Night Flight (book)
Encyclopedia
Night Flight is the second novel
by French
writer and aviator
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
. It was first published in 1931 and became an international bestseller
.
. The characters too were loosely based on people Saint-Exupéry knew in South America, notably the character of Rivière was inspired by Didier Daurat
, operations director of the Aéropostale
. More details can be found in Saint-Exupery's 1939 memoir
Wind, Sand and Stars
.
. This flight disconcerts Rivière, who, up to that point, had believed that no flights should be delayed, in order to make flying more profitable. The plot ends there, but it is almost certain that Fabien has died.
needed to fly safely at night, and many pilots who went on night flights ended up owing their lives to sheer luck.
Rivière believes that it is critical that Fabien take off on time so as not to endanger the punctuality of the following flight. When he realizes that he is largely responsible for Fabien's death, he observes: "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." Fabien, for his part, does not fully understand or agree with Rivière's position, but he does not turn against him either. Although certain that he is going to die on the flight, he keeps his suffering to himself and takes off anyway.
as Night Flight (Desmond Harmsworth, London, 1932). This has appeared in many editions and is still in print. It has also been translated into several other languages.
directed by Clarence Brown
with Clark Gable
, Helen Hayes
, Myrna Loy
, John Barrymore
, Lionel Barrymore
, and Robert Montgomery
.
The novel was also recreated in a 1940 Italian
opera
, Volo di notte
(Night Flight) composed by Luigi Dallapiccola
to an Italian
libretto
. It was first performed at the Teatro della Pergola
in Florence
on May 18, 1940.
The opera emphasizes individual suffering and was written as a response to the rise of fascism
.
, one of the main french literary prizes (awarded by a female jury). Saint-Exupéry was little known prior to this outside of the literary sphere (though André Gide
supported him and wrote the foreword to the first edition), but as a result of the prize received widespread recognition.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
writer and aviator
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry , officially Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, comte de Saint Exupéry , was a French writer, poet and pioneering aviator. He became a laureate of France's highest literary awards, and in 1939 was the winner of the U.S. National Book Award...
. It was first published in 1931 and became an international bestseller
Bestseller
A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and book trade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and...
.
Background
The book is based on Saint-Exupéry's experiences as an airmail pilot and as a director of the Aeroposta Argentina airline, based in ArgentinaArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. The characters too were loosely based on people Saint-Exupéry knew in South America, notably the character of Rivière was inspired by Didier Daurat
Didier Daurat
Didier Daurat was a pioneer of French aviation.-Biography:Daurat was a fighter pilot during World War I, distinguishing himself by spotting the Paris Gun which was pounding Paris....
, operations director of the Aéropostale
Aéropostale (aviation)
Aéropostale was a pioneering aviation company. It was founded in 1918 in Toulouse, France, as Société des lignes Latécoère, also known as Lignes Aeriennes Latécoère or simply "The Line" .- History :Aéropostale founder Pierre-Georges Latécoère envisioned an air route connecting France to the...
. More details can be found in Saint-Exupery's 1939 memoir
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
Wind, Sand and Stars
Wind, Sand and Stars
Wind, Sand and Stars is a memoir by Antoine de Saint Exupéry published in 1939. It was translated from the French by Lewis Galantière, and published in the US in November 1945....
.
Plot
Fabien is an airmail pilot of the Patagonia Mail. He has to deliver mail in Argentina during a thunderstorm. Even though the storm is dangerous, Rivière, Fabien's boss, tells him to fly that night, thereby endangering him. Rivière feels responsible for having sent Fabien on this risky flight, and keeps in radio contact with him. Fabien's wife is waiting, too. The situation becomes more and more dangerous—Fabien is bound to die. Then the radio messages cease, and Rivière can't do anything but try to calculate when Fabien's aircraft will crashAviation accidents and incidents
An aviation accident is defined in the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and all such persons have disembarked, in which a...
. This flight disconcerts Rivière, who, up to that point, had believed that no flights should be delayed, in order to make flying more profitable. The plot ends there, but it is almost certain that Fabien has died.
Interpretation
A major theme of the novel is whether doing what is necessary to meet a long-term goal is more important than an individual's life. Rivière wants to show that airmail is more efficient than steamers or trains and deliberately puts his pilots at risk every day to prove this. He believes that only through risking many individual lives will airmail ultimately catch on commercially. The planes of this era did not have the flight instrumentsFlight instruments
Flight instruments are the instruments in the cockpit of an aircraft that provide the pilot with information about the flight situation of that aircraft, such as height, speed and altitude...
needed to fly safely at night, and many pilots who went on night flights ended up owing their lives to sheer luck.
Rivière believes that it is critical that Fabien take off on time so as not to endanger the punctuality of the following flight. When he realizes that he is largely responsible for Fabien's death, he observes: "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." Fabien, for his part, does not fully understand or agree with Rivière's position, but he does not turn against him either. Although certain that he is going to die on the flight, he keeps his suffering to himself and takes off anyway.
Translation
Vol de Nuit was translated into English by Stuart GilbertStuart Gilbert
Stuart Gilbert was an English literary scholar and translator. Among his translations into English are works by André Malraux, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Georges Simenon, Jean Cocteau, Albert Camus, and Jean-Paul Sartre...
as Night Flight (Desmond Harmsworth, London, 1932). This has appeared in many editions and is still in print. It has also been translated into several other languages.
Adaptions
The book was turned into the 1933 movie Night FlightNight Flight (1933 film)
Night Flight is a 1933 aviation drama film produced and distributed by MGM and directed by Clarence Brown. The film stars Lionel Barrymore, John Barrymore, Clark Gable, and Helen Hayes among the star-studded cast...
directed by Clarence Brown
Clarence Brown
Clarence Brown was an American film director.-Early life:Born in Clinton, Massachusetts, to a cotton manufacturer, Brown moved to the South when he was 11. He attended Knoxville High School and the University of Tennessee, both in Knoxville, Tennessee, graduating from the university at the age of...
with Clark Gable
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
, Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes Brown was an American actress whose career spanned almost 70 years. She eventually garnered the nickname "First Lady of the American Theatre" and was one of twelve people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award...
, Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy was an American actress. Trained as a dancer, she devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. Originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent, her career prospects improved following her portrayal of Nora Charles...
, John Barrymore
John Barrymore
John Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
, Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, screen and radio. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul...
, and Robert Montgomery
Robert Montgomery (actor)
Robert Montgomery was an American actor and director.- Early life :Montgomery was born Henry Montgomery, Jr. in Beacon, New York, then known as "Fishkill Landing", the son of Mary Weed and Henry Montgomery, Sr. His early childhood was one of privilege, since his father was president of the New...
.
The novel was also recreated in a 1940 Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, Volo di notte
Volo di Notte
Volo di notte is a one-act opera composed by Luigi Dallapiccola to an Italian libretto he wrote based on the novel Vol de nuit by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry...
(Night Flight) composed by Luigi Dallapiccola
Luigi Dallapiccola
Luigi Dallapiccola was an Italian composer known for his lyrical twelve-tone compositions.-Biography:Dallapiccola was born at Pisino d'Istria , to Italian parents....
to an Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
. It was first performed at the Teatro della Pergola
Teatro della Pergola
The Teatro della Pergola is a historic opera house in Florence, Italy. It is located in the centre of the city on the Via della Pergola, from which the theatre takes its name...
in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
on May 18, 1940.
The opera emphasizes individual suffering and was written as a response to the rise of fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
.
Awards
Vol de Nuit won the 1931 Prix FeminaPrix Femina
The Prix Femina is a French literary prize created in 1904 by 22 writers for the magazine La Vie heureuse . The prize is decided each year by an exclusively female jury, although the authors of the winning works do not have to be women...
, one of the main french literary prizes (awarded by a female jury). Saint-Exupéry was little known prior to this outside of the literary sphere (though André Gide
André Gide
André Paul Guillaume Gide was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1947. Gide's career ranged from its beginnings in the symbolist movement, to the advent of anticolonialism between the two World Wars.Known for his fiction as well as his autobiographical works, Gide...
supported him and wrote the foreword to the first edition), but as a result of the prize received widespread recognition.