The Dark Tower and the Little Prince of St-Exupéry

[Delacroix]

Hello there,

I've read the Little Prince lately and I notices elements that could be found both in this book and in the Dark Tower. I'm not saying there is any kind of direct inspiration, but small links here and there that I'd like to talk about.

So, here are the likeness:
-Two characters: a man and a boy wandering together. A kind of friendly father/son link appears between them, as in the Gunslinger.
-The physical likeness between the Little Prince and Jake.
-The importance of the Rose for the Little Prince. It's the thing he cares the most about. :rose:
-The Little Prince dies to travel to other worlds.
-The Little Prince takes place in the desert (well, that's not really relevent).
-The Little Prince is lonely and desperatly looking for friends, it's the same for Jake, except in the Dark Tower it is not so obvious.

That's not a lot I admit, but I think it's enough to have an interesting talk ;)

[Hannah]

Is The Little Prince the one by Frances hodgson-burnett, or a different book entirely?

[John_and_Yoko]

Is The Little Prince the one by Frances hodgson-burnett, or a different book entirely?

No...it's by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

I think you're thinking of A Little Princess, which is completely different.

[Hannah]

I'm not actually. I'm thinking of The Lost Prince by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

I would hope a reasonable person would safely assume that I have enough intelligence to not confuse a book about a prince (male) with a book about a princess (female). But who knows?

[pathoftheturtle]

Le Petit Prince (http://www.amazon.com/Little-Prince-Antoine-Saint-Exup%C3%A9ry/dp/0156012197) (1943)

basis of...

the musical film (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071762/) The Little Prince (1974)
the opera Malenkiy Prints (1978 )
the anime (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0287191/) Hoshi no Ōjisama Puchi Puransu (1978--1979) premiered in the United States in 1982
the stage musical Le Petit Prince (2002)
...etc.

Lots of symbolism in St-Exupéry's novella. Probably King, also trying to make his work meaningful, happened to tap into some of the same archetypes. I hesitate to analyze it further than that...

[John_and_Yoko]

I'm not actually. I'm thinking of The Lost Prince by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

I would hope a reasonable person would safely assume that I have enough intelligence to not confuse a book about a prince (male) with a book about a princess (female). But who knows?

Um...thanks....

<.<

>.>



I guess I'm not intelligent....

[Letti]

Hello there,

I've read the Little Prince lately and I notices elements that could be found both in this book and in the Dark Tower. I'm not saying there is any kind of direct inspiration, but small links here and there that I'd like to talk about.

So, here are the likeness:
-Two characters: a man and a boy wandering together. A kind of friendly father/son link appears between them, as in the Gunslinger.
-The physical likeness between the Little Prince and Jake.
-The importance of the Rose for the Little Prince. It's the thing he cares the most about. :rose:
-The Little Prince dies to travel to other worlds.
-The Little Prince takes place in the desert (well, that's not really relevent).
-The Little Prince is lonely and desperatly looking for friends, it's the same for Jake, except in the Dark Tower it is not so obvious.

That's not a lot I admit, but I think it's enough to have an interesting talk ;)

Besides the DT series the Little Prince is one of the books that's very close to my heart so when I saw the title of this thread I opened it eagerly.
The way you put them next to each other is really interesting. Yes, I can see Jake as the Little Prince and Roland as the pilot. But in the Little Prince the one with the soul of an innocent child has and keeps the rose in the centre of his life and not the grown-up character and for me it brings the two stories very far from each-other.
Still I must say now that you have put your finger on it the two books have connections in my head.

[pathoftheturtle]

...the Little Prince is one of the books that's very close to my heart ...Same here. Surely.

...But in the Little Prince the one with the soul of an innocent child has and keeps the rose in the centre of his life and not the grown-up character and for me it brings the two stories very far from each-other. ...:orely: All very deep. :hmm:

[Delacroix]

If you look at the relationship between the rose and the character, yes there are big differences. But the place of the rose is more than central in each book. Even if in the Dark Tower everyone loves the rose, Roland is basically the closest.

In The Little Prince, the boy is the closest to the rose. The adult not being that interested in it isn't such a big deal as the book is mainly about the Little Prince.

But here I just wanted to bring those books I love close to each other. I'm not saying in anyway there is an influence or a direct inspiration or whatever.

[Letti]

But here I just wanted to bring those books I love close to each other.

You managed very well. :rose:

[pathoftheturtle]

...The adult not being that interested in it isn't such a big deal as the book is mainly about the Little Prince. ...The big deal is in what the rose symbolizes in The Dark Tower. I'm most perplexed by contrast among these characters' attitudes about death.

[Delacroix]

I'm sure you can say very interesting things that can fit more than a line. The way St-Exupéry, Roland, the Little Prince and Jake act about death could be a relevent comparison indeed.