Wind, sand and stars
Wind, sand and stars (original title Terre des Hommes ) is an experience report by the French writer and pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry . The first edition of the modern work was published in 1939 .
content
In the book, Saint-Exupéry deals with his own experiences as a postal pilot (1926 to 1935). In particular, the proceeds author based experienced extreme situations the philosophical question of the determination of the people to. Among other things, he describes his experiences as a reporter and courier in the Spanish Civil War and sets a literary monument to the pioneers of mail aviation . The core of the book, however, are the chapters that describe his North African desert overflights, up to the flight in 1935 for which he wanted to win prize money for the fastest route from Paris to Saigon , and his planned stopover two days after his start due to a lack of orientation Couldn't go to Cairo . He landed about 200 km west of Cairo in the Sahara at 2:45 a.m. , was unharmed and set out on foot in search of a settlement. Just before he died of thirst, he came across Bedouins who saved him. These experiences later inspired him to write the book The Little Prince .
The texts, some of which were specially written for the book and some of them older, sing a "song of solemnity " of comradeship among colleagues, the fulfillment of duty and idealism as well as solidarity and humanity.
Creation of the book
In mid-February 1938, Saint-Exupéry attempted a record flight from New York to Tierra del Fuego (southern Argentina), but crashed in Guatemala after a stopover and was seriously injured. While recovering, he began compiling the book Terre des hommes in New York . Changes, extensions and deletions followed incessantly. As a result, the book appeared in two different versions in the USA and France. The American version (also the German) is more detailed and contains a further, fourth chapter “Forces of Nature”. The publisher Karl Rauch , who was then based in Markkleeberg , acquired the rights for the German translation in 1938 from the Gallimard publishing house in Paris . Saint-Exupéry and Rauch met personally and even became friends. In 1939, Saint-Exupéry visited both the Leipzig Spring Fair and Rauch's private home in Markkleeberg. The German translation of the book was published on September 6, 1939 by Karl-Rauch-Verlag Markkleeberg and became a bestseller during the war.
effect
- The book hit the nerve of the times when it appeared in early 1939 and was a great success. It received the Grand Prix du Roman de l'Académie française ; The American translation under the title Wind, Sand and Stars also sold extremely well and was awarded a prize.
- The reports on the Spanish Civil War earned the author the opposition of the Franquists .
- In 1960, under the influence of the Algerian War , the Swiss journalist Edmond Kaiser founded a children's development aid organization . Inspired by Saint-Exupéry's work, he named it Terre des Hommes .
- National Geographic ranked the book third in their 100 Greatest Adventure Books of All Time .
Web links
swell
- ↑ Joachim Kaiser: Harenberg, the book of 1000 books : authors, history, content and effect . Harenberg, Dortmund 2002, p. 939, ISBN 3-611-01059-6
- ↑ Sabine Knopf: "Where Hitler is king, there is no place for me" Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's visit to Germany in 1939. In: Kulturstiftung Leipzig (ed.): Leipziger Blätter . tape 60 , spring 2012. Passage-Verlag, Leipzig 2012, p. 67-69 .
- ↑ Extreme Classics: The 100 Greatest Adventure Books of All Time ( Memento of March 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Extreme Classics: The 100 Greatest Adventure Books of All Time