The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
This pearl of world literature of the twentieth century is rightly considered a work of Antoine de Saint-Exupery “The Little Prince. An incredibly moving story teaches not only children but also adults love, friendship, responsibility, empathy. In the story, the author reminds about the eternal values of life, shows two pictures of perception of the world – sensual and reasonable.
The unusual tale, which for many years has echoed in millions of hearts around the world, was written by the French writer in the midst of World War II, in 1942.
In 1935, while flying from Paris to Saigon, Saint-Exupery had a plane crash. The accident occurred in the Libyan desert and left a deep mark on Saint-Exupéry’s soul. Late memories of this incident, as well as deep feelings about the fate of the world at the mercy of fascism, resulted in a story-tale, the main character of which was a little boy.
During this period, the writer in the pages of his diary shared his innermost thoughts about the future of mankind. He was worried about the generation that had received material goods, but had lost its spiritual content. Saint-Exupery set himself the difficult task of returning to the world the lost mercy and reminding people of their responsibility for the Earth.
The work was first published in 1943 in the United States and was dedicated to a friend of the writer – Leon Vert, the famous Jewish journalist and literary critic who endured endless persecution during the war. Thus Antoine de Saint-Exupery wanted to support his friend and express his active civic position against anti-Semitism and Nazism.
It is noteworthy that all the drawings in the story were made by the writer himself, which further emphasizes his ideas set forth in the book.
