See Katherine Woods' translation - this one is NOTHING like the original author's writing
Antoine de St. Exupery was a WWI pilot who later wrote about his experiences, most importantly his experiences of the heart. He was a sensitive soul who understood and communicated the essential, the profound. Using spare but delightfully playful and beautiful language, de St. Exupery told a simple story, Le Petit Prince translated as The Little Prince, which reveals and celebrates the deepest and most profound experiences of life. Just try not to read it without a big box of tissues -- I don't know anyone yet who has managed this (although you must first be sure to have Katherine Woods' translation if you are not reading the original). It is the only book my husband and I simply could not read aloud to my growing children -- at a certain point, we would find that we simply could not speak at all.
It is not a children's book, although it is written with a childlike simplicity -- and although older children will indeed appreciate and benefit from it.
This translation, however, is HORRID. I'm sorry -- I would not wish to mislead anyone on this point. It is AWFUL.
My 17-year-old son alerted me to the poverty of this translation. At first, I'm sorry to say, I doubted my son's information -- how is it possible that an anniversary edition of the English translation of The Little Prince could have so completely lost the beauty of the story?
Our son was terribly disappointed that he had such trouble locating a copy like his book, the one I had given him so many years ago, the Katherine Woods translation. He wanted to give this beautiful story to his girlfriend -- and eventually and at great expense was ultimately able to locate a new condition copy through Amazon.
I found both versions at our local library. I saw immediately what my son meant. The beautiful prose, the simple but effective turn of a phrase, the profound and touching message -- Katherine Woods' translation captures the essence of de St. Exupery's original (French) work. In a most shocking and disappointing contrast, Howard's version (the one which is linked to this review) is dumbed-down to such a degree that there is nothing of substance remaining.
Please, don't waste your time with Howard's translation. The publisher should be ashamed. Frankly, I'm stunned that permission for this translation was ever issued.
I'm so sorry to give such a poor review -- I know my words here are hurtful -- but this very negative review is unfortunately well deserved. In my opinion, this translation is a travesty. It is a terrible thing which has been done here -- it is terrible to have put into print something that is so very unlike de St. Exupery's work, and to have labeled it as the same thing, so that new and unsuspecting readers may never know what they are missing. Worst of all, is that Antoine de St. Exupery's The Little Prince is perhaps the most beautiful book ever penned, in any language -- and to see it treated in such a way, is heartbreaking. The Howard translation is terribly, terribly disappointing.
Please, go find a copy of the Katherine Woods translation. The Woods translation does justice to the beauty of the original.
The Little Prince -- it is a masterpiece. If our civilization -- if humanity itself -- were to be represented only by this one work, we should all feel deeply honored.