Air Force Pilot

Author: (French) Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-10-01
Features: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was a hero born for flying and a great writer! The Pilot by Saint-Exupéry, his long, caused a huge sensation upon its publication in the United States. Saint-Exupéry was not a writer who only described aviation, but one who explored life and civilization through aviation; he was not satisfied with merely depicting the life-and-death struggle of an aircraft suspended amidst chaotic clouds, mountains, oceans, and storms. From high above, he discovered that humans live on a planet mostly composed of mountains, sand, salt flats, and oceans, where life is merely like moss growing sparsely on a pile of rubble, thriving in the gaps. Civilization is as fragile as the afterglow of the setting sun; volcanic eruptions, land and sea changes, and sandstorms can all wipe it out entirely. These formed Saint-Exupéry's view: life, after all, is not a gift bestowed by God, but rather a problem everyone must face. A person's worth is not innate, but acquired. The Little Prince, with illustrations personally drawn by the author, is the second most-read book in the world after the Bible, with global circulation exceeding 500 million copies and translations available in over 102 languages. Heidegger called The Little Prince the greatest existentialist novel. Night Flight is Saint-Exupéry's masterpiece, which won the Prix Femina in 1931 and was adapted into a film in 1939. Wind, Sand and Stars (English translation of L'Homme et la Terre), which won the Grand Prize of the French Academy of Letters, was ranked third on National Geographic's list of the 20th century's top 100 adventure books. However, Sartre said that Wind, Sand and Stars pioneered the genre of existentialist novels. The Pilot, Saint-Exupéry's long, caused a huge sensation upon its publication in the United States. Southern Mail, published in 1937, was adapted into a film and is a documentary novel filled with philosophical depth and extraordinary imagination.