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The Little Prince
written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Studio : Harvest/HBJ Book
by Harvest/HBJ Book
Publisher : Harvest/HBJ Book
Released : 1982-10
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9780156465113
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 281 reviews)
List Price : $11.00
Our Price : $9.95
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Product Description |
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"In the exquisite imagery of this fairy tale, the poet-writer shares with children something of the mystic's vision and wisdom of life."--New York Public Library. |
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Americancivilwar.com Review |
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Antoine de Saint-Exupéry first published The Little Prince in 1943, only a year before his Lockheed P-38 vanished over the Mediterranean during a reconnaissance mission. More than a half century later, this fable of love and loneliness has lost none of its power. The narrator is a downed pilot in the Sahara Desert, frantically trying to repair his wrecked plane. His efforts are interrupted one day by the apparition of a little, well, prince, who asks him to draw a sheep. "In the face of an overpowering mystery, you don't dare disobey," the narrator recalls. "Absurd as it seemed, a thousand miles from all inhabited regions and in danger of death, I took a scrap of paper and a pen out of my pocket." And so begins their dialogue, which stretches the narrator's imagination in all sorts of surprising, childlike directions. The Little Prince describes his journey from planet to planet, each tiny world populated by a single adult. It's a wonderfully inventive sequence, which evokes not only the great fairy tales but also such monuments of postmodern whimsy as Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities. And despite his tone of gentle bemusement, Saint-Exupéry pulls off some fine satiric touches, too. There's the king, for example, who commands the Little Prince to function as a one-man (or one-boy) judiciary: I have good reason to believe that there is an old rat living somewhere on my planet. I hear him at night. You could judge that old rat. From time to time you will condemn him to death. That way his life will depend on your justice. But you'll pardon him each time for economy's sake. There's only one rat. The author pokes similar fun at a businessman, a geographer, and a lamplighter, all of whom signify some futile aspect of adult existence. Yet his tale is ultimately a tender one--a heartfelt exposition of sadness and solitude, which never turns into Peter Pan-style treacle. Such delicacy of tone can present real headaches for a translator, and in her 1943 translation, Katherine Woods sometimes wandered off the mark, giving the text a slightly wooden or didactic accent. Happily, Richard Howard (who did a fine nip-and-tuck job on Stendhal's The Charterhouse of Parma in 1999) has streamlined and simplified to wonderful effect. The result is a new and improved version of an indestructible classic, which also restores the original artwork to full color. "Trying to be witty," we're told at one point, "leads to lying, more or less." But Saint-Exupéry's drawings offer a handy rebuttal: they're fresh, funny, and like the book itself, rigorously truthful. --James Marcus |
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Le Petit Prince! Quel Bonheur! |
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I am fortunate enough to be able to read this in the original text, and it does lose a little something in the translation, but nonetheless communicates a wonderful message to children and adults alike. |
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Sacre bleu, is it French! |
Anyone wantin' a good yarn will be disappointed by The Little Prince...it is Existentialist Philosophy For Kids. The Gallic weltanschauung transcends translation. Read a few pages and you'll know exactly what I mean...and know that this tone will persevere the rest of the way.
For a kid's book it IS profound...though at the cost of being entertaining. No youngster will be readin' this under the covers with a flashlight and wide eyes. But it is a significant work, and should be gotten under the belt. |
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A delightful book! |
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This is a wonderful little book, one that can be enjoyed by children and adults alike and one that has enduring value. |
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The Little Prince |
I ordered four copies, one came with alot of print written in it and highlighting. Was supposed to be in excellent state and I couldn't track who sent it.
Wonderful story, but the poor state of the book detracted from me giving it as a gift...I rate the story as a 5+ but the book you sent a 1. So give it a 3 overall. |
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Man, I love this book ... |
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And I love how I ordered it on a Friday and it arrived the following Monday! I feel very satisfied with the price and promptness of my order. I just hope my nephew is satisfied with receiving a book for his 9th birthday... |
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