Thursday, April 28, 2016

X: Antoine St.Expuery & THE LITTLE PRINCE

“It is such a secret place, the land of tears.”  -Antoine De Saint-Exupéry

I'm cheating a little here. I enjoyed Antoine De Saint-Exupéry's THE LITTLE PRINCE (Harcourt, MG) when I was a kid, and part of the author's name makes the X sound. So, close enough. The story is about a prince from outer space dishing to a pilot about the asteroids he has visited and who he met there- a bossy king ruling no one, a vain man only hearing praise, a drunk person drinking to forget he was an alcoholic, a businessman laying claim on the stars, a lamplighter following instructions without question, and a geographer refusing to explore.

If this book is a Buzzfeed article, it would be titled "6 Types of Contradictory People You'd Meet in the Universe." Told with a delicate balance between dreaminess and cynicism, I found the little prince's observations similar to ironies I can't help noticing in some people when I'm feeling less dreamy and more cynical (no delicate balancing here). Contradictory people I notice include rude customer service employees, anti-bullying advocates who bully, leaders who are minions, dishonest people who preach integrity, people who have melodramatic meltdowns to show how "tough" they are, people who criticize others for the exact stuff that they themselves do...and the list goes on. 

Have you read  Antoine De Saint-Exupéry's THE LITTLE PRINCE? Let's get cynical! Are you familiar with any of the contradictory people I listed? Can you think of other examples?

13 comments:

Seena said...

I'm so glad you cheated. My friend lent me this book a good 12 years ago and at that time, I really did not make much of it. But now I want to read it again. And Love how you translated (summarized) it for buzzfeed! That was funny!!:D
Seena
#AtoZChallenge - X is for Xanax

Pat Hatt said...

A little cheat is fine. Yeah, there are plenty of contradictory people far and near.

M.J. Fifield said...

I read this book in high school, in French, as part of my French class. I should read it in English some time. I'd probably get more out of it.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

If you're a Minion, you're not leading.
I've heard of the book but never read it.

Sherry Ellis said...

I haven't read this book. And I'm okay with your cheating on the X word- it works for me. I've met a lot of contradictory people like the ones you've listed. Not easy to get along with them!

The Silver Fox said...

Don't worry about fudging the X word. I had even greater trouble over on my blog. :)

Liz A. said...

Contradictory people are rather common. They don't really get how contradictory they are. They tend to project their foibles onto other people, complaining about them, not realizing that they are criticizing themselves.

I once saw part of The Little Prince in a French class. In French.

Liz A. from Laws of Gravity

Jeffrey Scott said...

I do remember reading this when I was younger, but don't really recall what it was all about. Thanks for the refresher. You sure do meet some odd people in space. Douglas Adams taught me a thing or two about that also.

Jennifer R. Hubbard said...

So many people I respect adore this book that I have tried to like it. But it just isn't my cup of tea. I suppose because I tend to prefer concrete realism!

Random Musings said...

I'm so sure I read this when I was young although I can't for the life of me remember anything about it so I am either mistaken, or it didn't leave a lasting impression on me!
Debbie

Elizabeth said...

Yep, pretty sure I have met or seen examples of most of those contradictory people before. I've heard of this book, but never read it.

JazzFeathers said...

I've read the Little Prince a couple of times, both in childhood and adulthood, and I enjoyed it both times... if for differeent reasons.
It's a very profound book, I sensed it even back when I was a kid.

Claire Annette said...

I think this was a brilliant way to utilize the letter X. I read and reread The Little Prince. We even read it in my high school French class. My tattered copy has a place on my shelf of favorite books.

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