It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post so I thought I’d start where I left off on the 30 day writing challenge. I’m going on holiday soon so I won’t be able to follow it strictly but it’s good practice to get into the habit of writing more frequently.
Choosing a favourite book is always a difficult task. All I need to do is cast an eye over my bookshelf and there are loads of potential options. I remember the books that got me back to reading again when I couldn’t read for a while: Educated, Persepolis, Maus, My sister, The Serial Killer. I remember the book my Mum read to me when I was in the hospital, My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell and hearing her laugh at some of the chaos that always seemed to follow his family everywhere. Then there are the books I love to re-read — the adventures and twists of The Beach by Alex Garland, and Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan. But if I have to pick a favourite it would have to be Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry for its simplicity, creativity and wisdom.
It is a treasure of a book. For those of you who don’t know it, it’s about a pilot, the book’s narrator, who has crashed his plane in the middle of a desert and who stumbles upon a little man from another planet who is in love with a rose. While this may seem a bit whacky there are two important messages.
Firstly, childhood imagination and curiosity are far more valuable than material things and figures. Creativity is right at the start of this book with the drawing of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. Adults think it is a hat and it is children who see the real image. I actually got this as a tattoo on my ankle to remind me that there are different ways to view things and to always be creative and imaginative. Something that has always stuck with me as well is adult’s fascination with numbers, which the author demonstrates with the following quote: ‘When you tell them about a new friend, they never ask you the kind of questions that should be asked, such as: “What kind of voice does he have?” “What are his favourite games?” “Does he collect butterflies?” Instead they ask: “How old is he? How much money does his father earn?” They really do imagine this is the best way to discover what sort of person he is!’ And the same with identifying a house, it’s how much does it cost as the first question instead of whether there are geraniums in the windows and doves on the roof. Of-course with a message like this the book does tend to glorify children as being able to see the most important things in life, which when you’ve seen a toddler have a tantrum over eating their pees you realise it isn’t always true. But there is no harm in tapping into your inner child when it comes to creativity and curiosity.
The second important message is about friendship and the links we make with our loved ones. There is the often-referenced quote: “This is my secret. It is very simple: you can only see well with your heart. The essential is invisible to the eyes.” These things like love, peace, tolerance, and friendship are not tangible and measurable but they are the most important elements to a life well lived. I especially like the emphasis on how loving someone makes them unique to you.
This book has been described of as many things. Indeed, in one article it is described as a war story. ‘Not an allegory of war, rather, a fable of it, in which the central emotions of conflict — isolation, fear, and uncertainty — are alleviated only by intimate speech and love.’ I disagree as I think this isn’t necessarily tied to war but rather man’s journey through life in general. However, what is good to remember, and it certainly shines through in this book is the importance of the person, not the number. Saint-Exupéry wanted to rescue the person, not the statistic common in war reporting.
My other favourite quote in here is: ‘’What makes the desert beautiful,’ said the little prince, ‘is that somewhere it hides a well…’” And this idea too that it is the time you give to something that makes it precious. It’s through walking through the desert in search of this well, finally finding it and putting the effort in to heave the water out that makes the water taste especially sweet. In an age of convenience and comfort, this is useful to remember.
This book isn’t a long book nor does it have a complex plot. But it does manage to stick with you after reading, most of all the message that you can’t quantify or measure the important things in life. We gain meaning through our relationships with people and they turn even the stars into reminders of their presence. At once the world seems vast but also contained. At once le petit prince seems an alien but also a wise observer of human nature and some of our weaknesses. Life may not be rosy all the time, but sometimes there is a special rose just for you.
