The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Beautiful. One quotable book to rule them all. It made me feel very happy in a sad way. I feel awful for not having read this classic sooner, yet I know that if I did I would probably not feel its impact as I do now. The Little Prince has a timeless story that absolutely anyone can enjoy. To me, it was fresh, funny, educational, and at times distressing, in a way that told me I was enjoying myself thoroughly.
My heart burst in so many ways. I loved that the gentle messages of The Little Prince would always occur to me naturally, in slowly dawning realizations that never felt forced Without any unnecessary embellishments or superfluous repetitions to enshroud moral messages. Such techniques sometimes only succeed in making intentions that are supposed to be obscure more painstakingly obvious. Or by being excessively didactic, the voice may even come off as wooden.
I'm a big fan of the clean writing style in The Little Prince for this reason. Nothing beats the simple, intimate discovery of a book that is heavy-laden with meaning, but freely so.
I've never reread an entire book cover to cover before. I've never had any reason to. Usually, I only go through a few pages to review a scene I liked. Now, if ever there was a book I might read over and over again before I go to sleep, it would be this one.
The easy length is just a bonus, teehee.