the most moving pieces of literature that I have read. That such a seemingly complicated part of life can be explained by such a simple passage, is truly a wonder.

The book is a fairy tale parable that can be read as easily as when you are 10 years old as when you are 70. Its just that at different times in your life, you would be able to mine different meanings of the same 50 odd pages.

The little price coming down to earth after many small adventures on different planets and finally ending his journey by the side of the author who at the start of the story was pressed with more ‘urgent’ matters. In a way, the little prince is a manifestation of the lost childhood of the author himself who ‘grew up’ after he faced the cynicism and the blandness of the adults who saw a hat instead of an elephant inside a boa. This then is as much a fairy tale as much as an internal journey of self discovery – a journey that we should all undertake if we are to save ourselves lest we become completely adult.

To tell more of the book is taking away the magic. If you are reading this and haven't read the book, please do. They may be the most important 50 pages of your life….

Labels: allegory, Books, children, parable

posted by Protik Basu @ 11:44 PM