"Their words were not the same, but their truths were identical. Why has this high communion never yet prevented men from dying in battle against each other?"
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Wind, Sand and Stars
Before this year, I didn't know much about Antoine de Saint-Exupery aside from the fact that he wrote The Little Prince. He lived the most interesting life. He flew mail from France to Africa, and from Argentina across the Andes into Chile. He was in and out of Spain during the Spanish Civil War. He wrote the Little Prince, and in 1944, just a year after, he disappeared while flying over the Mediterranean.

I loved this book. It is one of the best travel adventure books that I have ever read. His writing style is beautiful, his storytelling phenomenal, and his personal philosophies are profoundly interesting. I can definitely see why it was named a National Geographic top 10 best adventure books of all time. It was exciting, moving, and beautiful. It didn't feel dated.
I loved his philosophy that nature is never good or bad. There is no drama in nature. That drama, that morality, those feelings of happiness and horror only occur when you throw a human in the mix. It was extremely interesting. I loved the way that the book was structured in such a way. It moved from him learning to read and feel the weather, the solitude of the desert, and the beautiful stillness he felt to his conflicting emotions surrounding the war in Spain and all of the violence, with the senselessness of it all. It was beautiful.
I think my favorite part of this book was how well it evokes the same tones of Picasso and Hemingway as they relate to the times. It has moments of great beauty, mostly in nature, that are firmly counterpointed by the horror of humanity.
ReplyDeleteI agree, the way he talks about it is amazing, the differences between the deaths in the books really drives it home. Reading this book adds so many points of reference for the Little Prince.
ReplyDelete