I have to admit that, until this week, I never realized how popular The Little Prince actually was. It has inspired films, works of opera and ballet, and even a Japanese Museum. In April of 2017, The Little Prince, excluding religious texts, became the most translated book in the world. A copy of this story now exists in 300 languages. It clearly has made a name for itself, and after a week in its pages, I’ve started to realize why. For those not familiar, the story is of an aviator who crashes in a desert and befriends a golden-haired prince from another world. Through the recounting of his journeys, we witness a tale told in a charmingly simplistic and almost childish style. It’s a story of multiple tiny planets, busy businessman, foolish kings, wise foxes, prideful roses, and permanent sunsets. The characters portrayed in The Little Prince’s story are so sweet and mysterious yet at the same time, scarily real.
I’ve had the privilege of being able to read this book twice: once when I was a child and once now, where I’ve regrettably outgrown my childhood. Reading the book for a second time felt like a distant memory, almost like recalling a memory that never happened or feeling a sense of nostalgia for a childhood I never had. I remembered very little from when I read this book so many years ago, but the little I did remember, is what I think makes this book so enjoyable for all ages. I had completely forgotten the plot: the story of the aviator stuck in the desert and the specifics of the tales of the little prince. But I did recall one thing from reading that book so long ago: an emotion; well actually a set of emotions. They were vague, but I did remember feeling similar things when I read it for the first time. I felt satisfied with the simplicity of the prince’s life, I felt frustrated with the illogical lifestyles of the adults in the novel, and I felt… well, I don’t know how to describe the third emotion I felt. I’ll call that emotion libo. I made it up. Libo is the feeling you get after you bid farewell to someone you’ve known for only a short time, but you feel as if you had been best friends for a long time. You know you shouldn’t be that sad. You only just met them. But you can’t help it. Libo is a mixture of confusion and bittersweet resentment. I felt libo. That’s what I think makes this book so impactful, because whether I’m 10 or 20, The Little Prince is a book that can always make me feel.
The book for next week is Of Mice and Men and since The Little Prince is such a quotable tale, here are some of my favorite quotes:
All grown-ups were children first. (But few of them remember it.)
It is such a mysterious place, the land of tears.
And my favorite:
“I am looking for friends. What does that mean — tame?”
“It is an act too often neglected,” said the fox. “It means to establish ties.”
“To establish ties?”
“Just that,” said the fox. “To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world….”