The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

[Gazella]

Has anyone read this children's classic? I'm 21 years old, and I was wondering if The Little Prince worth reading as an adult? I know there are a lot of people who consider it to be one of their favorite childhood books but is there anyone who read the book as an adult and enjoyed the story?

[sun surfer]

I have it on my to-read list so you are not alone, and I'm older than you. I have no qualms about reading children's books if I want to. It's rare but it does happen; in fact I recently added another to my list.

[rkomar]

The story is about living and loving and what it means to be human, so adults can get a lot out of it, too. About ten years ago, I found an old record album of the story as read by Peter Ustinov, and that was my first encounter with the novel. I enjoyed it enough to find a copy of the book and read that, too.

[crich70]

Mobileread has it in English translation though for some reason it's not chaptered with a working TOC. Little Prince

[ATDrake]

I read TLP first as an adult* and quite enjoyed it. I also happen to own a copy in Latin, but that's kind of more because it's still a novelty to find "modern" books translated into Latin. And I used to have a usericon (not on this forum) of one of the illustrations with "Ceci n'est pas un chapeau", so admittedly I'm kind of biased.

I'd say give it a try. It's short and pretty nifty and doesn't talk down to the reader the way some books written with children in mind do. I consider it to be an "all-ages" read in the truest sense of the word, where there's bits aimed at children and bits aimed at adults and everyone can get some enjoyment and understanding from it.

* The actual version of TLP I read as a child was a parody in the satirical The Book of Sequels, called The Big Fat Balding Prince, and in retrospect, it's even funnier.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Gazella

Has anyone read this children's classic? I'm 21 years old, and I was wondering if The Little Prince worth reading as an adult? I know there are a lot of people who consider it to be one of their favorite childhood books but is there anyone who read the book as an adult and enjoyed the story?

I read it when I was about your age. While it was a little too precious for my taste, it was worth reading.

Anyway, it's such a little book--you might as well just read it for yourself. It's not like deciding to make a major time commitment.

[Gazella]

I was worried that the story is told in a way that only children can enjoy. Anyway, thanks everyone for your opinions. I'm going to read it sometime in the coming weeks.

I'm curious about something. Anyone know why this edition says the following:

Available for the first time in an edition for young adults, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's classic story, The Little Prince, beloved by readers of all ages, comes to life in a format perfect for teen readers.

A format perfect for teen readers? How's it different?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/054...w_bottom_links

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by Gazella

A format perfect for teen readers? How's it different?

Well, comparing the new cover art to the traditional standard one which I've seen for practically every version of the book before (you can see it if you scroll down to the French edition in the Frequently Bought Together), including the trilingual English/French/Korean edition I also own, I'm going to cynically say that what makes it "perfect for teen readers" is the less cartoon-y looking cover art.

Kind of like those Harry Potter editions with the "grown-up" still life image covers, so that people who were embarrassed about being seen to read obviously kids' books wouldn't have to be embarrassed about being seen to read obviously kids' books in public.

(Or for that matter, the alternative Discworld editions with much the same, rather than the more colourful Kirby/Kidby art which openly says "hey, I'm reading fantasy and feel no shame!")

[crich70]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Well, comparing the new cover art to the traditional standard one which I've seen for practically every version of the book before (you can see it if you scroll down to the French edition in the Frequently Bought Together), including the trilingual English/French/Korean edition I also own, I'm going to cynically say that what makes it "perfect for teen readers" is the less cartoon-y looking cover art.

Kind of like those Harry Potter editions with the "grown-up" still life image covers, so that people who were embarrassed about being seen to read obviously kids' books wouldn't have to be embarrassed about being seen to read obviously kids' books in public.

(Or for that matter, the alternative Discworld editions with much the same, rather than the more colourful Kirby/Kidby art which openly says "hey, I'm reading fantasy and feel no shame!")

Or it could be the choice of words used in the translation to an extent too. I mean the original is in French and depending on word choice and how the text reads you have either a children's book or a young adult book. Go to a bookstore and compare an illustrated copy of Treasure Island for young readers to R.L. Stevenson's original and you will see what I mean. The text is simplified for the younger (beginning) readers copy.

[ATDrake]

^

I thought about that, but apparently this new "teen edition" uses a translation dating back to 2000 or so which people were complaining about in the reviews as being not as good as the "original" 1940s era translation which they liked better?

So to me it looks like the only thing that's really changed for this particular one is the cover (and an introduction by popular YA fantasy author Gregory Maguire, which might be part of the added teen appeal as well), though I could be wrong.

[Pablo]

Originally Posted by Gazella

Has anyone read this children's classic? I'm 21 years old, and I was wondering if The Little Prince worth reading as an adult? I know there are a lot of people who consider it to be one of their favorite childhood books but is there anyone who read the book as an adult and enjoyed the story?

Marvelous book... I read it when I was very young, and re-read many years later. I don't think it's a children's book at all, unless you read it superficially.

[caleb72]

I read it in English. I read it in French. And I watched the movie.
Loved it - all three times.

Go ahead. If you don't enjoy it, it probably didn't waste much of your time.

[Hampshire Nanny]

Read it now. Be prepared to share the book with children in your life -- now or later.

[WillAdams]

One of my favourite memories is of my then girlfriend reading this to me as we paddled about a small lake in a canoe when I was about your age.

It's a lovely book, and highly recommended.

You may also wish to read _ Wind, Sand and Stars_ which is the factual angle.

There was a nifty CD-ROM version of this a while ago ( http://articles.latimes.com/2000/aug/08/news/cl-521 ) which my kids enjoyed, even though I'd already read the book to them.

[crich70]

I remember seeing a movie version when I was a lot younger. I think it was part animation and part live or maybe there were two movies and one was animation.