i don’t know how or why, but until last week i had never read antoine de saint-exupery’s classic the little prince. i have heard about it for years, and friends have forever been quoting it in yearbooks and online, but i somehow always missed out on it.

but then last week, on a trip to blossoms to search for a few more of my booker prize winners, i found a copy of it for $1. obviously i couldn’t pass that up, and i very excitedly broke it open once i had finished life & times of michael k.

the little prince is a short, fast read, but it is chock-full of wise little nuggets. i tried so hard to really take my time with it, but spending 3-4 hours a day on the bus meant i finished it in no time.

in the book, the narrator’s plane crashes in the african desert. while he is working to repair it, he meets and befriends a little prince from a faraway planet. the little prince is a child in many ways, and he sees the world with childlike amazement. he laughs at the way grown-ups get caught up in “matters of great consequence”, because it means they forget to see the beauty and the wonder that surrounds them every day.

the little prince was the perfect story for me to read right now. i have been really stressed with work for the last two weeks, and it has been all-too-easy to get bogged down in all the small, minute details that are ultimately inconsequential while forgetting to take time for myself and savour the little things.

there were many lines i loved in this book, many that i underlined and highlighted and noted down for future reference, but there was one in particular that stuck with me:

‘all men have the stars,’ he answered, ‘but they are not the same things for different people. for some, who are travelers, the stars are guides. for others they are no more than little lights in the sky. for others, who are scholars, they are problems. for my businessman they were wealth. but all these stars are silent. you – you alone – will have the stars as no one else has them –‘

‘what are you trying to say?’

‘in one of the stars i shall be living. in one of them i shall be laughing. and so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night. you – only you – will have stars that can laugh!’

how i would love to hear the laughter of the stars.

my goodreads rating: 5 out of 5 // average rating is 4.24

crossing off the popsugar reading list: a book that was originally written in a different language.

next up: getting started on hotel du lac, my second booker prize winner, by anita brookner.

have you ever read the little prince? it was kind of magical, and i think i will definitely be reading it again.

xx