The Last Unicorn

The Last Unicorn lives right on the edge that I love, that between reality and magic, between the diurnal and the eternal. The last unicorn--become the Lady Almathea, become the unicorn once again--is a swerving back-and-forth across this line, of one side tainting the other, of the impossibility of ever again cleanly to become one or the other. It is a story of the loss of innocence, the incompatibility between the eternal and the everyday, and what happens, when Christ-like, the unicorn is forever changed by her metamorphosis. It smacks one with the question of the possibility of abundant recompense.

It is also a story about fairytales, storytelling, and authorship. Beagle's loving but wry eye lords it over the world he has created. show more And the magician who cannot use magic but is used by it, is surely about writing and the writer.

The most touching part of the whole story is the metamorphosis. The unicorn coming to terms with being mortal, forgetting the eternal, and coming, in embracing the human to embrace death, not as a catastrophe, but as a beauty.

If I were ever to wrtie a review of this book, a public review, it would have to contain my memory of the cover in the Bookland store I haunted where the covers were, as much as anything was at that time, the guide. Coming from playing sports and the physicality of all of that to a place in which I was, even then, seeking magic, seeking something more--the thing behind the thing. But that is not where the search for magic has left me at this late stage; rather, the magic and the beauty is the mortal life. Amen. show less

You ever read a book that just makes you keep stopping to go 'oh. OH. oh my heart.'? That's this one. It's like poetry and dreams and I wish I'd read it sooner, though maybe as a kid I wouldn't have appreciated it nearly as much.

Honestly one of the greatest fantasy--make that any--novels I've ever read. With characters that never leave you, to satiric and serious elements that work on so many different levels, to heartbreaking love and loss to hilarious comedic timing, The Last Unicorn really has it all. I always find it's like reading it for the first time, every time.

I thoroughly enjoyed this young adult fantasy novel and it may even be a Top 5 contender for 2023. Published in 1968, The Last Unicorn by American author Peter S. Beagle has become a modern fantasy classic. Included in my copy of 501 Must-Read Books and voted by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 Best Fantasy Books of all time, The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle is a new favourite and exceeded all of my hopes and expectations.

This quest novel features a unicorn who is worried she may be the last of her kind on earth. As she leaves the serenity and sanctuary of her wood to venture forth and find the truth, she meets fellow travellers along the way who join her in her quest.

While I'm generally not a fan of anthropomorphism (talking animals) show more in books, I have been known to make the odd exception (Watership Down by Richard Adams), and here it seemed natural and endearing.

'He ran,' the unicorn said. 'You must never run from anything immortal. It attracts their attention.' Her voice was gentle, and without pity. 'Never run,' she said. 'Walk slowly, and pretend to be thinking of something else. Sing a song, say a poem, do your tricks, but walk slowly and she may not follow. Walk very slowly, magician.' Page 53

The unicorn isn't the only immortal or mythical creature in the novel, we also have magicians, curses, an evil King, a hero Prince and even a harpy!

"I am a hero. It is a trade, no more, like weaving or brewing, and like them it has its own tricks and knacks and small arts. There are ways of perceiving witches, and of knowing poison streams; there are certain weak spots that all dragons have, and certain riddles that hooded strangers tend to set you. But the true secret of being a hero lies in knowing the order of things. The swineherd cannot already be wed to the princess when he embarks on his adventures, nor can the boy knock at the witch's door when she is away on vacation. The wicked uncle cannot be found out and foiled before he does something wicked. Things must happen when it is time for them to happen. Quests may not simply be abandoned; prophecies may not be left to rot like unpicked fruit; unicorns may go unrescued for a long time, but not forever. The happy ending cannot come in the middle of the story." Page 249

This quest novel was a real adventure and definitely gave me the feel-good fairytale vibes I was seeking when turning to The Brothers Grimm earlier this year. The writing also made me chuckle at times, with observations like this one in the face of immediate danger:

"The magician stood erect, menacing the attackers with demons, metamorphoses, paralyzing ailments, and secret judo holds. Molly picked up a rock." Page 130

As you can see, the author's writing is sublime and the descriptions are incredibly evocative and refreshing:

"So they journeyed together, following the fleeing darkness into a wind that tasted like nails." Page 105

Wow, such a punchy description! Reading and enjoying The Last Unicorn, I couldn't help wondering whether the book influenced Japanese author Kazuo Ishiguro in the writing of his quest novel The Buried Giant. In my opinion, The Buried Giant falls well short of The Last Unicorn, but I couldn't help noticing some similarities between the two.

Rich in allegory, The Last Unicorn has aged exceptionally well, but I'll leave you with one last quote I especially enjoyed, and which reminded me a little of Harry Potter:

"An old man in a dark, spangled gown and a pointed, spangled hat was standing there, and no one could say surely that he had not been standing there in plain sight since they entered the throne room. His beard and brows were white, and the cast of his face was mild and wise, but his eyes were as hard as hailstones." Page 163

Having sold more than 6 million copies, I can definitely see why The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle is so beloved by children and adults, and why it continues to find new readers this past half century.

If you'd like to discover the magic for yourself, you can read the Introduction by Patrick Rothfuss and the first chapter and a half for FREE via my blog here: https://www.carpelibrum.net/2023/09/review-last-unicorn-peter-s-beagle.html

Highly recommended! show less

A more perfect, luminous book you could not hope to find or enjoy. A modern fairy tale that sprinkles its casual modernity with wit and restraint, yet which is so deeply and madly in love with fairy tales that it never thinks to undermine or mock them, but celebrates them with a language that combines beautiful, straightforward simplicity with heartfelt, lyrical imagery.

I first read this is my first year of secondary school, when the film came out, which I never saw, and the trailer was on the television, featuring a brief glimpse of a knight fighting a fire-breathing dragon. Now, I was well familiar with the idea of knights fighting fire-breathing dragons, but the fact was for whatever reason I rarely actually encountered them in show more books and films and stories, and so I was quite keen to see this film which had a knight fighting a fire-breathing dragon as what was surely a major and crucial part of the plot. As it happened, I never saw the film, but someone gave me a book. I read it, and it was great, but my enjoyment was tempered by the absence of a knight fighting fire-breathing dragons, which loomed large in my consciousness, but not on the page. Until near the end, when Prince Lir casually mentions his efforts to woo the transformed unicorn by killing up to five dragons. Just mentions it, and that's it.

It'd be wrong to say I felt cheated, but my enjoyment of the book was thwarted by my own erroneous expectations, as happens from time to time. I am delighted now to correct that experience, and discover that this books is simply incredible. You can tell people like Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, to name but two, almost certainly read and loved this book, and if you have any feeling for fantasy, or for fiction, or for good writing, you will too. show less

This classic fantasy novel moved straight to my favorites list upon completion.
I needed something like this.
The world is dark and harrowing, cruel, depressing. It is very easy to get tossed around by society and their false morals.
This was such a beautiful reprieve. I had tears upon finishing the novel, as it is much heartbreaking... for this reason.
I only purchased this novel because my girlfriend often gloated about how much she loved this novel. I thought she was silly for it, as I thought it was just another nonsensical children's novel about fantastical characters. If I hadn't read it in my 80s youth what was the point. I purchased it a month after my girlfriend passed away, as I grew even more curious to see why she was so show more smitten with it. She had a carefree spirit and was very naive, too soft and sweet for this cruel world, but MAN did she have that feisty bite when needed.
She was a true Amalthea.
I am so glad I read this.
The story now lives forever in my heart, right next to the memories of my Elizabeth.
Ill miss you forever love show less

Even if you didn't like the movie, you should read the book. Why? The animated Rankin-Bass production is a lovely fairy tale, but it doesn't do justice to the poetry and art of the novel. Just when Beagle has you convinced that you're reading a conventional, rather twee fantasy, he sidles up and gooses you with his sly, absurd, brilliant sense of humor. The Last Unicorn is the best of the grown-up fairy tale genre I've ever read. It's hard to find in bookstores these days, or at least it was when I went looking for it, but I was able to find a cheap used copy on Amazon with no difficulty. Even if you have to do the same, it's entirely worth the effort.