Southern Mail

by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Curtis Cate (Translator)

Saint-Exupéry pays homage to “those elemental divinities-night, day, mountain, sea, and storm,” turning an account of a routine mail flight from France to North Africa into an epic rendering of the pioneer days of commercial aviation. The book is also a poignant reminiscence of a tragic affair, in which the uncertainties of love and flight enhance the mystery of one another. Translated by Curtis Cate.



Jacques Bernis est pilote sur les lignes Latécoère qui transporte le courrier de Toulouse à Casablanca et Dakar. Solitaire, il se réfugie à l'intérieur de sa carlingue pour fuir la vie monotone de ces années d'après-guerre. Un jour il rencontre Geneviève, celle-ci est mariée. Bernis décide alors de sortir de son cocon, il part avec elle à l'aventure mais l'existence qu'il lui propose ne peut pas lui convenir aussi la ramène-t-il auprès de son mari. Le roman est parsemé du récit fragmentaire et tragique de cet amour.

Genres: Fiction, France, Classics, Aviation, French Literature, Novels, Literature

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1929

About the author

People best know French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry for his fairy tale The Little Prince (1943).

He flew for the first time at the age of 12 years in 1912 at the Ambérieu airfield and then determined to a pilot. Even after moving to a school in Switzerland and spending summer vacations at the château of the family at Saint-Maurice-de-Rémens in east, he kept that ambition. He repeatedly uses the house at Saint-Maurice.

Later, in Paris, he failed the entrance exams for the naval academy and instead enrolled at the prestigious l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts. In 1921, Saint-Exupéry, stationed in Strasbourg, began serving in the military. He learned and forever settled his career path as a pilot. After leaving the service in 1923, Saint-Exupéry worked in several professions but in 1926 went back and signed as a pilot for Aéropostale, a private airline that from Toulouse flew mail to Dakar, Senegal. In 1927, Saint-Exupéry accepted the position of airfield chief for Cape Juby in southern Morocco and began his first book, a memoir, called Southern Mail and published in 1929.

He then moved briefly to Buenos Aires to oversee the establishment of an Argentinean mail service, returned to Paris in 1931, and then published Night Flight , which won instant success and the prestigious Prix Femina. Always daring Saint-Exupéry tried from Paris in 1935 to break the speed record for flying to Saigon. Unfortunately, his plane crashed in the Libyan Desert, and he and his copilot trudged through the sand for three days to find help. In 1938, a second plane crash at that time, as he tried to fly between city of New York and Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, seriously injured him. The crash resulted in a long convalescence in New York.

He published Wind, Sand and Stars , next novel, in 1939. This great success won the grand prize for novel of the academy and the national book award in the United States. Saint-Exupéry flew reconnaissance missions at the beginning of the Second World War but went to New York to ask the United States for help when the Germans occupied his country. He drew on his wartime experiences to publish Flight to Arras and Letter to a Hostage in 1942.

Later in 1943, Saint-Exupéry rejoined his air squadron in northern Africa. From earlier plane crashes, Saint-Exupéry still suffered physically, and people forbade him to fly, but he insisted on a mission. From Borgo, Corsica, on 31 July 1944, he set to overfly occupied region. He never returned.

Reviews

[Huy · Rating 4 out of 5]

thơ quá thơ, đọc vài cuốn của Antoine de Saint-Exupéry là đủ hiểu ông là người mơ mộng như thế nào. Cảm giác đọc sách của ông như được phiêu lưu trên bầu trời đầy gió và sao, dưới là mặt đất hoang vu trải dài tít tắp nhưng không hề cô độc bởi luôn có thiên nhiên và giấc mơ bầu bạn.

Đọc lại tháng 8/2024: cảm giác như những gì ông viết trong cuốn sách này vận vào cuộc đời ông.

[Ehsan'Shokraie' · Rating 5 out of 5]

تعبیر پرویز شهدی از اگزوپری به عنوان"((ایکاروس))ی در بند هزارتوی زندگی خاکی,که فکر و ذکرش رهایی از این زندان است"را دوست داشتم.
پیک جنوب سومین اثری که از اگزوپری میخوانم..و تا به اینجا بهترین آنان...
اگزوپری یک نویسنده نیست,یک خلبان است..پرواز جزلاینفک هرچه است که او نوشته.."صحرا و آسمان با سکوت و انزوایش فرد را به سوی اندیشیدن و سلوک سوق میدهد"
سلوک و سوقی که خلبان را به نوعی از اهل زمین بیگانه تر میکند..البته این نوعی بیگانگی در اوج قرابت است,اگزوپری خلبانی ست که هرگاه به زمین بازمیگردد انسان ها را کمتر از انچه در اسمان از انسانیت در ذهن وی وجود دارد,انسانی میبیند..درون مایه داستان معروف شازده کوچولو ی اگزوپری هم همین است..خلبانی بر زمین نشسته که درمیابد انسان های زمین انسانیت را فراموش کرده اند,گویی انسانیت در اسمان است که جای انسان ها نیست..
در قسمت دوم پیک جنوب اما شخصیت پردازی و ساختار جالبی در طرح روایت به چشمم آمد..یک روایت سیال..با دوربینی در حال چرخش مداوم..ساختار جمله ها مدام بهم میخورد و بار دیگر شکل میگیرد..به نوعی سخت خوان است اما کششی از جنس زندگی عادی دارد..همان کششی که سبب میشود برای سوار شدن به تاکسی نوبت مان را به شخص دیگری ندهیم..
در قسمت سوم اما..گویی پرده ای از واقعیت بر همه چیز کشیده میشود,نور کثیف حقیقت..بر این پرده میفتد..مسائل بی اهمیت مهم میشوند و آنچه که باید مهم پنداشته شود فراموش میشود..و در پایان تصویری که بر پرده می افتد مانند نگاهی خالی بر چهره کسی که دوستش داشته ایم میماند..

"یک روز به من گفتی:زندگی ای را دوست داشتم که درست درکش نکرده ام,حتی نمیدانم به چه چیزی نیاز داشته ام؛عطشی بود اندک و زودگذر
آنچه را حدس میزدم پشت همه چیز پنهان بود,بنظرم می امد با تلاشی اندک درکش خواهم کرد,بازش خواهم شناخت و سرانجام به دستش خواهم اورد.در اندیشه حضور ایت دوستی که هرگز نتوانستم به ماهیتش پی ببرم,آشفته حال از اینجا می روم..."

[Edita · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must go back and tell of those past two months, for otherwise what would be left of them? When the last faint ripples of the happenings I am going to describe will eventually have spent their force in ever-widening circles and, like waters of a lake, have closed again over the lives they have blurred, when the emotions they aroused in me, at first so poignant, then less poignant, and finally almost tender, have been dulled, then all will once again seem right with the world.
*
But for fear of disheartening them, we also spoke to them of disappointments and the bitter taste that rest has after a useless action. And seeing the eldest of them lost in a reverie that pained us, we added that perhaps the only truth is the peace to be found in books...
*
The tender friendships one gives up, on parting leave their bite on the heart, but also a curious feeling of a treasure somewhere buried. What selfish love such flights occasionally attest ! One night, in a Sahara peopled with stars, as he was dreaming of these tender friendships, so distant, so warm, and now so covered by the weather and the night, like seeds, he suddenly felt as though he had stepped aside to watch someone sleep. Propped against the stranded plane opposite that curve of sand, this dip in the skyline, he had found himself watching over his past loves like a shepherd.

[Maria Yankulova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Красиво писане! Не знам какво друго мога да кажа за тази кратка история. Нежна и тъжна! Жак Бернис и Женвиев, чиято любов няма красив край. Признавам си, че част от драмата в живота на Женвиев ми спря дъха и оставих книгата, омаломощена, без грам сила да продължа четенето. Французите пишат със сърце и душа, а когато става дума за Екзюпери думите са просто излишни 💙

[G Hodges · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are times when one reads a book for the sheer joy of the words and how they flow together to form sentences and how the sentences rush to form a river of words which carry us to the source.

Southern Mail is such a book and even though the translation isn't perfect, I have to remember this was written and translated in 1933 when English language readers were much more literate than they are today and the meaning of words could be reasoned out. This was a time, in a part of the world where this takes place, when instant communication was not even dreamed of. Information was communicated via telegram once or twice a week. And those telegrams had a sole purpose: to inform the mail station that a plane was coming in with the mail.

The book is a diary of a wanderer; one who sails above us trapped in a cocoon but free as the wind. It is the story of his friend and their mutual friend and the tragedy that surrounds them. It is ultimately a story of lonliness but more intensely, aloneness.

Even though the writing is spectacularly beautiful, even though the story is heart breaking, I only gave it three stars because the pathos dates it, at least for me.

[Стефани Витанова · Rating 5 out of 5]

Преди да завладее света с "Малкият принц", Екзюпери му подарява своя първи роман - "Южна поща". ❤️

Написан през далечната 1929 година, тази книга е така нежна, така романтична и сантиментална. Докосва душата на читателя по особен начин. Кара го да съпреживява, да усеща копнежа на полета, но и да мечтае за любов, за дом. 🥹

Словото се лее като песен. Изключителен стил притежава авторът и именно в този роман това си проличава с пълна сила.

"Още същата нощ трябваше да се освободиш от връзките си, да заковеш сандъците си, да съблечеш стаята от самия себе си, от снимките си, от книгите си и да я оставиш зад себе си такава, че дори призрак, би имал повече следи, отколкото след тебе".

"Южна поща" е роман, вдъхновен от първите полети на Екзюпери като част от работата му към френската въздушна поща. Главният персонаж е пилотът Жан Бернис, чийто живот преминава във въздуха, но сърце и ум го теглят непрестанно към земята.

А там е Женевиев - жената, в която е влюбен, но която никога няма да бъде негова. Историята на тази дама беше сърцераздирателна, а любовта помежду им и невъзможността да я осъществят ми напълни очите със сълзи. Едва ли има друг писател, който само в един абзац, може да разкаже бъдещето на една обречена връзка. 🥹❤️

"Нещо в тях беше болно, но той не го знаеше. Мислеше, че земята бе загнила, че нощта беше болна. Желаеше да дойде зората, подобно на осъдените: "Щом съмне, аз ще дишам", или" Когато дойде пролетта, аз ще бъда млад"..."

Несъмнено един от най-красивите романи, които някога съм чела. 📚

[TK421 · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enchanting read of early flight over barbaric lands filled with mystery and possibility. Stories like this one need to be read in order for us to remember how far society has advanced, and to illuminate how far we still need to advance.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

[Liene Krūtaine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Was not my cup of tea. The story was very fragmented and therefore very hard to follow. Seems like there are several stories going on at the same time, but are not connected one to another. Even when I was done reading it, I still could not understand the idea of this book.

[Golshad · Rating 4 out of 5]

یک نوشته زیبای دیگر از آنتوان دوسنت اگزوپری
باوجود تمام قدرت و زیبایی قلم کاملا معلوم هست که نویسنده هنوز در جستجوی مسیر خود می باشد مسیری که ادامه می‌یابد و در خلبان جنگ به مقصد می رسد.
در این کتاب اگزوپری ناامیدانه در جستجوی راه خویش است فهمیده تمام حقایقی که تا کنون دست یافته فقط پوسته ای هستند که باید گذشت تا به حقیقت واقعی رسد.
اگزوپری هنوز خام می باشد و ناامید از یافتن. دارد مالکیت ها و داشته های قدیمی را کنار می گذارد در عین حال دریافته که فرار راه رسیدن نیست ولی از رها کردن مسیر قدیمی خود هراس دارد.

کتاب زیبایی هست و خواندنش را به همه شما عزیزان پیشنهاد می کنم

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Southern Mail preceded Night Flight by only two years, yet the latter work was by far the better and more focused. The pilot in Southern Mail flies a mail plane from Toulouse through Spain and along the West Coast of Africa to Dakar before heading across the Atlantic to Buenos Aires.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is more fixated on his pilot, Jacques Bernis, here than in Night Flight. There is as much about Bernis' adulterous relationship with his girlfriend Genevieve than there is on the flight. There seems to be some wildly inconsistent points of view, ranging from first person plural (we are never told who belongs to this group), third person singular, and first person singular. If a greater emphasis had been placed on the pilot himself, Southern Mail would have been a tighter novel.

As it is, it is still worth reading -- although nowhere in the same class as Night Flight, which remains perhaps the greatest classic of the early days of flying.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

   Il y a deux histories liées dans Courrier Sud celle d’un pilote, Jacques Bernis qui fait des allers-retours de la France vers l’Afrique, et celle de ce même pilote et son rapport avec une amie d’enfance Geneviève. Une partie de l’histoire est dédiée à la description des vols que Bernis entreprend en Afrique, les paysages qu’il voit, ce qu’il ressent quand il vole. L’autre partie est de son « temps à terre », où il essaie de mener une vie ‘normale’. Mais il est très clair que Bernis ne sent pas aussi vivant à terre que quand il est parmi les nuages avec le grand étend de la terre et la mer loin au-dessous de lui. Mais il y aussi un troisième point de vue dans cette histoire, celui de l’ami de Bernis, qui n’est jamais nommé que je me souviens, et qui était avec Bernis un ami d’enfance de Geneviève.

   Je pense que j’ai lu ce livre sans être dans le bon état d’esprit pour le faire, car j’ai eu plus du mal que d’habitude de garder mon attention sur ce que je lisais mais aussi sur le fil de l’histoire. Pour ce dernier, je ne suis pas complètement en faute : Saint-Exupéry bascule d’un point de vue à un autre, souvent, très vite, et même si chaque pdv est assez différent, parfois on ne se rend pas compte qu’on vient de changer de pdv que plusieurs lignes plus tard. Surtout quand on a l’esprit et les pensées qui vaguent comme les miennes pendant cette lecture. N’empêche que j’ai quand même lu tout le livre en deux grandes parties, essentiellement dans une matinée.

   Je trouvais l’histoire du pilote en avion aussi beau avec ses descriptions que ce que Saint-Exupéry nous a offert avec Vol de nuit, avec comme grand différence le changement de scène autour, du paysage. On avait échangé les montagnes et les nuages pour un ciel bleu et un dessert ensoleillée dessous. Saint-Exupéry était vraiment fort en capturant les émotions, les images, les sensations d’un pilote en vol. Par contre, l’histoire, disons amoureux, de Bernis et Geneviève, avec leur évasion suite à la tragédie dans la vie familiale de Geneviève, était biens moins accrochant pour moi. Mais peut-être c’était en partie le but de Saint-Exupéry : Bernis est un pilote en premier et avant tout, sa vie fleurit parmi les nuages, en plein ciel, il se sent le plus vivant quand il vole loin au-dessus de tout. À terre, il ne comprend plus rien (ou presque), il est incapable de mener une vie complètement terrestre même pour une femme qu’il adorait, même pour la sauver de sa détresse.

   Je devrais relire cette histoire un jour, quand mon esprit est plus dans l’histoire et mes pensées moins distraites, car je pense qu’il y a quelque chose de tirer de cette histoire entière, en plus de ce que je viens de noter ci-dessus. (Comme quelque chose lié aux représentations de la femme dans cette histoire, liée à la première citation que j’ai notée dessous.)

Citations préférées:
   Les homes, maintenant, penchant vers Geneviève leurs plastrons blancs et font leur métier de séducteurs, comme si l’on gagnait la femme avec des idées, avec des images, comme si la femme était le prix d’un tel concours. Son mari aussi se fait charmant et la désirera ce soir. Il la découvre quand les autres l’on désirée. Quand, dans sa robe du soir, son éclat, son désir de plaire, sous la femme a brillé un peu la courtisane. Elle pense : il aime ce qui est médiocre. Pourquoi ne l’aime-t-on jamais tout entière ? On aime une part d’elle-même, mais on laisse l’autre dans l’ombre. On l’aime comme on aime la musique, le luxe. Elle est spirituelle ou sentimentale et on la désire. Mais ce qu’elle croit, ce qu’elle sent, ce qu’elle port en elle…on s’en moque. Sa tendresse pour son enfant, ses soucis les plus raisonnables, toute cette part d’ombre : on la néglige. – page 46-47

   Nous étions perdus aux confins du monde car nous savions déjà que voyager c’est avant tout changer de chair. – page 122

[Адриана К. · Rating 3 out of 5]

„…единствената истина е може би спокойствието на книгите.“

„Южна поща“ е първият роман на Сент-Екзюпери – доста кратък, но все пак по френски фин, поставяйки основите на майсторство и гениалност в писането, с които роденият в Лион летец и писател ще създава бъдещите си творби. Историята е някак семпла и непретенциозна, разделена на три отделни части, вдъхновена от живота, личния опит и вълнения на автора. Хареса ми, но си признавам, че макар и скромна по обем книга, четенето ми вървеше малко бавно и трудно.

„Тоя човек показва пред другите лице, което сам си е съчинил. Не поради суетност, а за да вярва в себе си.“

[Диляна Георгиева · Rating 5 out of 5]

Чиста поезия! Авторът, чието име дори само звучи като поезия, събира толкова омагьосваща нежност със сладка болка от носталгия... Всяко изречение е шепот, който се носи трепетно по струните на меланхолията. Скоро някой ми каза, че "Цитаделата" е неговият Голям принц, за нея не знам, но на "Южна поща" толкова приляга това определение.
Плаче ти се от изяществото на израза и този далеч вик на тъгата... и това е толкова красиво.
А краят - измамно предвуксван толкова пъти - те стиска за гърлото и те изцежда.

[Julie Brochmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

å den frygt for at stå stille og være til der kropsliggøres som rodløshed i en evig kamp mod tiden. we enter the night: beasts, men, and things.

[Othy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not really sure what to rate this, since at times it was amazing and at other times it was really horrible. I'll give it a four stars, though, since it was a very interesting horrible when it wasn't good.

[magdalena · Rating 2 out of 5]

written by a man.

[Julien L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un très (trop?) court roman sympathique sur la fabuleuse aventure de ces pionniers qui parcouraient le ciel dans le but d’acheminer le courrier de l’Europe vers l’Amerique.
On suit les péripéties de Bernis qui se charge du trajet entre Toulouse et Dakar en passant par l’Espagne.
Les souvenirs de son amour contrarié viendra ponctuer l’histoire.
Malheureusement on n’a pas le temps de s’attacher aux personnages et à leur histories, connexions.
Il y a trop à dire pour aussi peu de pages.
C’est un premier roman (en vérité la réécriture de son premier roman) pour St Exupery. Le manuscrit nous révèle des choses intéressantes et notamment une fin différence des actuelles traductions.

[Beril]

Çeviri kaynaklı mı yoksa yazarın dilinden mi bilmiyorum ama okurken kafam epey allak bullak oldu. O yüzden puan vermekte zorlanıyorum. Belki ileride tekrar bir şans verebilirim.

[Mèo lười · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tựa tiếng Việt là Chuyến thư miền Nam, NN vừa phát hành.
Mình vẫn mê những câu văn rất tình của tác giả Hoàng tử bé. Bản dịch cũng khá mượt dù đã có cách đây nửa thế kỉ.
(review đàng hoàng viết sau vậy)

[Taweepong Santipattanakul · Rating 4 out of 5]

สมัยที่เครื่องบินยังไม่ล้ำ โลกการบินก็ยังเต็มไปด้วยความเสี่ยง นักบินไปรษณีย์บินฝ่าฟากฟ้า ภูเขา และทะเลทราย ไม่ใช่แค่ส่งจดหมาย แต่ส่งความรัก ความคิดถึง และรอยยิ้มให้ใครบางคนที่รออยู่ ปลายทางมีความหมาย... และระหว่างทาง ก็พานักบินไปเจอความหมายของชีวิตด้วยเช่นกัน

[Elisa Peña · Rating 2 out of 5]

on a deux histoires entremêlées en fragments et du coup c’était assez dur à suivre j’ai trouvé ; en plus les deux histoires sont remplies d’ellipses ce qui m’a encore plus perdue :/

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a magnificent book. Full stop.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although only 150 pages this is not an easy read. The opening was difficult to understand and it was only as Genevieve comes into Bernis life that we have a recognisable story thread. It takes time to understand how the story moves - the form.

The quality of this short novel is actually in the dreamy shifting of passage to passage , from point of view to point of view in defiance of conventional writing, and the dreamy romantic language of love, youth and idealism. The writing really is beautiful at times I found. Wistful and making one recall ones youth and ones hopes and dreams. We don’t know who the narrator is at certain times, Bernis or the admiring friend but I don’t think this matters - the writing is “impressionistic”, no fine lines but lots of smudgy approximation.

The story shifts from Africa to Paris to provincial France and back again without necessarily any formal link other than it is a series of cameos about Bernis or Genevieve.

By the end of the novella I had bought in to the style and the language and I thought it a beautiful evocative read.

Read in French whilst staying in Provence, a perfect backdrop

[Indah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A melancholic work. I think it would have been much better if I could read the book in its original language. It is filled with flowery phrases that must be difficult to translate to Bahasa Indonesia. Too bad I know nothing of french. The book tells about a journey of a man who works as a pilot for a fench air postal service in africa. Seasoned with self-thoughts and roman, this book presents a pov of a man looking at his (short) journey in life and love, typical of Saint-Exupery. But sometimes the voice of "I" changed unnoticably and made me confused. :p

[Trin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mystery box book #2!

The proportion of "airplane adventure" to "boring affair" in this novel by the author of The Little Prince was not at all what I expected; we're talking a good 85% mawkish romance between a Manly Flier of Planes and a married woman who has no other personality but Dead Son. The whole thing feels very juvenile, which, in fairness, it basically was.

Extremely short but took me three days of teeth-gritting to finish.

[Antti K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Huomattava osa lukuprosessista meni niin, että en ymmärtänyt:
- kuka puhuu
- kenestä puhutaan
- missä ollaan
- miten tapahtumat liittyy muuhun kirjaan (ajallisesti tai muutenkaan)
- miksei tässä lennetä postilentoa etelään vaan kerrataan jotain joutavaa ja hyvin outoa rakkaustarinaa (no lennettiin sentään alussa ja lopussa)

Silti jotain miellyttävää tässä oli, annetaan kolme tähteä.

[Teodora Lovin · Rating 3 out of 5]

J'ai eu l'occasion, en lisant son premier roman, de voir l'origine de quelques motifs obsédants de Saint-Exupéry : les roses, les moutons et, bien sûr, le désert et le vole. Toutefois, en dehors des passages romantiques avec Généviève, les autres moments (sur l'aérodrome) et les dialogues avec les autres pilotes font défaut de la consistance spécifique.

[Mind the Book · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Dessa vidder, dessa städer, dessa ljus som avlägsnade sig, det var han själv som övergav dem. Som klädde dem av sig. Om en timme skulle Tangers fyr lysa."

Dom band som binder honom där, ska han långsamt lösa upp. Monsieur Bernis kör postflyg till Dakar och funderar över sitt liv.

[Ermina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Neprimjereno je izraziti se sa "koji k****" je bilo ovo, ali čini mi se da ne postoji drugi opis.
Šta je tema knjige? Nekakvi gradovi bibiću jedan drugome, neka žena umire dok neki Berni sluša zapovijedi...
Šta? I zašto ode dan života na ovo?

[taja]

(i tried)