Title: The Little Prince (75th Anniversary Edition) Author: Antoine de Saint-Exupery # of Pages: 224 (hardback) Genre: Childrens, Fantasy, Classics Rating: ★★★★☆ Synopsis:With a timeless charm it tells the story of a little boy who leaves the safety of his own tiny planet to travel the universe, learning the vagaries of adult behaviour through a series of extraordinary encounters. His personal odyssey culminates in a voyage to Earth and further adventures. Review: “It is much harder to judge yourself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself, it’s because you are truly a wise man.”
I've heard so many people reference this book that I just had to read it for myself.
When I learned this book was categorized as "children's," I was shocked. I was even more shocked when I learned that there was a debate on whether this book is meant for children or adults. After reading, I think this story is best appreciated by adults who may have lost touch with the child within all of us. This does not mean children cannot read and enjoy this book too; there is just a difference in appreciation.
I checked this book out at the library, and it just so happened that the only available copy was the 75th anniversary edition. This version is much longer than the actual story because of all the bonus content. The beginning of the 75th anniversary edition has a lot of information on the author and those he knew, which might be useful for those doing a research project. I ended up reading The Little Prince story first (which appears in the middle of this book) and then went back to the beginning to read about the author. The real content is what comes after The Little Prince story: an analysis of The Little Prince by researcher and historian Delphine Lacroix. Her analysis of the story is almost more beautiful than the story itself.
The following is an excerpt from Lacroix’s analysis that particularly touched my heart.
“When you tame something, the fox teaches, you create a bond of affection with it: ‘But if you tame me, we’ll need each other. You’ll be the only boy in the world for me. I’ll be the only fox in the world for you…” Things become special to us when we’ve invested in them, when we’ve take the time to single them out, rescued them from the anonymity that comes of being one of the large number. And this is how something leaves its mark on us, beaks up the monotony of time, and gives meaning to our existence. To learn about friendship is to learn a sort of slow, choreographed dance. Finally, the fox delivers its biggest secret: ‘Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.’ And anyone able to see through this invisibility to the underlying bond that gives meaning to things will be the richer.” - 177
I recently found myself in a difficult situation with a friend of a couple months. I was advised by many others to cut this person out of my life, but despite what happened, I found this task to be very difficult. When I read this passage, I now believe it is because we have “tamed” each other. Although what happened will forever change our relationship, the investment into our friendship keeps me from cutting this friend completely from my life.
In The Little Prince, the fox knew that he would not be able to be with the little prince forever, yet he still insisted that he be tamed by the prince. He believes that that although he will be sad when the prince is gone, he would rather find meaning in the world when he is reminded of the prince than to not have those experiences at all. Although in my situation with my friend, I cannot say that I am glad what happened did happen, I know these experiences with this person have helped me learn and grow and changed how I view certain aspects of the world, just like the fox when he was tamed.
The story itself would earn 5 stars from me. However, the bonus content, while enlightening, was sometimes superfluous. I would recommend the story to EVERYONE.
Title: The Notebook Author: Nicholas Sparks # of Pages: 203 (paperback) Genre: Romance, Chick Lit, Contemporary Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ Synopsis:A man with a faded, well-worn notebook open in his lap. A woman experiencing a morning ritual she doesn't understand. Until he begins to read to her. The Notebook is an achingly tender story about the enduring power of love, a story of miracles that will stay with you forever. Review: Why is this story so popular? Is the movie that much better than the book?
This could have been rated two stars; since it's such a short book, it's not as big of a time-waster as many other books. However, I still thought it was a waste of time, thus the one star rating.
This is such a basic love story that's been done time and time again. I'm confused why this book in particular became so well known even to those who haven't read the book or watched the movie. If someone told me it was a fanfic written by a preteen, I would believe it. Perhaps I'm just not a fan of the chick-lit genre, but the descriptions are so tasteless. I just can’t take descriptions about Noah’s “loins” and Allie’s “erect nipples” seriously.
I don't regret reading it since it is such a popular story. But if you might want to reconsidering reading if you want to read an interesting story.
Title: Red Rising Author: Pierce Brown # of Pages: 382 (hardback) Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Fantasy Rating: ★★★☆☆ Synopsis:Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children. But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class. Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity's overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society's ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies... even if it means he has to become one of them to do so. Review: “I would work. I would bow. Let me wash dirt from my hands instead of blood. I want only to live with my family. We were happy enough. Freedom costs too much.”
The critics are right. This book is VERY much like Hunger Games. Readers who LOVE The Hunger Games and want to read more that are VERY similar to The Hunger Games (or any cliché dystopian YA), this is exactly the book for you.
I loved The Hunger Games, but I also read THG before dystopian YA became a huge fad. This story is nothing new, and it is very clearly only the first book of a whole series. You can't read this book and expect most of the major loose ends to be tied up; Brown knew he was making this a whole saga.
Honestly, a lot of scenes lacked a lot fo detail. Since this is a dystopian world, I would love more world building details. Brown provides the bare minimum to get by with telling the story, which might be fine for some younger readers.
If you are the correct audience for YA books, go ahead and give this book a try. However, you won't get anything from this book that you wouldn't get from tons of YA dystopian books out there.
