Such a joy to read your writing/ adventures and I LOVE The Little Prince!! You may already have your book club list set, but just in case you hadn’t considered Eowyn Ivey’s To the Bright Edge of the World, wanted to mention it! It’s 85- 88% epistolary and the rest made up of the characters’ journal entries and some news articles. It’s the kind of book that made me glad it’s so long bc I got to spend more time in it!! (Though it took me a while to decide to read it even though I had loved her first novel, The Snow Child!)
I’m so excited to check out To the Bright Edge of the World.
It turns out there are so many epistolary books, and we had 23 on our list and whittled it down to the first 5 months.
This is our current list 🥰
84, Charing Cross Road
Ella Minnow Pea
The Correspondent
The Chillsbury Ladies Choir
And Sorcery & Cecelia (if we can find it)
I love that you love the Little Prince…it is one of those books that connect people across the world and across cultures.
I once read it was the second most translated book in the world (and I don’t want to fact check it, because I love that possibility).
Yesterday I got to speak of it with a woman who just moved here from South Korea, and it created a gentle bond between us.
Do you have a moment from Le Petit Prince that you keep going back to (I use it as a litmus test to see how I’m feeling. I read it once a year. And I find I’m often identifying with different parts of the story. Today I feel a little world weary, like the aviator 🫶)
I read it every year too:) over the years I’ve also learned a few things, one unexpected, about some of the inspiration behind the book, behind some of the images too which have added a neat dimension. (and the Rose wrote her own book, his ex(!) somethng like de la part de la rose(!) will be right back, teenager wants to show me his music composing/mixing and wanted to ask you about podcast- any time anytme next week my evenings your mg, except for friday night, and let’s see- okay back in a minute;0
Back :) I esp love the beginning that sets the whole story up, the asking/showing other adults the elephant in a snake drawing and if they reply about a hat then the Aviator talks to them about golf and the like (yes- he actually says golf! that surprised me, and bridge and cravates) and the part about descriptions about houses as dimensions rather than elements of feeling- and really, everythign else. and i love the Fox of course, and how he explains how they can become special to each other over time, and recognizable as a particular special fox/human out of all the other foxes and humans. i frequenlty think of the phrase "svp dessine moi un mouton"- i read it in French/France as a kid. and may have heard one of those early record-story read out loud. Okay- i coudl keep going and going about Le Petit Prince. and I'm sorry that you are feeling a little world weary like the Aviator. ah yes, in my novel, The Little Prince ending is referenced by the Head Guests (dead chatty patients my main character sees/hears) as a foreshadowing. Actually i reference it multiple times(!) How amazing that you got to speak of it w a person newly arrived from South Korea. That makes me think of EM Forster's Aspects of a Novel- the authors all writing togehter over time, and us too the readers, reading together across time and the world. oh yes- one more really funny ?mordant epistolary novel: Dear Committee Members- very funny. Julie Schumacker i think.
FORGOT TO MENTION I'M IN CET/CENTRAL EUROPEAN TIME, I THINK YOU'RE 6 HOURS AHEAD IN EST (right now 5 hours ahead, but by next week, back to 6 hours as France jumps ahead one or so weeks later that EST)
Ooh! I love all these thoughts on Le Petit Prince.
My first time with the book was my dad reading it in French to me. He’s Métis/French Canadian and his first language is French. I learned both English and French simultaneously, but all my schooling until grade 12 was in French.
I have a tattoo on my back that says ‘C’est tellement mysterieux le pays des larmes’.
One of my first memories is of the lamplighter. And dessine-moi un mouton. I loved, as a child that the perfect drawing was just a box with holes that the prince could see through.
I love that your novel references the book. I love that we writers live in a world where we can nod to each other in our writing.
I can’t wait to hear all about you, and the things you want to share on my podcast! 💖
I’m actually in AST, in Nova Scotia, and so one hour later than EST. A strange and tiny time zone.
Oh how wonderful that your Dad read it to you! And that’s a beautiful phrase to capture. Looking forward to chatting- and oh- AST time, sounds kind of magical:)
I am overwhelmed with love for this entire series of experiences. The book! Your son! The kitten! Petunia's birthday! All of it! Thank you for sharing this piece of life with me. I needed it.
Do you ever feel a stronger connection with books that have been read by others before you find them? The physical ones, I mean. Sometimes I find myself connecting more with them, as though the touch of other human hands has left something important there for me when I hold that book.
All of my Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy books were picked up at used bookstores across Canada, and I can feel the life they had before.
I love my books worn and annotated, with dog ears, and underlined.
I love that everyone feels differently on what caring for a book means.
My copy of Le Petit Prince was found in a second hand bookshop in France and sent across the ocean by one of my kindred spirits. It has been in my purse for nearly two decades. It is duct-taped (with pink duct-tape) together, and still has the letter she put inside for me.
My favourite books are like friends, talismans even.
I am so grateful to know you, and to share a love of books with you 💖
Thank you for taking me on a journey of remembering and emotions. We may have read 84, Charing Cross Road around the same time, first time round. You on North American soil, me in England.
Such a joy to read your writing/ adventures and I LOVE The Little Prince!! You may already have your book club list set, but just in case you hadn’t considered Eowyn Ivey’s To the Bright Edge of the World, wanted to mention it! It’s 85- 88% epistolary and the rest made up of the characters’ journal entries and some news articles. It’s the kind of book that made me glad it’s so long bc I got to spend more time in it!! (Though it took me a while to decide to read it even though I had loved her first novel, The Snow Child!)
I’m so excited to check out To the Bright Edge of the World.
It turns out there are so many epistolary books, and we had 23 on our list and whittled it down to the first 5 months.
This is our current list 🥰
84, Charing Cross Road
Ella Minnow Pea
The Correspondent
The Chillsbury Ladies Choir
And Sorcery & Cecelia (if we can find it)
I love that you love the Little Prince…it is one of those books that connect people across the world and across cultures.
I once read it was the second most translated book in the world (and I don’t want to fact check it, because I love that possibility).
Yesterday I got to speak of it with a woman who just moved here from South Korea, and it created a gentle bond between us.
Do you have a moment from Le Petit Prince that you keep going back to (I use it as a litmus test to see how I’m feeling. I read it once a year. And I find I’m often identifying with different parts of the story. Today I feel a little world weary, like the aviator 🫶)
I read it every year too:) over the years I’ve also learned a few things, one unexpected, about some of the inspiration behind the book, behind some of the images too which have added a neat dimension. (and the Rose wrote her own book, his ex(!) somethng like de la part de la rose(!) will be right back, teenager wants to show me his music composing/mixing and wanted to ask you about podcast- any time anytme next week my evenings your mg, except for friday night, and let’s see- okay back in a minute;0
Back :) I esp love the beginning that sets the whole story up, the asking/showing other adults the elephant in a snake drawing and if they reply about a hat then the Aviator talks to them about golf and the like (yes- he actually says golf! that surprised me, and bridge and cravates) and the part about descriptions about houses as dimensions rather than elements of feeling- and really, everythign else. and i love the Fox of course, and how he explains how they can become special to each other over time, and recognizable as a particular special fox/human out of all the other foxes and humans. i frequenlty think of the phrase "svp dessine moi un mouton"- i read it in French/France as a kid. and may have heard one of those early record-story read out loud. Okay- i coudl keep going and going about Le Petit Prince. and I'm sorry that you are feeling a little world weary like the Aviator. ah yes, in my novel, The Little Prince ending is referenced by the Head Guests (dead chatty patients my main character sees/hears) as a foreshadowing. Actually i reference it multiple times(!) How amazing that you got to speak of it w a person newly arrived from South Korea. That makes me think of EM Forster's Aspects of a Novel- the authors all writing togehter over time, and us too the readers, reading together across time and the world. oh yes- one more really funny ?mordant epistolary novel: Dear Committee Members- very funny. Julie Schumacker i think.
FORGOT TO MENTION I'M IN CET/CENTRAL EUROPEAN TIME, I THINK YOU'RE 6 HOURS AHEAD IN EST (right now 5 hours ahead, but by next week, back to 6 hours as France jumps ahead one or so weeks later that EST)
Ooh! I love all these thoughts on Le Petit Prince.
My first time with the book was my dad reading it in French to me. He’s Métis/French Canadian and his first language is French. I learned both English and French simultaneously, but all my schooling until grade 12 was in French.
I have a tattoo on my back that says ‘C’est tellement mysterieux le pays des larmes’.
One of my first memories is of the lamplighter. And dessine-moi un mouton. I loved, as a child that the perfect drawing was just a box with holes that the prince could see through.
I love that your novel references the book. I love that we writers live in a world where we can nod to each other in our writing.
I can’t wait to hear all about you, and the things you want to share on my podcast! 💖
I’m actually in AST, in Nova Scotia, and so one hour later than EST. A strange and tiny time zone.
💖💖💖
Oh how wonderful that your Dad read it to you! And that’s a beautiful phrase to capture. Looking forward to chatting- and oh- AST time, sounds kind of magical:)
I am overwhelmed with love for this entire series of experiences. The book! Your son! The kitten! Petunia's birthday! All of it! Thank you for sharing this piece of life with me. I needed it.
Do you ever feel a stronger connection with books that have been read by others before you find them? The physical ones, I mean. Sometimes I find myself connecting more with them, as though the touch of other human hands has left something important there for me when I hold that book.
Ah yes! I love a book that has been beloved.
All of my Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy books were picked up at used bookstores across Canada, and I can feel the life they had before.
I love my books worn and annotated, with dog ears, and underlined.
I love that everyone feels differently on what caring for a book means.
My copy of Le Petit Prince was found in a second hand bookshop in France and sent across the ocean by one of my kindred spirits. It has been in my purse for nearly two decades. It is duct-taped (with pink duct-tape) together, and still has the letter she put inside for me.
My favourite books are like friends, talismans even.
I am so grateful to know you, and to share a love of books with you 💖
Such lovely stories ♥️
💖💖💖 It felt really good to delve into those memories, and to make new ones are the book 💖💖💖
Thank you for taking me on a journey of remembering and emotions. We may have read 84, Charing Cross Road around the same time, first time round. You on North American soil, me in England.
Big hugs and love,
Willo