No.79 - The Little Prince

We've officially hit the 70s, hurrah! And what better book to start than with Antoine de Saint-Exupery's classic Le Petit Prince, or The Little Prince. 

I would certainly call reading this book an experience, and to be honest i'm not sure if it's a good one or a bad one. I've literally just put this book down, and my over-riding emotions right now are that of bafflement, confusion and possibly a little sadness! What a bizarre book! Within the first few pages it had me thinking of the twentieth century Modernist texts that I had studied during my degree, with their symbolism and philosophical approach to, and examination of, modern life. It seemed a very grown-up book, yet it seem to deride grown-ups and their outlook on the world, in a way that Peter Pan or Roald Dahl might be proud of! I was thoroughly confused. In front of me was a book that I had initially associated with adult literature, yet it spoke to me in the voice of children's fiction....

This is the way the book begins,

But look again, it is in fact not a hat, but a boa constrictor eating an elephant, from the outside. This surreal image really appealed to me, and I began warming to my narrator! Especially when I was then presented with this, 

A boa constrictor eating an elephant, from the inside! As amusing as this was, it was all making an important point; grown-ups forget how to use their imagination, and have to have all the obvious things explained to them! Very Roald Dahl don't you think! 

The story, in which a pilot stranded in the Sahara Desert meets a Little Prince from outer space, is punctuated with philosophical and moral moments such as these. On the official Little Prince website I am told that it is a story of a grown-up meeting his inner child, and this makes a lot of sense, but also no sense at all, a recurring theme in most of the book! I tried so hard to understand the deeper elements of this book, yet struggled to understand quite what the point was. It seemed to be stuffed full of comments on humanity, responsibility, vice, greed, selfishness, ignorance, the perils of growing up, the plight of the grown-up, love, grief, friendship, childhood, and happiness. These can be seen as The Little Prince journeys across space visiting various planets, each home to another personified vice of man. 

If we are to believe the idea of an adult meeting with the inner child then the ending seems to make sense. The Little Prince must leave, and like in all good children's books that deal with magic, be it Mary Poppins or Peter Pan, this way of looking at the world must be given up, isolated within childhood and never cross over into adulthood, a time of responsibility and sense. However, the narrator does ask us to keep a look out for the return of The Little Prince, just in case he can relive a glimmer of this childlike outlook on life. There is an element of sadness here, as if he, as an adult, longs for a life that is much simpler and happier. However, you could also say that the Prince was in fact a hallucination of a desperate man, stranded in the desert, slowly loosing consciousness. It's hard to tell. So many questions and things to make you think, and all squished into just around 90 pages!

I had heard of this book prior to reading it, and had been told it was a classic of children's literature loved by children and adults alike. But this was all I knew. I had no idea what is was about, or what made it so special. I'm afraid to say, i'm still a little in the dark. However, here are a few things that I do know about The Little Prince, 

• 150 million copies of the book have been sold worldwide.
• There have been 300 translations.
• 400 million people and counting have read it!
• There's a film, i've seen the trailer and it looks quite good! 
• There was a The Little Prince TV series, which was shown in 50 countries. 
• There's a The Little Prince musical.
• There was a 4D ride shown in theme parks across the world!
• There is a Le Petit Prince shop in Paris full to the brim with official merchandise!
• There is a charity foundation.
• In France you can go to The Little Prince theme park.
• In Japan you can visit The Little Prince Museum.
• In Korea you can go to The Little Prince Village.
• This year an astronaut took a figurine of The Little Prince to the International Space Station!!

So clearly, there is something rather special about this book, and it's name sake! It is quaint, and the image of The Little Prince alone on his asteroid, barely bigger than him, with his 3 volcanos, his rose and his baobab shoots, is one not easily forgotten, yet I do wonder what the rest of it is for.... Maybe there's a secret meaning that i'm yet to discover. I will probably read this book again just to make sure i'm not missing anything. 

The Little Prince was one of Antoine de Saint-Exupery's last books. In 1944, just 2 years after it's publication, he died when his plane was shot down whilst on a mission for the Free French Forces. I likened Saint-Exupery to Roald Dahl at the start of this post, and it strikes me as a fitting comparison. Here are two men, both airforce pilots during the second world war, seeing things that were no doubt truly horrific, and being asked to defend their countries and risk their lives no matter what was thrown at them. It's not surprising really that they lost their faith in the adult world is it?

Thanks for reading, L x

Next up a look at Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones, the first book in her Chrestomanci series. 

*All the information about The Little Prince phenomenon and the author's life was found here and here.

No. 80 - Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

This post marks a huge milestone in my book reading journey! Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S Eliot is number 80 on the list, which means that I am 20% of the way through my challenge! Hurrah! I'm really enjoying reading all the books, whether I've read them before or not. Coming up are some books that I fondly remember, and some that I've never even heard of, so that should be fun! I've also got a few other things up my sleeve too, so watch this space! 

T.S Eliot was one of the most famous poets, critics and playwrights of the twentieth century. Despite having written some of the most infleuntial poetry and prose works of that time, surprisingly his best selling book has been Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats! This intriguing work about the nature of cats started its life as a selection of poems created to entertain the children of Eliot's close friends. It was later published as a book by Faber, in 1939. I love the cover of the Faber edition above, being quite the fan of an Axel Scheffler drawing! 

These days I would say we are most familiar with the poems as being the lyrics used in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats, which was a very successful stage show indeed. So it was tricky to read the poems without putting them to the tunes that I knew! Especially Macavity! It helped to listen to T.S Eliot reading the poems himself, which you can do here! It's definitely worth a listen. 

In the 14 poems in this collection we meet an array of characters; Mr Mistoffelees the Original Conjuring Cat, Gus the Theatre Cat, Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteaser, Jennyanydots, Rum Tum Tugger, the Jellicles Cats, Old Deuteronomy, the Pekes, the Pollicles, The Great Rumpuscat, Macavity the Mystery Cat, and Bustopher Jones the Cat About Town. By far the best thing about these poems is the amazing names Eliot has given to all the cats, and the way he talks about those names. In the first poem 'The Naming of Cats', he explains that cats have three names, an everyday name such as Peter, James or George (fair enough), then a name that's a little more extravagant than that, for example, Munkustrap or Bombularina (woah!!), and finally a name that only they know, and we will never find out! To my great pleasure, I have just read that Eliot was most certainly a 'cat person' and some of his cats had equally as marvellous and peculiar names! Eliot had cats called Pettipaws, Jellylorum, George Pushdragon, and Wiscus!*

This collection of poems was a little formal in language and tone due to its age, but other than that it was a great read. Each poem is a little cameo of the eccentric feline characters Eliot has dreamt up. My favourite by far is Gus the Theatre cat, who you can just imagine recounting his tales of the stage to a captive audience in a pub! I also love that Gus is short for Asparagus, another fabulous cat name! I would thoroughly recommend that there be a copy of Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats on every bookshelf! One like the Faber edition above would be perfect for older children (and adults of course!), and for younger ones I would recommend getting one or two of Arthur Robins's picture book versions, which focus on just one poem per book. So go forth and buy! 

Whilst I'm here talking to you all about poetry, I'd quickly like to say a few words about the importance of poetry for children. There have always been poetry anthologies for children, and fabulous children's poets out there, but for some reason prose has always had the upper hand. Poetry books are valid 'reading books' for children just as any other texts are, and I think sometimes we forget this. I was recently volunteering in my local library helping with the Summer Reading Challenge (anyone with children should get them down to the library and to sign them up asap, but more about that another time!). Whilst showing a little girl around the children's department she asked me if there were any poetry books? I'm ashamed to say that it almost took me by surprise, but then I realised that that was as valid as any of the other books I was showing her, and good on her for wanting to explore something more than a prose story. Aside from listening to poetry as a child, my main experience of it was when I got secondary school. Suddenly we were analysing metre, language and imagery, picking poems apart to see what they were made of. It became a chore, albeit one I actually quite enjoyed, but still associated with the stress of exams and grades. So, I suppose what I'm trying to say is that children should be encouraged to explore poetry for the fun of it, far before they reach the age where it becomes just another thing they need to master in order to jump through academic hoops. They need to be able to enjoy a poem just because of the way it sounds, and bask in the images that it conjures up in their imaginations, without having to analyse all the why's and how's. The Book Trust have a lovely list of their favourite poetry books for children here, which I recommend having a look through if you're interested. There's some great books on it, including Arthur Robins's version of Mr Mistoffelees, and Julia Donaldson's Crazy Mayonnaisy Mum, which is the poetry book that my little library visitor chose to take home. 

Thanks for reading, L x

Next time, it's The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. 

                                                                             

* This and some of the other information in this post came from a wonderful article by John Sutherland on the British Library website, which you can find here. It talks about the background and context of Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats and is well worth a read. Arthur Robins's