By Antoine de Saint-Exupery.
This one is Mason's pick. Just based on the comments about the book on Amazon, as you read this book think about What makes life worth living? and What is the value of a human relationship?
http://www.amazon.com/Wind-Sand-Stars-Antoine-Saint-Exupery/dp/0156027496/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262743500&sr=8-1
I finished the book today. Libya is my favorite country, so when I realized the Libyan desert was going to come into play, that got me pretty stoked ("Arabs? What luck!").
ReplyDeleteThe book had a lot of outstanding descriptions of early aviation and landscapes. The moment that stood out the most for me was, and I'd quote it except that I've already passed the book along, when the plane lands on the plateau and Saint-Exupery finds the black rock and realizes that it is star dust. The moment carried the thrill of new exploration and discovery that I haven't felt since watching Planet Earth.
But the thing that I loved the most was the final chapter, about how everything has a purpose, and fulfilling that purpose brings satisfaction. He talks about the gazelles pressing their horns against the fencing, wanting to return to the dangerous wild because that is what gazelles are supposed to do. For Saint-Exupery, there is purpose in man too. Though he was dying in the desert, he was a pilot and he didn't feel sorry for himself because he was fulfilling his purpose. The scene with the Spanish military was gripping as well. Over break Taylor and I visited the National WW1 museum, and the tour starts with a film that asks "What motivated millions of poor people to fight and die for their countries?" Nationalism? The description of the military was fascinating in that sense, that people fought because they felt like they were fulfilling some innate purpose. But Saint-Exupery goes on to say that he detests war from there.
With the two questions I put up before, I took away that we live to fulfill whatever our personal purpose is, and that purpose should be to the benefit of all mankind. As for the value of human relationships, remember his companion in the Libyan desert (I hate that I already passed the book along and can't cite this) who said if he knew he was the only person in the world, he'd lie down and die. For Saint-Exupery, who's profession inclines him to be a loner, human relationships seem to mean everything.
Sorry, Liz, for my grammar errors.
Overall, definitely an excellent book. I can't remember the exact passage (and I just returned the book, so I'm not sure where it was), but there was a section where Saint-Exupery chastises the bureaucrats on his bus-ride that I thought was telling. He accuses them of giving up on their lofty hopes and ambitions and for being content with their place in society. To me, this passage seemed to draw a distinction between "great men" and "good men". Not to say that "great men" are all pilots; rather, that they pursue their passions, never settling for less, whatever their goals may be.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I thought the section on the Spanish Civil War was particularly well-written. I liked the story of the dialogue between the Nationalist and Republican sentries, when one claims to fight for Spain, while the other claims to fight for his fellow bretheren. Is either one "right"? This passage really made me think about whether or not there is a "right" side, and if there is, how can the other side be convinced that their cause is wrong?
I don't think I answered the questions Brett posed originally, but I'm not sure if I really discovered a good answer to them, even as I finished the book. The closest answer I can give is that we live our lives for others. In dire straits, when our own life may be in danger, we push on, not for our own self-preservation, but for the sake of our friends and family who would have to bear the burden of our loss (I don't think my previous comments quite do justice to my take on this issue, but it's difficult to put into words).
All in all, excellent book.