Book Report of The Little Prince

The Little Prince , first published in 1943, is a novella and the most famous work of the French aristocrat, writer, poet and pioneering aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900–1944).The novella is both the most read and most translated book in the French language, and was voted the best book of the 20th century in France. Translated into more than 250 languages and dialects,selling over a million copies per year with sales totaling over 200 million copies worldwide, it has become one of the best-selling books ever published.

Saint-Exupéry, a laureate of several of France's highest literary awards and a reserve military pilot at the start of the Second World War, wrote and illustrated the manuscript while exiled in the United States after the Fall of France. He had traveled there on a personal mission to convince its government to quickly enter the war against Nazi Germany. In the midst of personal upheavals and failing health he produced almost half of the writings he would be remembered for, including a tender tale of loneliness, friendship, love and loss, in the form of a young prince fallen to Earth.

An earlier memoir by the author recounted his aviation experiences in the Sahara desert and he is thought to have drawn

on those same experiences for use as plot elements in The Little Prince. Since first being published the novella has been adapted to various media over the decades, including audio recordings, stage, screen, ballet, and operatic works.

The reader is introduced to the narrator who, as a young boy, drew a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. However, he is discouraged from drawing when all adults who look at his picture see a hat, instead. The narrator attempts to explain what his first picture depicts by drawing another one clearly showing the elephant, disturbing the adults as a result. As such, he decides to become a pilot, which eventually leads to a crash in the Sahara desert.

In the desert, the narrator meets the little prince, who asks him to draw a sheep. Not knowing how to draw a sheep, the narrator shows him the picture of the elephant in the snake. To the narrator's surprise, the prince recognizes the drawing for what it is. After a few failed attempts at drawing a sheep, the narrator draws a box in his frustration, claims that the box holds a sheep inside. Again to the narrator's surprise, the prince is delighted with the result.

The little prince's home asteroid, or "planet", is introduced. After he reconciles with his rose, the prince leaves to see what the rest

of the universe is like. He visits six other asteroids, each of which is inhabited by a foolish adult.On the Earth, the prince meets a snake that claims to have the power to return him to his home planet, though the prince refuses this offer.Eventually, the prince comes upon a whole row of rosebushes, and becomes downcast because he thought his rose was unique.The prince then comes across a railway switchman and a merchant. Back in the present, the narrator is dying of thirst, but finds a well with the help of the prince. The narrator later finds the prince discussing his return home with the snake. The prince bids an emotional farewell to the narrator and states that if it looks as though he has died, it is because his body is too heavy to take with him to his planet. The prince warns the narrator not to watch him leave, as it will make him sad. The narrator, realizing what will happen, refuses to leave the prince's side. The prince allows the snake to bite him, and falls without making a sound. The next morning, the narrator tries to look for the prince, but is unable to find his body. The story ends with a portrait of the landscape where the prince and the narrator met and where the snake took the prince's life. The narrator makes a plea that anyone encountering a strange child in that area who refuses to answer questions should contact the narrator immediately.

Though ostensibly a children's book, The Little Prince makes several profound and idealistic observations about life and human nature. For example, Saint-Exupéry tells of a fox meeting the young prince during his travels on Earth. The story's essence is contained in the lines uttered by the fox to the little prince: On ne voit bien qu'avec le c?ur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux. ("One sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye.") Other key thematic messages are articulated by the fox, such as: "You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed" and "It is the time you have devoted to your rose that makes your rose so important." The Fox's messages are arguably the most famous due to its nature of dealing with relationships.

 

第二篇：the little prince读后感

The little Prince

Notes:(my beloved sentences)

1. If someone loves a flower ,of which just one single blossom grows in all the millions and millions of stars, it is enough to make him happy just to look at the stars.If a sheep eats the flower, in one moment all his stars will be darkened.

2.It is such a secret place, the land of tears.

3.I thought that I was rich, with a flower that was unique in all the world; and all I had was a common rose.A common rose, and three volcanoes that come up to my knees---an one of them perhaps extinct forever...that does not make me a very great prince...

4.What is essential is invisible to the eye.

5.No one is ever satisfied where he is.

6.What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well.

7.This water was indeed a different thing from ordinary nourishment. Its sweetness was born of the water under the stars, the song of the pulley, the effort of my arms.It was good for the heart, like a present.

Reflections :

Reprinted and retranslated for 30 million volumes and more than 100 different languages respectively.----The little Prince, a great masterpiece in history of human being's literature, wrote by a French man Antoine de

Saint-Exupéry. Carrying with close interest and longing expectation toward it, I decided to read it.

The whole story started with a person, whose spacecraft broke in his flying process, and then he came across a strange little prince in a strange little planet. Then, a legend about the little prince, with a naive and pure heart, came toward before us.

Owning 3 volcanoes, including one extinct and one of which is only known by himself, he has his own peaceful life till the moment when he gets a specific seed ,different from what he has owned before .Then, his life changes.

After persistent and careful attention to it, the seed comes to its own with sort of air of arrogance and vividness, being a beautiful rose, the only single rose in the little planet .Though appreciating the precious contentment and happiness, catching the stepson of days, the little prince gradually feels uneasy and kind of being fed up with the affectation of the rose.Hence, he begins his first travel to several different unknown planets---where he has never been and had any idea, his seeing ,finding and thinking about his fantastic trip exhaustively recorded. Unexpectedly, he tames a fox on earth by chance and is so impressed by all the words the fox said that he cannot forget her anyway. At the meantime, he finds the truth about his only single rose in his little planet, still holding affection with her. Finally, the little prince goes away oddly and suddenly,

leaving great puzzle and depressed on us, enormous imagination at the same time.

When I read the last sentence, I am thoroughly overwhelmed by the shadowy sorrow, maybe for the leaving of the little prince, or the regretting of rose and fox. Looking at the book in rational perspective, it is more than a nursery book for little children, and also a philosophical dictionary for grow-ups.

Maybe it is probably impossible for everyone of usual to go through similar experiences as like as the little prince, but it is not unusual for us to find the simple essence of life and love ,which we are certainly going to taste, during our own life and sentiments. Sometimes, we actually feel much bewildered and less rational, maybe it is time to remind us that we need a rest ,in long and calm meditation, for better choices and continual going ahead, as well as the little prince; we need to get rid of earthly trifles, finding what we really want and need, then, keep moving.