On Visiting Earth, A Commentary on The Little Prince

(WARNING: SPOILER ALERT)

“There are 111 kings, 7,000 geographers, 900,000 businessmen, 7,500,000 tipplers, 311,000,000 conceited men—that is to say about 2,000,000,000 grown-ups.“

These were the figures that the little prince gave as he set foot on Earth. If you have read my previous posts, On the Grownups parts 1 and 2, these figures approximates how many adults behave in ‘extraordinary’ ways, as the little prince puts it.

The Garden of Roses and the Fox

Seeing a garden of roses, all bearing strong semblance to the rose in his planet, deeply, and painfully, carved the word ‘ephemeral’ into the little prince’s heart. The Geographer of the last asteroid he visited described his rose as such, ephemeral, in danger of speedy disappearance. The little prince questions his rose’s uniqueness.

It was the fox who taught him to see rightly. The term used by the author is taming, which is described as establishing ties, but this also translates to love. (Yes, it's cheesy, I know. But if you loathe it so much, don't read this book at all, or worse, discuss it with someone else.) Simply stated, it was the fox who taught the little prince about love.

I somewhat agree that the concept of love is taught to children who're old enough to get the gist of the novel. After all, regardless of age, love has been the source of misery and sorrow, bliss and contentment, but more importantly, purpose and meaning.

The fox instructs the little prince, to be patient, maintain distance, and say nothing.

Being patient entails perseverance. Anything worth having is earned. Maintaining distance entails trust. And trust is a key ingredient for establishing ties. Saying nothing entails understanding. As the fox says, “Words are the source of misunderstandings”.

The fox also instructs the little prince to be consistent, to come back at the same hour and not be radical with their meetings. Setting a designated schedule and amount of time means placing value not only for the person but also for the time spent with him or her.

As the little prince leaves, the fox starts crying. The little prince points out that the fox brought this on himself, if he hadn’t asked to be tamed; he wouldn’t be weeping in his departure. The fox then shares light from a different angle, what the little prince say may be true, but the more significant change, he is not like any other fox for the little prince anymore just like his rose against the similar beauty of the roses in the garden.

The Essential

“What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well”.

Its delicate, luscious but elusive taste can be sampled, once again, in the latter part of the story. Both the pilot and the little prince were thirsty, and they were looking for source of water in the scorching desert. In the most literal sense, it is plainly difficult to find water in the Sahara desert. But they did find a well, yet getting water from the well is still trying. Fortunately, a pulley, a lever and a bucket were available. And the water they drank was the sweetest of all.

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye”. 

This famous line pertains to a concept which underpins the simple architecture of the entire novel. It is also this concept that catalyzes the complexity of the novel's effects to readers. Perhaps the book is simplest when read by a child.

Commentary Series Links:
> The Little Prince Book Review
> On Matters of Consequence
> On Talking Like a Grownup
> On Loving Figures
> On Grownups Part 1/2
> On Grownups Part 2/2
> Quotes from The Little Prince

Read more...

On Grownups, A Commentary on The Little Prince Part 2/2

(WARNING: SPOILER ALERT)

The Geographer

Leaving the lamplighter’s small planet, the little prince reaches a bigger planet where the geographer resides. The geographer describes his work to the little prince as, “...a scholar who knows the location of all the seas, rivers, towns, mountains, and deserts.”

Enthused in meeting such a person, the little prince asks about the ocean, the river, the mountain and the desert. But to no avail, the geographer is unable to answer, confusing the little prince. To the geographer’s defense, he explains searching the land was the explorer’s job and not his. And to his misfortune, there’s no single explorer on his planet.

The geographer also expounds the process on qualifying an explorer’s report. Instead of going where the explorer went to get proof of his claim, an explorer will provide the evidence himself, his integrity will also be measured before his report is immortalized in a map.

Here’s a good, and funny, explanation of why integrity needs investigation, “. . . an explorer who told lies would bring disaster on the books of the geographer. So would an explorer who drank too much. Because intoxicated men see double.”

This part led me to think, that rather than experiencing life first-hand, there are those of us who are satisfied in taking the backseat as we let someone else take the wheel. It is always easier to be the passenger than the driver, but only the driver can steer the car to the direction that he intends to go to. The passenger may get to the same destination as the driver, but the driver will have greater appreciation of where he is than the passenger.

Ephemeral

Describing his planet to the geographer, with only a few distinctive feats to tell, the little prince is bound to emphasize the existence of his planet’s singular rose—his rose. But the moment it escapes from his mouth, the geographer, with crushing nonchalance, discards his rose as ephemeral, and it is unnecessary to record.

In protest, the little prince argues that his rose is unique on his planet and asks what does ephemeral mean. The geographer describes it as something “...in danger of speedy disappearance”. This broke the little prince’s heart. Regret starts gnawing at him, he should never have left his rose alone. But his journey wasn’t at an end; the geographer recommends visiting Earth.

We always forget how infinitely changing the world is. We usually forget how temporary everything is, thus we take things for granted, even people. It is usually in hindsight that we realize this fault. After all, regret is always felt after a mistake, never before it is committed. But once in a while, like the geographer’s remark to the little prince, we are reminded of our impermanence. 



Commentary Series Links:
> The Little Prince Book Review
> On Matters of Consequence
> On Talking Like a Grownup
> On Loving Figures
> On Grownups Part 1/2
> On Visiting Earth
> Quotes from The Little Prince

Read more...

On Grownups, A Commentary on The Little Prince Part 1/2

(WARNING: SPOILER ALERT)

The little prince said, “...I was too young to know how to love her,” referring to his complicated affection to his rose. His rose was demanding. Her requests gradually overwhelmed the loving little prince. Eventually, he became indifferent. It was only on Earth that he realized that behind the rose’s words was true affection.

On the verge of such realization, the little prince sets off to visit neighboring planets to gain more knowledge. The little prince is already aware of how young he was to understand his love for the rose, and then he met a number of adults, ridiculous in their own way. These grownups represent certain traits that most people possess to a certain degree.

The King

The king’s authority is quite funny and rather annoying. The author states that the world is much simple to a Kking, because to him “all men are subjects”. The king said, “I do not permit insubordination”. Though this may sound rigid and stern, in truth it is permissive and loose. He brags that he can order when the sun will set, which he does on sunset, a task that the sun is bound to do.

This translates to a false sense of control. There are those who feel that they are in-charge of their own lives when they’re really not, and tend to cloud fact with their own excuses. No one may have the power to tell the sun to set, but one can close his eyes to hide its rays.

The Conceited Man

All of us need attention, it is human to seek attention, but there are those who just can’t get enough, like the conceited man. Upon reaching the conceited man’s planet, the little prince was treated as an admirer, but the prince poses a question, “...what is there in that to interest you so much?”

To avoid losing sight of its significance, it is best to ask why we need attention before we seek it, so we would know when to stop. Usually, when have something at hand, we overlook its value. Like the way we see our reflection in the mirror, it's ironic. The mirror reflects exactly how we look. Despite this fact, we see the things we don’t have, not the things we already have.

The Tippler

The Tippler

Meeting the tippler was the funniest part for me. The tippler or the drunkard drinks to forget that he is ashamed of drinking. The metaphor is there, a simple irony. But you don’t need to interpret anything about it at all; you can take it for its factual sense. Saint-Exupery may have realized this, no I think it’s just me, but a correlation was made with the businessman to further emphasize the tippler’s irony. Nevertheless, relating the tippler and the businessman is a brilliant literary punchl.

The Businessman

The businessman claims to be very busy, he says he owns the stars because no one has decided to own them. The little prince points out that the stars aren’t owned by anyone, lest by him, because owning means being responsible for what you own.

The Businessman

The businessman further shares that he counts the stars to get more stars. And the little prince makes an exemplary connection between the tippler’ behavior and the businessman’s reasoning. This made me realize a strong semblance; both are drunk, one with liquor and one with stars.

The Lamplighter

A day on the lamplighter’s planet lasts for only a minute. And it is his job to light the lamp, giving him no time to rest. The lamplighter is the only grownup that the little prince empathized with. Among all the grownups that he met, the lamplighter is the only who isn’t selfish in his deeds, despite being, probably, the saddest. We can infer from the lamplighter how certain people live from one day to the next, having no control of how the day is spent, powerless to effect a change, obliged to stick with a routine.

The Geographer

I decided to write a separate post for the geographer.



Commentary Series Links:
> The Little Prince Book Review
> On Matters of Consequence
> On Talking Like a Grownup
> On Loving Figures
> On Grownups Part 2/2
> On Visiting Earth
> Quotes from The Little Prince

Read more...

On Loving Figures, A Commentary on The Little Prince

(WARNING: SPOILER ALERT)

"Grown-ups love figures"

This is the first part in the book where I had an epiphany. (I’m always cautious in using the word ‘epiphany’ because it might sound like an orgasm, more like, a mental orgasm). I say it in that manner because there are more to come. (Now that’s just wrong)

Anyway... by figures, it means numbers and anything described by a certain measurement. Here’s a certain passage as discussed by the pilot:

“If you were to say to the grown-ups: “I saw a beautiful house made of rosy brick, with geraniums in the windows and doves on the roof,” they would not be able to get any idea of the house at all. You would have to say to them: “I saw a house that cost £4,000.” Then they would exclaim: “Oh, what a pretty house that is!””

We can infer two things, first is the general idea of having a yardstick for almost everything, and second is how a certain price tag affects our opinion of a certain object, place, or even a person.

Admit it, there are times that you’ve given more weight on figures than other essential details. Of course there’s nothing wrong in knowing a thing’s objective value, but even such reasoning is not exempted from the simple wisdom that the Spice Girl’s offer, ‘too much of something is bad enough.’

In the Miss Universe for example, when a contestant is presented, she is presented along with her bust, waist and thigh measurements. The 36-24-36 is even embedded in our everyday lingo, well not mine in particular (haha!) but most straight guys, and anorexic girls. I’m not totally against it, I’m part of it too, but these are proofs of what the pilot is driving at.

The Little Prince and the Baobabs

Adults, not all of course, who are of marrying age would also consider his or her future partner’s paycheck into serious consideration, he or she may see a barcode on his or her partner’s sleeve. Though reasonable, especially for having stability in life as priority, we fail to take into account the importance of concepts that no amount of money can buy.

Some may say that happiness depends on your credit limit, I say different, because we decide what makes us happy. If money makes us happy, then it will. If food makes us happy, then it will. If hearing another person’s voice, enjoying a cup of cocoa during a rainy morning makes us happy, then it will.

If a person puts a price on his happiness, he is either the luckiest person in the world or the saddest, because having a price means knowing what will make him happy, but if he thinks it’s too expensive then it’ll never be within his reach.

It’s not wrong to consider figures; it’s even wise to do so. But letting figures be the major cog in your decision-making is a greatest mistake anyone could make.

Commentary Series Links:
> The Little Prince Book Review
> On Matters of Consequence
> On Talking Like a Grownup
> On Grownups Part 1/2
> On Grownups Part 2/2
> On Visiting Earth
> Quotes from The Little Prince

Read more...

On Talking Like a Grownup, A Commentary on The Little Prince

(WARNING: SPOILER ALERT)

The first and the most reiterating concept in The Little Prince is an adult’s supposedly matured way of thinking. We associate adulthood, or to a child’s limited verbiage ‘being a grownup’, to behavior grounded on logic and well-informed decision-making. (Now didn’t that sound like something taken directly out of a textbook?)

This quoted part is very telling of how similar the pilot’s and little prince’s opinion of an adult is. Note that the pilot is narrating and the little prince is making a point.

 “You talk just like the grown-ups!”

That made me a little ashamed. But he went on, relentlessly:

“You mix everything up together . . . You confuse everything . . .”

Case in point, an adult’s responsibilities requires well-informed decision-making. However, there are those, whom you might consider ‘lost in adulthood’, if such expression exists, though this might be the first, who’re reeking of juvenile monotony and losing sight of what is significant. This idea is reiterated through the lamplighter and businessman, both visited by the little prince.

Let me repeat that the pilot and the little prince agrees that thinking like a grownup is shameful. The pilot’s experience is rooted from grownups’ lack of imagination with his drawings. While the little prince’s perception is from the conversations he’s had with different grownups in different planets.

The pilot says, “In the course of this life I have had a great many encounters with a great many people who have been concerned with matters of consequence. I have lived a great deal among grown-ups. I have seen them intimately, close at hand. And that hasn’t much improved my opinion of them.”

His becoming a pilot was also attributed to the grownups’ inability to appreciate his illustrations which made him give up his dreams of being a painter. That he became a pilot who studied ‘matters of consequence’ such as geography and the sciences.

Adult influence over a child’s dreams is undeniably strong. I guess it’s universal knowledge. Putting a little spin on it, it simply tells us that some of our decisions are made for us, instead of having the strength to make them ourselves, or worse, dwelling in a pool of indecision. People who have power over us are people who we give power to, given either through veneration or through the call of the majority.



Commentary Series Links:
> The Little Prince Book Review
> On Matters of Consequence
> On Loving Figures
> On Grownups Part 1/2
> On Grownups Part 2/2
> On Visiting Earth
> Quotes from The Little Prince

Read more...

On Matters of Consequence, A Commentary on The Little Prince

(WARNING: SPOILER ALERT)

The Little Prince impresses, on its readers, a deep mark worth expounding. And although I fear words would fail as satisfactory means of capturing the sensation you get in the story’s aftermath, attempting to attain at least a certain degree of its epiphanous quality is sorely appealing, and rewarding. 

But as I’ve said in my book review, this book’s openness to interpretation is more radical than most titles. It does not only vary from one person to the next, but also from one person’s stage in life to his next.

On Matters of Consequence

The pilot and the little prince were having a conversation about the prince’s singular rose while the pilot repairs his aeroplane. But the prince’s inquisitive nature eventually bugged the pilot. He then blurts out to let him finish the repairs without interference as they were ‘matters of consequences’.

Like some kind of trigger, the little prince was offended and points out that his definition of ‘matters of consequence’ is rather misconstrued. He also furthered that the pilot started talking just like a grownup, which is presented as an insult.

Their argument began when the little prince was talking about his most beloved single rose in his little planet. Aware of his scarce resources, the pilot aims to fix his plane as soon as possible and discards the little prince’s passionate sharing about his rose as something immaterial.

The little prince counters, “And is it not a matter of consequence to try and understand why the flowers go to so much trouble to grow thorns which are never of any use to them?”

At first I disagreed with the little prince, considering the pilot’s situation, the repairs should be top priority. But then, so is a rose who has thorns in an attempt to save itself from being eaten by a sheep or being plucked from the soil where it gets nourishment.

Sometimes in our struggle to survive, to live, we forget why we live at all—why we grow thorns, why are they necessary or are they even necessary in the first place.


Commentary Series Links:
> The Little Prince Book Review
> On Talking Like a Grownup
> On Loving Figures
> On Grownups Part 1/2
> On Grownups Part 2/2
> On Visiting Earth
> Quotes from The Little Prince

Read more...

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

No one enjoys waiting. While PSPs and Nintendo DSs whip the minutes or hours to move faster, the lesser techie, more scholastic, or 10,000 peso-deprived, would prefer a novel as a handheld companion. And a funny, opinionated and perceptive companion makes time fly, which are traits of David Sedaris’ When You Are Engulfed in Flames.

Author: David Sedaris

Released: June 3, 2008

#1 International Bestseller

#1 New York Times Bestseller Non-Fiction

Synopsis

When You Are Engulfed in Flames is a collection of essays, on almost anything under the sun. Topics would come from the author’s childhood up to his present day-to-day encounters. Here are certain essays that I really enjoyed:

Ø  It's Catching – Hugh’s mother, 76, does house chores, which are considerably herculean for her age, while her leg worm deeply bothers David.

Ø  The Understudy – At the time when Americans discriminate against blacks, David and his sisters condemn their white babysitter.

Ø  Road Trips – A truck driver straightforwardly asks for a blow job, implying his personal advocacy that oral sex should be casual.

Ø  Solution to Saturday's Puzzle – An unreasonably demanding airplane seatmate. Enough said.

Ø  All the Beauty You Will Ever Need – David tries to make coffee without water. Again, enough said.

Ø  The Smoking Section – How quitting smoking brought them halfway around the globe, and halfly speaking Japanese. A necessarily extensive journal on the hardship of quitting cigarette smoking.

*You can check the other essays with their short descriptions here.

Reading Experience

Funny and witty. These two adjectives are perhaps enough to sum all the essays in When You Are Engulfed in Flames. Even the title itself was captured from a Japanese brochure on what to do during a fire.

Readers are lucky for Sedaris to have shared his funny experiences in this book. As this is a collection of essays, you won’t be daunted by the number of pages you need to finish. It’s not something you can finish, or would want to finish, in one seating. You would want to read it in the waiting room before a dental appointment, in the bus during rush hour, or during an uninteresting class. You can simply pick one essay, read it at a coffee shop while waiting for a friend who’s beyond 30 minutes late.

Sedaris’ perspective is not only entertaining but also interesting, hitting the mark from a different angle, since most of the essay topics are not entirely foreign or unheard of.

But his delivery is on a higher level, it is a unique, fresh and perceptive presentation of opinion and outlook. There is liberal use of metaphors to further expound a point and the often cause of hilarity. Furthermore, a reader is bound to feel he is conversing with the author rather than just reading his thoughts.

In Conclusion

For those who are already reading a certain title with a convoluted plot or weighs heavily on drama, then this is a good side dish. It would detoxify you and serve as refreshment for the current hardcore novel you’re reading. For the rest, you won’t be making a mistake by taking this off the shelf.

Read more...