The Little Prince

 

This was a book that my primary school teacher recommended us to read back when I was in Standard 6. Back then I was sort of forced to buy the book and I can still remember how books were so expensive back then. I think this book was RM 25 with dual language (Chinese & English) and comes with pictures and colours. As a 12 year old with no interest in reading any books, I delight my self in seeing the pictures and place the book in my book shelf in which it has sat there for 10 years now. Yesterday, I finally opened up the book to read because I remembered my teacher said that this book is an insightful book, that regardless of what age you read it and how many times you read it, it reveals something to you, and for that she calls it a Good Book.

The book has only 64 pages, very easy to read. It's interesting how the author thinks very highly of children. That kids are creative, open-minded and always inquisitive of their surroundings; how adults are dull, superficial, narrow-minded, stuck in their ways and quick to pass judgement. How the author has to "lower himself" to the level of adults and talk to them about business, money and golf.  Come to think of it, the author does have a point. How grown ups surround themselves with work, constantly rushing here and there without somewhat of a purpose that they lost the inquisitiveness in them and accept things as it is. 

 

The book talks about relationships, on how we relate to other people. Taking the example of the rose in the book, there are thousands of roses on Earth but in the Prince's planet, there is only 1 rose, and so he thought the rose is very special and took extremely good care of it. When he saw the thousands of roses on earth, he though he no longer posses something that is unique anymore since roses are available in abundance on earth. However it is because he took care of his own rose back home that he created a special and unique relationship with the flower, whereas on earth, nobody actually cared about the roses. "People where you live," the little prince said, "grow five thousand roses in one garden... yet they don't find what they're looking for...  And yet what they're looking for could be found in a single rose" I suppose it's trying to say invest your time into people, into relationships, and that relationship will be unique in all the world, otherwise the people in your life will be like the multitudes of people in the world, them having no need of you and vice versa.

 

I think I'm gonna have to read this book one more time. I read it the first time just merely going through the words without reflecting on what it means. Reading it in that manner is just like reading a story book with no meaning to it, in fact it was quite hard to understand though the words were simple.It's like, what does it mean? Maybe coz I'm a grown up and I've become dull and that's why I don't understand any of it. Gonna keep this book for reading it in the future.