Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41486 in Books
• Published on: 2000-05-25
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

Synopsis
In 1926, de Saint-Exupery began flying for the pioneering airline Latecoere - later known as Aeropostale - opening up the first mail routes across the Sahara and the Andes. "Wind, Sand and Stars" is drawn from this experience. Interweaving encounters with nomadic Arabs and other adventures into a richly textured autobiographical narrative which includes the extraordinary story of his crash in the Libyan Desert in 1936, and his miraculous survival. 'Self-discovery comes when a man measures himself against an obstacle', writes Saint-Exupery. In this book, he explores the transcendent perceptions that arise when life is tested to its limits. Both a gripping tale of adventure and a poetic meditation.

Customer Reviews

Very evocative, but watch the translation...
I assume Saint-Exupery wrote this in French and that explains the trouble I had starting this book.

10 pages in I seriously considered giving up on this book, so convoluted, flowery and stodgy was the prose, something I have done with less than 5 books ever.

That I didn't and give the book 4 stars is testament to chapter two and beyond, but be aware that you might have to persevere to get to the greatness of this book.

This MIGHT be down to translation into English and some versions may be easier to read than others.

The episode of the crash in the desert is a page turning thriller, though, and his experiences in Spain during the civil war are a diverting counterpoint to the rest of the book.

A great read, if you can get into it.

Just get it now stop messing around :)
With this book you will take away more than the sum of its words. I think I will read this again and again and hopefully pass it on to at least one person.

Fabulous
Quite short, but written so well it more than makes up for quantity. Hugely recomended.