70 years of The Little Prince

The first time that the novel “The little Prince” was published was in the United States in April 6 of 1943, 70 years ago. Since then, the book, written and illustrated by the French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, began circulating and has become in time one of the best known novels, which has been translated into several languages.

Despite celebrating his 70th anniversary, the character keeps that soul of a child that adults tend to lose when growing up, because he is aware that “only children know what they are looking for” and  that “only with the heart one can see well; the essential is invisible to the eyes”.

Since it was published, the story also has been staged in theaters and cinema on several occasions. One of the most relevant adaptations was the musical performed by Hollywood stars, among them Gene Wilder, Joss Ackland and Bob Fosse. In addition, the passion for the little Prince has spread to Japan, where there is a Museum of the character.

While the book is labeled as children’s literature, this is a book for all ages because of the use of  metaphors on different subjects as profound as the meaning of life, friendship and love.

The Prince tells the story of a pilot  that had to make an emergency landing in the Sahara desert, met a child who claims to be a Prince from a distant planet, where there are three volcanoes and a rose. His idea is to explore other worlds.

In this way the child visit six planets, and each of them is inhabited by a character: a King, a vain man, a drunk, a businessman, a lamplighter and a geographer, which, in one way or another, demonstrate how empty a person can become when reaching adulthood.

“Older people are never able to understand things for themselves, and it’s very boring for children having to explain them over and over again,” said the little Prince.

In this work, the author was concerned about every one of his dialogues, because all reveal a deep philosophy. Exupery, was also a pilot and a year after he published this story his plane disappeared in the Mediterranean, in the time of the second world war. Then, in 2004, putting an end to the mystery, a team of French divers found the wreckage of the missing plane.