Night Flight (book)
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Night Flight (French title:Vol de Nuit) is the second novel by the French aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It was first published in 1931 and became an international bestseller.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Background
The book is based on Saint-Exupéry's experiences as an airmail pilot and as a director of the Aeroposta Argentina Company, based in Argentina.
[edit] Story
Fabien is an airmail pilot of the Patagonia Mail. One night, he is lost while flying through a storm. His manager, Rivière, left waiting for the mail, slowly faces up to the situation. He has to tell Fabien's wife what has happened, but he also has to go on running a mail service and risking the lives of other fliers. Rivière thinks to himself at one point "We don't ask to be eternal. What we ask is not to see acts and objects abruptly lose their meaning. The void surrounding us then suddenly yawns on every side."
The characters are based on people Saint-Exupéry knew in South America. More details can be found in his memoir Wind, Sand and Stars (1939).
[edit] Translation
Vol de Nuit was translated into English by Stuart Gilbert as Night Flight (Desmond Harmsworth, London, 1932). This has appeared in many editions and is still in print. A new paperback edition was published by Kessinger Publishing on 30 April, 2005.
[edit] Movie
The book was turned into a movie directed by Clarence Brown in 1933, with Clark Gable, Helen Hayes, Myrna Loy, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, and Robert Montgomery.
[edit] Awards
Vol de Nuit won the 1931 Prix Femina, a literary prize awarded by a female jury. Saint-Exupéry was little known before this, and as a result his name was made.
[edit] References
- ^ Saint Exupéry: A Biography by Stacy Schiff, page 210
- Vol de Nuit at netlabs.net (accessed 24 August 2007)
- Vol de Nuit at french.about.com (accessed 24 August 2007)
- Saint-Exupery.org - official site (accessed 24 August 2007)
