Nachtflug

It's been a while since I've read a German book. This one here, written by the author of one of the best-selling books on earth, is a classic from 1931. It's been translated into German and I'll have to deal with that until my French is solid enough to read the original some day. The story is about an airmail pilot called Fabien and his boss, Riviere, who sends him on a night flight under questionable weather conditions. What follows is a difficult struggle on both ends, one for survival and one about a man's work ethics.

Frankly, I found it difficult to concentrate on the plot and find into the rhythm. It felt like the story wasn't telling me enough, as if the author was leaving out relevant thought strings while underlining too many deteails. And then I found out that Saint-Exupery was an airmail pilot himself, which made perfect sense. He wanted to become a naval officer but failed the entrance exam twice (in the subject of literature), before he took odd jobs and started flying airplanes. He died at age 44, one year after the Little Prince was published.