สำนวนแปลดีที่สุดในสามเล่มที่อ่าน
(เทียบกับไปรษณียใต้และเที่ยวบินกลางคืน)

เป็นงานเขียนที่เต็มไปด้วยพลังชีวิต
การปลุกเร้า สร้างความฮึกเหิม
ตั้งคำถามให้เราหาคำตอบเกี่ยวกับคุ���ค่าของชีวิต
สร้างความตระหนักถึงความเป็นมนุษย์ที่แท้จริง
และสิ่งที่มีคุณค่าต่อเราอย่างแท้จริง
สิ่งที่มนุษย์ผู้เกิดมาหนึ่งชีวิตพึงทำ

อ่านไม่ยากเท่าที่คิด
(ถ้าตัดปัญหาด้านสำนวนแปลอย่างที่เคยเจอ .. อันนั้นเข็ดมาก)
เป็นหนังสือที่หยิบมาอ่านได้บ่อยๆ
และคิดว่า อ่านรอบต่อไปน่าจะชอบได้มากกว่านี้

It was the title "Wind, Sand and Stars" that attracted me to this book.  Too bad it didn't keep its original title, originally written in French, Terre des homes that means “Land of Men”; I may not have bothered.

It was about plane crashes, flying through tornadoes (i suspect perhaps a hurricane but mistranslated), being lost in the desert, surviving an earthquake and finding a way over the 20,000' Andes when the plane's ceiling was 16,000 feet.  Exciting stuff?  Not the way it was written.  Maybe the translation from French didn't do it justice.  I tried converting back to French but it didn't fare any better.

I have been in hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and even plane crashes, plus throw in a couple of floods and car crashes as well as being stranded in the Kalahari (admittedly not as hot as the Sahara) and don't recall writing about it.  The incidents I vividly remember, just not writing about them.  For instance the tornado was a category F4 (some say an F5); it was twice as wide as tall.  It was during an archaeology dig.  We watched debris circulating in the distance wondering if the oil refinery had blown up, but we had not heard an explosion.

When sheets of roof metal cut nearby trees in half we realized it was dangerous and barricaded ourselves inside. The tornado took off the roof of the building we were in and destroyed all the vehicles in the parking lot.  It went on to disappear a two hundred foot high brick chimney, behind the building and derail a train.  If that sounded interesting it was because it was descriptive, which seems to be missing in the book's narrative, as if saying there was a tornado was sufficient.

The book has many five star ratings. I've always appreciated lower ratings for different perspectives and makes me feel okay about not enjoying a book, so I'm being frank on my impression in case it helps someone avoid this read or realize there is something missing in the telling.

The penultimate chapter, about the Spanish Civil War, was an exception.  Here he was more of an observer describing what he saw and how the irrationality affected him.

Very inspirational book that looks at flight from two very different perspectives: physical flight in a plane and spiritual flight from inside. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry has a haunting way of writing; it is as if he is drawing out you inner child and telling you that magic really does exist. I found this book very comforting and inspiring.