More on Saint-Exupery

An aritcle in the WSJ about Saint-Exupery’s writing – which has kind of a hostile tone, in my estimation. Still – definitely worth a read. Definitely worth a read.

Granted, I am biased, which is why the article may sound more hostile than it actually is. (I use the term “hostile” in a very mild way – I don’t mean active violent hostility. Perhaps “gentle contempt” is a more appropriate term.)

To call Saint-Exupery’s observations in Le Petit Prince “murky”! Murky? What the hell book were YOU reading,? Yeah, Le Petit Prince is one of the most successful and long-running best-sellers of all time because of its “murky observations”.

Benjamin Ivry, the author, chooses the following Saint-Exupery sentence as an example of “murkiness”: “Friendship is born from an identity of spiritual goals–from common navigation toward a star”.

Uh … sounds crystal-clear to me. Not only do I understand that with my head, but I understand it from my own experience of friendship. Hence: the universal appeal of the book. Ivry sounds hostile to the sentimentality and philosophy of Saint-Exuperty. And, as is probably obvious by now, I enjoy sentiment. I’m a little bit sentimental. (I’m a little bit rock ‘n roll). At least, I enjoy sentiment if an author knows how to write it. And Saint-Exupery most certainly does.

One of Saint-Exupery’s descendents has apparently just published a book entitled: “L’Inavouable: La France au Rwanda” – which is described as “a bold and courageous indictment of French foreign policy in Rwanda”.

Having read Philip Gourevitch’s absolutely phenomenal book We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda (and if you haven’t read it – I literally cannot recommend it highly enough) – I agree that there is quite a lot to indict. And good for Patrick de Saint-Exupery for being brave enough to indict his country’s policy.

But something about this article left a sour taste in my mouth.

It’s the phenomenon (phenomena?) I see so often these days – but I don’t know how to name it. Perhaps it can be encapsulated thus:

“Oh my goodness, I totally agree with everything you say – and therefore I LOVE you.” (The person may be an absolute moron, but if you agree with his opinions, then he is your dearest brother.) Or, on the flip-side: “Hmm. I really don’t agree with a couple of things that you say. Therefore I regard you with suspicion.” (The person may be an absolute gem, a beautiful human being, but you happen to differ with them on important issues – therefore the person is written off.)

That’s how the article in the WSJ read to me. Am I wrong? It’s highly possible. I haven’t had my second cup of coffee yet. It reads to me like this:

Oh, so we AGREE with Patrick Saint-Exupery – so he should be commended. We think Antoine is a bit “murky” and “swimmingly vague” – perhaps a bit too touchy-feely New Age … and so we end the entire article with praise for Patrick, as opposed to praise for the gentleman who wrote a book that has (the article informs us) sold over a million copies every year, from the time it was published. NO books do that. Or only the big ol’ famous books. The Road Less Traveled, for example. These books transcend genre, these books will never stop selling. The authors have tapped into something, something primal, something eternal.

It is interesting to contemplate, however, the source of Saint-Exupery’s appeal. And again, I am totally biased, because I love his writing (and therefore I submit to the same mentality that Benjamin Ivry displays – except that I am on the opposite side.)

Is it the age-old fascination with flight? And some pilots, while perhaps brilliant technicians, cannot write well? So the pilots who are able to actually write about their experiences will, inevitably, find an audience?

Is it because he disappeared so mysteriously?

I guess for me it is the power of his writing, and also the whimsy of his writing. Basically, I just enjoy reading his prose (although, as I have said before – it’s so much better in the French. French translated into English can read quite choppily.)

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7 Responses to More on Saint-Exupery

  1. David Foster says:

    What I like about St-Ex (OK, *one* thing I like about him) is that he is a searcher. You can sense his internal struggles to make sense of things–rather than attempting to sell a prefabricated worldview, as so many writers do.

    The other interesting thing about him is that he was both an intellectual and a man of action. It’s a combination that may be more common (or may have *been* more common) among Europeans than among Americans.

  2. C.S. Froning says:

    Le Petit Prince is one of those books that was ruined for me by required reading in school. Mind you, I liked most of my school reading (except for The Grapes of Wrath–ugh) but I will always associate Le Petit Prince with my scary, kooky French teacher. Sigh.

  3. red says:

    CS:

    Scary AND kooky? That’s not a good combo.

  4. CW says:

    I don’t know Red… I do think St Ex is kind of murky – and I really like him. I don’t read French very well and I always thought I was missing something reading it in English. I just kind of figured “this probably sounds a lot better in French”. I read it in French and thought “if I really understood French this would sound a lot better to me”. But don’t get me wrong – I think he’s awesome – just somewhat hard to follow at times.

  5. red says:

    CW:

    Well, then, since we disagree slightly, I will completely write you off.

    JUST KIDDING.

    Maybe it’s a taste thing, then. You know? Everyone isn’t going to find the same things personally relevant, moving, well-written, etc.

  6. CW says:

    But I REALLY LIKE St Ex – the stories he tells and his visual imagery are fantastic. I do think he’s very moving, and certainly relevant to me. It’s just that I found I had to re-read a lot of his prose to “get it”. I really still think it is a language thing.

  7. red says:

    I definitely think that is a lot of it. Translation from French into English is very tricky. Or I suppose any translation is.

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