Antoine Saint Exupery's Wind, Sand and Stars is a book I've been saving up to read for years. I kept thinking that I'd wait to tackle it until my French was good enough to really appreciate it. But there comes a time in a man's life when he realises that his French is never going to improve. So I took WSS in English and a couple of other books (not for me the mighty Kindle) on my Tokyo trip....
The book is as beautiful as I thought it would be. It's filled with Saint Exupery's poetic reflections on life most of which he composed while flying early mail routes in South American and N Africa. I don't expect this to be everyone's cup of tea, but I'm afraid that I'm going to have to insist that everyone does attempt the story of Bark The Slave from pages 60 - 69 (in the Penguin edition) which is one of the most fantastic short passages of prose I have ever read.
...
Saint Exupery's amazing story of crashing in the Libyan desert and somehow suriving is on pages 71 - 103. It's this account that led Outside Magazine to pick WSS as the #1 adventure travel book. Sadly of course Saint Exupery, was shot down over the Mediterranean in 1944 just a few years after composing Le Petit Prince and Wind, Sand and Stars.
23 comments:
I hope we don't have to attempt it in French, because that is just not going to happen.
I do know of the book, but have never gotten around to it. I think I would like to read something where the Libyan desert factors in right about now, as Libya is where my parents met.
My mom signed on to do Special Services in Libya because there was extra hardship pay, but I just learned recently that once she got there, the powers that be decided that the hardships weren't quite hard enough, even though the heat was pretty much always over 110 degrees and there were loads and loads of flies.
I had the same thought Seana. I did two years of high school french and I don't think I remember much past "bonjour", "Au revoir" and "Je m'appelle ______."
Maybe Adrian will translate for us.
Seana
No, I read the very good Penguin edition. In English. The story of Bark the slave and the crash are classics.
Glenna
No need, just get the English edition.
It's still a bit of a problem, because that isn't the translation available in the U.S.
That doesn't sound quite as fun as watching you try to translate, but one the less, it's on my list of things to look up next time I have time to kill at Barnes and Nobles...or the library if they have it.
On another note, I'm giving your Irish Stew recipe an attempt tonight. Honestly, the recipe sounds so easy even I might have a hard time messing it up.
I didn't read The Little Prince until I was 23 and immediately read everything by Saint-X I could get my hands on.
I'm even incorporating the star from his illustrations into my next tattoo
Seana
You cant get the Penguin edition in the USA? Bizarre. I remember The Tattered Cover had a whole Penguin Classics section.
Well, I urge you to read the story of Bark the Slave in any old edition you can find in the bookshop or library but I'm afraid I cant be so helpful with the page numbers.
Glenna
You're right. Watching me trying to translate is pretty funny. Watching me trying to explain that the shower doesnt work to a Parisian hotel receptionist is even funnier.
Rob
It's funny how so many of these early flyers became quite interesting thinkers.
I remember reading a tatty remaindered old book called West With Night by the first woman to fly across the Atlantic westwards and I thought it was just fantastic.
No, you can get a lot of things from Penguin, but Harcourt seems to have the rights here and it seems to be an older translation than Penguin's. ButI'll give it a go.
I don't suppose you have a you tube video of that do you?
Seana
I'll bet you can get the Penguin in the SC public library. I'm no expert on translations but it seems to me that he did a lovely job.
Glenna
Now that would be funny, esp since the French world for shower is "douche".
Iz marked to read, thanks very much!!
Gen
At the very least I insist that you read the Bark The Slave story. And if you like that then go for the rest of the book.
Way off-topic here, but I just saw this clip of Nick Cave talking about the script he wrote for Gladiator 2 at Russell Crowe's behest. Pretty effing funny and apparently a true story.
Brian
Thats a good story. That does NOT sound like a good script idea to me. Still it just goes to show that is the racket we should be all trying to get into.
Since Brian has broken the strict rules about staying on the subject that this blog usually expects, I'll risk saying that there is a lot of Philip K. Dick stuff here.
Seana
I read a piece about her book in the Times today. It does sound interesting although I'd disagree slightly that this was Dick's most creative period. I think he was doing more challenging stuff in the 1970's.
Right. Unfortunately, I would have to read everything again or for the first time to know what I think the high point was, and by the time I was done, I would probably have to start over.
I was interested, though, to see that Jonathan Lethem was the editor of the LOA volumes, as I happen to be reading Motherless Brooklyn at the moment.
Seana
Editor is a fancy word for what he did. As far as I can see he just picked the books. There are virtually no notes or anything else helpful.
He did a good job with the first volume (picking the books that is) but not so good with the others I'm afraid.
As with so many of these kinds of things, I suppose it was largely an honorary role.
I have read a fair amount of Lethem already, not everything but some of the earlier speculative fiction and though I can see how Dick might be an influence, in fact, I don't think their imaginations are very much alike.
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