From the author of "The Little Prince," who died in a plane crash in 1944, and whose plane has just now been recovered.

How exciting! This arrived today as twig and elf and I
were leaving the house to meet a friend for lunch downtown.
I read part of the first chapter to the children as we waited for our firend to arrive. Really can't wait to
really get into it. How can one resist a book that is
billed as "A National Geograpic Top Ten Adventure Book
of All Time" Wonder what the other 9 are?

A transcendent book. Saint-Exupery was a man who loved
flying and the granduer of the wild and remote landscapes
his career took him to. And yet what he love most,
this solitary flyer, is the communion of human spirits
and the interweaving of lives. With much grace he
describes the terror of being stranded in the desert and
with the same equanimity, the terror of sitting through
a dinner while be quietly appraised by to young sisters
and dealing with the unexpected, at least to him, dinner guests! In some ways the loss of possibilites for those
girls when they are carried off by future unworthy
suitors, is to him more haunting and troublesome to him than his own possible death. This great love affair with
all humankind and all its wonderous
possibilites is what gives this book its
resonance, and the loss of these its sadness.

The pic. is my little flyboy, elf, a few years back. He's
wearing my brother's old flight helmet. I'm putting
his picture here because so much about him reminds
me of this book, starting with his great love of
flying and planes, his seeming fearlessness and
his limitless love for people and possibilites.
And he was my reading companion with this book,
read some to him and he read some on his own.

A bookcrosser sent this book to my mommy. I want to say
thank you. I liked this book. I like to fly
and to learn about new places. I like Tintin
and this is better because it is like Tintin but
real. The desert part was scary and exciting.
I can see how he got the Little Prince from that
experience. That is a great book too. I got it
for Easter. I might be the Little Prince for
Halloween or I might be Tintin. Thank you
for letting me read your book.

Released on Tuesday, June 01, 2004 at Bookring in Bookring, A Bookring Controlled Releases.

to fsr44 in Rhode Island.

Received today. I have one book left to finish and then this is next up.
And by the way, Twigandelf, kids who trick or treat as literary characters get extra candy at my house!

I love anything to do with airplanes and flying, particularly the age of flight before jets. Now, when you fly, you might as well be taking a bus. But I've taken the stick (for short periods of time) in a 1960's single engine Piper Cub and a 1940's DC-9...and it was magical. So this memoir is right up my alley.
The descriptions of desert life were also compelling. I like this image:
"Night and day, Lucas, who was our chief of the airport, would wind his gramophone; and Ravel's Bolero, flung up here so far out of the path of life, would speak to us in a half-lost language, provoking an aimless melancholy which curiously resembled thirst."
If you like this one, I suggest you try Beryl Markham's "West With The Night".

received today from fsr44 - can't wait to start!

ok, ths is probably an appalling breach of BookCrossing ettiquette, but I have to confess that I cheated. The day this book got to me, I was skimming a bit, and was so struck by what I read that the next day I bought my own copy!! So this is traveling on to EKat in Texas even though I haven't finished reading it yet. I'll be registering my own copy, but I promise to journal my complete response to the book here (eek! probably another breach of ettiquette...) as originally planned...

7-25-04:
Well, here I am in my first bookring throwing a wrench in the works. =( I got it from the gracious deenbat and I'm still waiting for a chance to read it. I also lent it to my dad to look at because he loves planes and old war stuff. I wanted my own copy anyway since I adore this author, so now I am faced with the heartwrenching decision of whether or not to just send it on its way. I'll let you know what happens. Next it is destined for florafloraflora. Thanks!

Updated 5-23-05:
I'm so sorry I allowed the other stressors in my life to delay the rest of you in getting to enjoy this book. I guess I should have learned my lesson by now about borrowing things. :'( Although I still haven't read it or bought my own copy yet, it's on my goal list to put the book back as it came and mail it out just as soon as I can. I will post any responses to the book later if possible. Thanks again for your patience.