Discovering the Hidden Wisdom of the Little Prince: In Search of Saint-Exupéry's Lost Child

by Pierre Lassus, Pierre Lassus

Finally, one of the most of the most beloved books every published—explained.

The Little Prince is revered around the world. Two hundred million copies have been sold in 270 languages; it is the fourth best-selling book of all time. Part of its allure is that is seems incredibly wise but so simple it is read as a work for children. Yet its meaning is elusive, and its place amid the writings of an adventurer and war hero acclaimed for dramatic bestsellers like Night Flight and Flight to Arras is mysterious.

In this elegant, carefully argued book, Pierre Lassus reexamines the story of The Little Prince against the facts of Saint-Exupéry's own extraordinary life, from his cherished but fatherless childhood in aristocratic poverty to his career as a pioneering pilot. His plane had broken down in the desert before. He had adopted a fox, when posted at the Spanish fort of Cape Juby, in southern Morocco. He had known the world of business before becoming pilot; he had also known unrequited love. Like his little protagonist's, his body was never found after his plane disappeared in World War II. He was working on his spiritual autobiography when he died, and there too, Lassus finds resonances and keys to the understated spirituality of his last great book.

Genres: Books About Books, Nonfiction, Adult, Memoir, History, France, Biography

227 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 27, 2014

Reviews

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 2 out of 5]

What went wrong between me and this book? I adore The Little Prince; I could barely keep turning the pages of Discovering the Hidden Wisdom of The Little Prince. Pierre Lassus is a child psychologist and he puts Saint-Exupery in the hot seat and ruminates over his childhood missteps, though he admits there is little information about the author's childhood. I found that to be annoying and silly. The book is a translation, and there's always the possibility that it is a poor one. In any case, I wish I'd given this book a pass.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

The bulk of this book was more of a biography of St.-Ex than a discussion of his book. However, when his book was finally addressed, I found myself disagreeing with some of the ideas, and also thinking that it seemed very much in the way of the grown-ups to even be analyzing "The Little Prince" in this way.
I did find it interesting to learn that his books about flying were best-sellers in their day.

[Mary Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I was very interested in St Ex’s life and childhood, I felt the author overplayed any symmetry between the symbolism in The Little Pronce and the Gospels. I think a comparison of the Little Prince with the philosophy of Nietzsche would be mor productive.
“The struggle of maturity is to recover the seriousness of a child at play” Nietzsche.

[Nathaniel Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

For one of the most famous quotes in the Little Prince to be, "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye" this author does injustice to the Little Prince by interpreting the content and Antoine de-Saint Exupery's life with his mind (modern psychology). The mind and the heart are two very different perspectives. I found the constant psychoanalysis to be annoying frankly.

The book was also very repetitive. The hardcover is 214 pages long, but it could have been condensed to 100 or less.

The author also interspersed Biblical passages and his interpretation of Christianity - which seems to have been developed from a reductionistic, psychological worldview - throughout the book, and I found each of these rather shallow, pale, and empty.

[Carl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some things I liked: reminded me of "The Little Prince", easily one of my all time faves, & told me things I didn't know about the life of Antoine de St. Exupery which I found to be useful. I'm not going to say helpful in understanding "The Little Prince" tho because I think TLP stands on its own. On the negative side, I found the endless psychoanalysis & explanations in terms of Catholic/Christian theology to be tedious & off-putting. If you love "The Little Prince", you'll find this a worthwhile read. If not, why would you pick it up to begin with?

[Don Bennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Never really catches stride and at times seems to be trying to do too much with too little source material and as a result a lot of conjecture.

There is a lot on St. Ex around - not sure this was needed.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Talk about a child at heart. The story of the Little Prince hits so much harder now. Through his life Saint-Exupery yearned to stay in childlike wonder and adventure (often to the detriment of people and airplanes around him), never feeling he quite became an adult.. but at the same time battling severe depression, often writing of how oppressive the constant lack of joy was.
He wanted to live in the clouds literally and figuratively and I think that’s so beautiful.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reveals many details about the author of one of the most read books, The Little Prince. The book is quite fascinating and provides much detail about Saint-Exupery, the man. However, the author tries to draw many parallels between Saint-Exupery and the life of Christ. Many of these parallels are a bit strained, but this luckily does not detract from the story of Saint-Exupery's magical life.