Did you think everything had been said or written about Antoine de Saint-Exupéry? Not really, judging by the publication of “St Ex, a prince in his citadel”, which will delight purists and novices alike in its writing and style.
There aren’t many authors who have sold 200 million copies of a single book worldwide! However, this is the print run of “The Little Prince”, first published in 1943, a year before aviator disappeared over the Mediterranean. Too often, the life and work of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry are summed up in these two events – to which we can add the novel “Night Flight”, published in 1931. The audio comic book “St Ex, a prince in his citadel”, written and narrated by a pilot journalist and illustrated by the artist of the famous “Angel Wings”, traces the 44 years of the aviator’s life in 176 pages, with an impressive documentation.
Born in Lyon into an aristocratic family, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry experienced his first flight when he was 12 years old. Not spared from grief (death of his father, his brother, etc.), he was drawn very early on to the fine arts and architecture after failing out of naval school. At 22, during his military service, he got his pilot’s license. After a few professional experiences that were too mundane for his taste, he was hired by Aéropostale (Latécoère at the time), and traveled across Africa, South America, etc. Then he became a writer, and later a journalist. In the 1930s, his reports from Asia, Russia, and Spain made his signature a reference.
A reconnaissance pilot at the start of World War II, he left France after the defeat to carry the voice of France across the Atlantic. In New York at the start of the 1940s, he rose to the ranks of the greatest American writers and wrote “The Little Prince”… But this life was not enough for him! As a man of honor, he intended to wash away the affront of 1940 and returned to fight alongside the allies, in North Africa and then in Europe. What follows would bring him into the pantheon of aviators and writers … Watch out, it’s a masterpiece!
Audio comic book: “St Ex, un prince dans sa citadelle”, Bernard Chabbert (text), Romain Hugault (artwork), Editions Paquet. ISBN: 978-2-88932-118-6
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