Cult TV series Lost is drawing to an end with its sixth and final season.
Many of the episodes in this cryptic series refer more or less explicitly to other books and films. Episode 4 of Season 5 is entitled The Little Prince, personified by Aaron, a blond-haired three-year-old boy who plays one of the leading roles in this episode.
In another nod towards The Little Prince, the French scientific team discovers the wreckage of a boat named the “Bésixdouze”, a direct reference to the Little Prince’s home on asteroid B612.
If you live in or near Nice, then the Little Prince awaits you on stage. On the boards of the Théâtre National de Nice, to be precise. Directed and acted by Jacques Bellay, the show is remarkable for its juxtaposition of a solo actor and video sequences played by other actors.
In the beginning, the pages of the book are blank (symbolising the desert in which the pilot is lost) but are gradually illustrated by video projections depicting every character the Little Prince meets along his way, using technology to create magic.
A fairytale show, set to the music of Ravel, ideal for all the family.
Coming soon is the story of Yvette O’Brien, a French woman living in Northport. Saint-Exupéry wrote The Little Prince in this New Jersey town. In 2006 Yvette instigated the project to erect a statue of The Little Prince to celebrate the book’s 60th anniversary.
Once a teacher, Yvette Obrien gave French lessons to children with the help of The Little Prince. Yvette talked to us about her connection with the Little Prince and very soon we will be telling you all about it.
From the point of view of the French edition of Saint-Exupéry’s works things are moving – Gallimard is relaunching new editions of Saint-Exupéry’s novels in its folio collection. We begin with the new edition of Courrier Sud (Southern Mail). Saint-Exupéry’s first book and first success sold more than two million copies in France.
“In order to exist, we need to have lasting realities around us”
Southern Mail tells the story of Jacques Bernis, an Aéropostale aviator, who carries the mail to South America. In the face of solitude and danger Jacques looks for meaning in his life.
To find out more about Southern Mail, go to 1929 in Saint-Exupéry’s chronology.
Note that in the folio version of Le Petit Prince the cover will remain unchanged.
As an international literary hero, the Little Prince’s name has now been added to the Dictionary of Heroes of Popular Literature (Dictionnaire des héros de la littérature populaire). There is a Little Prince in each of us; we love the questions he never ceases to ask, his heart devoted to the fox and to his rose.
On the strength of his popularity and his values, the Little Prince has already caught the attention of the world of voluntary groups, and of business. Réunica has made him its ambassador for its communication campaigns. Laurent Morel of Réunica tells us about the company and the reasons behind its partnership with the Little Prince and his message.
We told you in an earlier news item about Bruno d’Agay, who set out from France to retrace the steps of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry along the famous Linea route flown by l’Aéropostale in South America. He took with him a number of copies of The Little Prince to hand out to schoolchildren in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Bolivia.
Bruno d’Agay reports that some children already had a copy of the book in their satchels (often the very same copies used by their parents). The story has become a classic, a set text studied by all children aged between 10 and 13. Bruno’s visits to schools were very relaxed and unscripted, and the children asked lots of questions about Saint-Exupéry’s drawings, particularly his drawing of the boa.
These photos were taken in a school in Pigué, 150 km west of Bahia Blanca (Argentina).
Some even call him the Little Prince of French music, but his real name is Raphaël and he is a star firmly fixed in the firmament of today’s French pop music scene. One of the tracks he sings on his album entitled “Je sais que la terre est plate” is “Concordia”, a song that relates directly to the work of Saint-Exupéry:
“Dans un petit avion je me suis posé C’était vers Concordia dans une autre vallée Deux enfants m’ont guidés car j’ai brisé ma roue”
(which translates roughly as: I landed in a light plane, it was near Concordia, in another valley; two children were my guides, because my landing gear was smashed)
For a better understanding of the resonance of these words, read “Wind, Sand and Stars” again, or our December newsstory in which we mentioned a delightful encounter between Saint-Exupéry and two young girls in the neighbourhood of… Concordia, in Argentina. And Raphaël has something else in common with Saint-Exupéry: he, too, is a pilot.
Close your eyes and enjoy a moment of poetry and escape, listening to “Concordia”.
In another style entirely, Gilbert Bécaud used to sing a song entitled Le Petit Prince est revenu (the Little Prince is back). And Gérard Lenorman, a successful singer of the 1970s, paid tribute to him directly in his song, Le Petit Prince (1972).
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