Book Review: "Little Prince

For most students, college denotes the beginning of a tangential deviation from adolescence. However, it becomes easy to neglect the nostalgia embedded in childhood that is ostensibly absent from our now "grown-up" lives.

"The Little Prince", by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, reminds of us those instances of infrequent intellect in which we existentially question the world around us.

The tale of the little prince is told through two protagonist perspectives, that of the little prince himself and also the story's narrator.

The narrator is a pilot who mainly lived in solitude until his plane crashed in the Sahara desert and was greeted by the little prince on an insatiable quest seeking what is most important in life.

The little prince had left his tiny planet known as Asteroid B-612 to journey amongst seven other planets, his last stop being Earth.

The journey of the little prince brought him into contact with an assortment of adult representatives, all of whom brought upon varying levels of frustration to the little prince.

He is quick to find that these "grown-ups" have a misunderstanding for life and that they are only concerned with figures.

Their interest in quantifiable data constructs meaning and social interactions for the "grown-ups" whose realities are based on consequences.

Much can be derived from the little prince's social interactions amongst the repertoire of adult characters. Such interactions present various scenarios of sociological importance.

The narrator tells of the little prince's first encounter with a Turkish astronomer who was a victim of ethnocentrism.

The Turkish astronomer presented data to the International Astronomical Congress but was not taken seriously until he dressed in Western garb as opposed to his traditional Turkish costume.

Much too often, we take things from other cultures for granted or apply value to such ideas as having lesser importance.

We do this based on prescribed notions of superiority that reign over our own familiar cultural perspectives and the journey of the little prince highlights this.

In addition, the little prince meets a king, a tippler, a businessman, and a lamp lighter.

Much to the similarity of the Turkish astronomy, each of these characters has an unequivocal interest in quantifiable data.

Matters of unimportance, such as
quantifiable data, are easy consumable and frequently construct the monotony of our daily lives.

As we face issues such as the failing economy, transfer rates or the grades we may receive on our next exam, we read and interpret only the figures as it becomes easy to neglect matters of true importance.

In less amount time than it would take to
complete chemistry homework, "The Little Prince" offers a quick, light-hearted tale that is full of tiny life lessons. Its chapters are "le petit" and are illustrated.

"The Little Prince" has much to offer on the matters that bring about true happiness and meaning. It turns us into lovers of his thing called life.