Works

20 hrs. 43 min.

Romance & Prose

Language Russian

Author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Narrator Evgeny Ternovsky

Description

His parents were from an aristocratic family, but such a high origin and title (count) didn’t match the family’s actual social standing: his father was an inspector at an insurance company. After his father died, the young Antoine was left with his mother and 4 brothers and sisters. They were left without means, and the grandmothers helped the children get an education.

After school, Antoine entered the architecture department of the Academy of Fine Arts, but he never stopped thinking about his dream of becoming a pilot. Soon—without any prior training (local pilots trained him for 2000 francs)—he joined an aviation regiment and was appointed a junior lieutenant. After a serious accident, he was discharged and worked either as a controller at a factory or as an agent for an automobile firm. After 4 years, he returned to aviation and published his first works (at age 27). Soon, he bought his own airplane and tried to participate in long flights, but all these attempts ended in failure due to accidents.

In 1939, one of E. Saint-Exupéry’s best-known works was released: “The Planet of People.” It is very interesting to look at his attitude toward war (World War II)—and this attitude underwent a significant transformation. In his youth, he was a convinced militarist. With the outbreak of war, Exupéry sharply changes his viewpoint.

He receives a posting to a combat regiment of a reconnaissance squadron. At the time, many people couldn’t find answers to the questions posed by life (all of it was connected with political games): nothing depended on the courage or bravery of the army—everything had already been decided above; France was supposed to be conquered. Saint-Exupéry leaves the army and moves to America, where his book “The War Pilot” is published—a book full of harsh and tragic optimism, in which, from scenes of flight over defeated France that are so convincing in their reality, grows the conviction that forces of humanism and goodness will prevail. During this period, other works are created too: “The Little Prince,” “The Citadel,” “Appeal to the French.” Saint-Exupéry strives to fight the fascist Germany personally.

In 1944, Saint-Exupéry did not return from a combat mission. He photographed sites near his native city of Lyon. Saint-Exupéry is called a writer-pilot. We know many writer-sailors, writer-diplomats—people, in short, who lived an interesting life and were able to tell about it.

Contents:

M. Waxmacher. Foreword (article)
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The Southern Mail (novel, translation by M. Baranovich)
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Night Flight (novel, translation by M. Waxmacher)
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The Planet of People (novel, translation by N. Gal)
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The War Pilot (novella, translation by A. Teterivnikova)
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Letter to a Hostage (essay, translation by M. Baranovich)
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The Little Prince (novella, translation by N. Gal)

SKETCHES. REPORTAGES. LETTERS
Spain in the Blood
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. In Barcelona. The Invisible Line of the Civil War (article, translation by R. Grachev)
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The Ways of the Anarchists and Street Scenes in Barcelona (article, translation by R. Grachev)
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Civil War—It Isn’t Really a War: It’s a Disease (article, translation by R. Grachev)
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. In Search of War (article, translation by R. Grachev)
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Here they shoot, as if they were cutting down a forest… And people stopped respecting each other (article, translation by R. Grachev),
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Madrid (sketch, translation by R. Grachev)