Wind, Sand and Stars (HBJ Modern Classic)

Saint-Exupery tells the story of his life as a pilot carrying mail across the Sahara desert and through the Andes mountains in simple and beautiful prose. Whether discussing the benefits of technology ("It seems to me that those who complain of man's progress confuse ends with means." p. 44), explaining the difficulty of writing ("The reason why writers fail when they attempt to evoke horror is...more

Saint-Exupery tells the story of his life as a pilot carrying mail across the Sahara desert and through the Andes mountains in simple and beautiful prose. Whether discussing the benefits of technology ("It seems to me that those who complain of man's progress confuse ends with means." p. 44), explaining the difficulty of writing ("The reason why writers fail when they attempt to evoke horror is that horror is something invented after the fact, when one is re-creating the experience over again in the memory. Horror does not manifest itself in the world of reality." p. 49) or describing the different Men of the Desert (And Bark, his eyes shut, sitting every night under the same star, in a place where men live in houses of hair and follow the wind, told himself that he was living in his white house in Marrakech. p. 112) Saint-Exupery does it with vividness, imagination and an humble sincerity.   hide

I had no idea about the history of Antoine De Saint Exupery (the writer of le Petit Prince). This book if nothing else is fascinating look at the man who wrote the classic story. It's also much more than that. It's a beautiful timepiece written by one of the best writers of his generation. Spellbinding.

hint of colonialist attitudes, but outweighed by the beauty of the language

Has been one of my favorites for as long as any other book...