A new Little Prince museum has opened its doors in Switzerland

The book has been extremely transformative for me at multiple points in my life as I've aged. If I could only recommend a single piece of fiction, it would probably be The Little Prince.

I also highly recommend the 2015 animated film adaptation. It has a rock-solid cast, and presents the classic story within entirely new layers of interpretation that speak to multiple generations at once. It's a real tearjerker that only gets more potent with age.

I'm also not sure why so many commenters here seem confused or negative towards The Little Prince. It is a timeless, culture-invariant treatise on the most precious and important facets of human existence.

And outside France too!

I would add that there is something in it for all ages. I have read it many times, between ages 6 and 25 and in different languages. The later readings were for language learning without any expectations but each time I finished it, I was deeply touched.

With that it’s also a great one to read with kids.

This book got a bad reputation in Brazil because a famous actress (who supposedly isn't very bright) once said it was her favourite book.

When I finally decided to give it a try, I found it to be a very interesting read.

So, you can bet people who show disdain for it probably haven't read it. Or they have weak character and are afraid to be considered dumb by association.

> Very surprised and sad to see so many dismissive comments of the book

I cannot see that many dismissive comments. Those I can see are things like dismissing it purely because its not recent, or because the commentor has not read it which really say more about the person being dismissive than anything else.

It is very popular (in translation) in the UK (and other Engli8sh speaking countries) too.

Well... enough bad memory of some teacher wanting us all to read and ponder this thing in class, seemingly with the confused notion that this would be some kind of lesson in psychology.

I think the author would be very surprised if he'd been there to see what amount of fluff has been generated around his nice and simple quasi-autobiographical codebook.

We were read parts of it in kindergarten. I was fascinated by the desert, at the time I loved deserts, even if I saw one only as an adult. Two years later I borrowed it from the school library. My friends teased me because they thought it is girly. I read it and found a bit confusing and boring.

Later it got more popular and adults found all kinds of deep things. It was so sentimental I've never got back to the book if I hadn't read it first as a children's book. In my mid twenties I got my own copy from a girlfriend who saw me as a little prince.

Now about a week ago I reread it again. Well, you can find all kinds of things in it but I think you should read it as a kid first time.

Children need to learn a lot of things they understand only as adults. It builds a real connection to the stories and ideas. Adults cannot absorb new thoughts anymore. They try but it's too late.

Like if you haven't read Nietzsche and Dostoevsky first time at the age of say 16 or 18 you will never be an intellectual. You didn't get the right impulses at the time. You cannot built on shallow experiences you can have after the childhood and youth.

I'm not sure how I feel about this quote. It seems to me like it only makes sense when talking about a tool or thing with scoped functionality that would be hindered by unnecessary accretions. In the state of "perfection" for something like this, there would be nothing left to add or remove. But even in this context, if it's unable to perform it's function due to insufficiency, perfection would be achieved by adding and not subtracting.

If one were to apply it to life in general, it seems even less fitting. Although we can never achieve perfection, I think most people would agree that a meaningful life is lived through growth and gain towards a particular ideal or goal. The more we grow, the closer we come to that unattainable perfection. Removing what's harmful or a hindrance is a part of this, but if all you do is take away and not add, you just end up with nothing.

Ultimately, I think it's lacking because while you can err both due to deficiency and excess, it only considers excess and denies deficiency. It serves more to assuage feelings of inadequacy in the face of unattainable perfection than to give an accurate representation of life. And even if you don't believe in perfection, this quote doesn't deny that it exists, it merely claims that it can be achieved solely by treating excess, while ignoring deficiency.

I'm sorry if this is all very pedantic.

One of the best pieces of advice about software engineering as well.

Yes! I didn't understand why I always found the Little Prince story (and by extension "alchemist") so repulsive, until I read that book. Little prince is aimed at people who have lost their idealistic youth qualities and seek to get back in touch with that part of themselves. I had the opposite problem - I never fully left that place.

It was one of my fondest memory of my first travel in Japan, we had no clue that such site was there, so when we took the bus from whatever train station to the onsen hotel, and we passed in front of it, as a French, it was jaw dropping to see such place. Even crazier was when we actually visited it, they really captured my home region. Unbelievable experience.

Oh, it closed? That's too bad! We visited it when we were in Hakone in 2017—it was a remarkable experience finding it in Japan!

It's not a hard read, and probably would take most adults an hour or two. Maybe just go read it if you're curious, and if you don't like it then quit after a chapter or two.

I like it. I got a lot out of the encounter with the fox, specifically, and that helped me in how I relate to a lot of my friends and lovers.

Read it with or to your kids. It is an adult book just as much as it is a children’s book. Something there for all stages of life.

I don't get it neither. I have learned French in school, I have read it in French and all... it just seems quite banal. A content-personality mismatch I guess, and if that wasn't so, I might still prefer something that feels more weighty than that book.

It's one of those books that strike you with a completely different meaning when you read it as an adult, than when you read it as a child. Which probably contributes to its enduring charm across the generations. I think everyone should read it twice, but with at least 20 years between readings.

It takes less than 2 hours to read, why don't you find out yourself lol

This is a sub plot in "Changing Places" by David Lodge. Hyper competitive professor of English wins dinner party game admitting major Canon work he hasn't read: gets terminated by head of department.

Out of curiosity, what cultural artifacts do you suppose people under thirty will consider worth passing on to their kids?

Not trying to be snarky. I think printed book culture led to some degree of consensus about books like The Little Prince. I’m not sure what replaces it.

The Little Prince was published before the baby boom. I am a millennial. We've read it to our gen alpha kid. We have it in three languages.

Very well written and will be relevant for all ages for another 100 years. Very unsnoopy. (Although I’ve heard that pre-Snoopy Peanuts is excellent and deep)

Profound thoughts about the human condition don't become less profound when the next generation comes along. The Little Prince is no more "boomer" than, say, Marcus Aurelius' Meditations.

Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.

Based on approximate sales figures, it's one of the top-selling books of all time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_books

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_literary_works_by_numb...

This is the second most translated book after the Bible

> I've never heard of Little Prince before.

interesting. may I ask which region of the world you live in?

> I don't think it's as popular as the article claims.

that may be telling more about the region you live or yourself.

I suggest go to it's Wikipedia article and check the books impact.

ps: and to get a physical copy and to read it...