The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

Blurb:
The Last Unicorn is one of the true classics of fantasy, ranking with Tolkien’s The Hobbit, Le Guin’s Earthsea Trilogy, and Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. Beagle writes a shimmering prose-poetry, the voice of fairy tales and childhood.
The unicorn discovers that she is the last unicorn in the world, and sets off to find the others. She meets Schmendrick the Magician—whose magic seldom works, and never as he intended—when he rescues her from Mommy Fortuna’s Midnight Carnival, where only some of the mythical beasts displayed are illusions. They are joined by Molly Grue, who believes in legends despite her experiences with a Robin Hood wannabe and his unmerry men. Ahead wait King Haggard and his Red Bull, who banished unicorns from the land.
This is a book no fantasy reader should miss; Beagle argues brilliantly the need for magic in our lives and the folly of forgetting to dream. —Nona Vero
My thoughts:
I’ve had The Last Unicorn on my reading list for what seems like forever. The movie is a family favorite, and my children still enjoy it today. I was excited to finally get to this original story by Peter S. Beagle.
The Last Unicorn is the story of a beautiful unicorn living in an old forest, who overhears that there are no longer any living unicorns in the land.
“The unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone. She was very old, though she did not know it, and she was no longer the careless color of sea foam but rather the color of snow falling on a moonlit night. But her eyes were still clear and unwearied, and she still moved like a shadow on the sea.”
This puzzles her, and she feels compelled to discover what happened to the others. She’s been warned not to leave, but she sets off on a journey through the forest in an attempt to locate all the others. She meets humans along the way and a butterfly that notifies her where all the other unicorns have been forced to go. Then she encounters Schmendrick the Magician at a carnival, and Molly Grue later, and the trio make their way toward King Haggard’s castle where it’s been said that a Red Bull monster has run all the unicorns into the sea. Here, the unicorn may realize that it’s much more dangerous than she could’ve ever expected.
“I have been mortal, and some part of me is mortal yet. I am full of tears and hunger and the fear of death, although I cannot weep, and I want nothing, and I cannot die. I am not like the others now, for no unicorn was ever born who could regret, but I do. I regret.”
Once I was able to settle into this story and get used to the writing, it was lovely. It took me a while to get there. The prose is ornate and metaphorical yet smooth and beautiful, and the melancholic tone is perfect. It’s poetical at times. The characters have a lot of depth, and I liked all of them. In this story, they all learn some life lessons.
“We are not always what we seem, and hardly ever what we dream.”
Because I read this with my two middle graders, it was somewhat laborious stopping for vocabulary study now and then. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but this book is very much an adult fantasy. The content is fine, but the way the story is written with adult themes makes this a better fit for older readers.
They still enjoyed reading the book with me and could follow the gist of the story just fine. It was fun for us to talk about the differences between the movie versus the book too. Watching the movie and reading the book are two very different experiences. It seems the only thing that felt off to me in the book was the world-building, which makes this different from other fantasies I’ve read. It’s too bad there isn’t a map included to give you an idea of the location of everything.
Overall, this was a unique, magical fantasy that I thoroughly enjoyed. With themes of truth, love, obsession, and loss, this is just a beautiful story that anyone can enjoy. I can’t believe I let this wonderful story sit on my shelf for so long. This is a quick read, and one that I’ll likely revisit again in the future.
4****
Find this book on Amazon and Goodreads:
- Publisher : Ace; Illustrated edition (January 1, 1991)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 304 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0451450523
- ISBN-13 : 978-0451450524
This is another addition to my retelling reading challenge, even though it isn’t a retelling. I included it on my list for 2021. You can see my progress by clicking the image below.
Thanks for reading my review of The Last Unicorn. Have you read this book? What are some of your favorite classic fantasy reads? Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment’s section.
❤ Mischenko
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Wow, a true classic of fantasy that ranks The Hobbit?? I am intrigued. I need to check that out, then!
Writing in Classic literature, irrespective of its genres, tends to be quite ornate, rich and dense. It does take time to get the hang of it but I am glad you find it lovely and smooth!
Lovely and fair review as usual, Jenn!
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I know you love your classics, and I believe you’d love this story, Noriko. The writing is flowery and there’s so much meaning. ❤️ Thank you, friend.
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I love the contrast you and your children shared about the book and movie. Glad you all enjoyed this one, Mischenko.
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It was nice for them to have something to go by beforehand. Not sure how they would’ve liked it going in completely blind. Thank you! ❤️
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Wonderful review – this sounds like a lovely story! I haven’t read the book or watched the movie, but I know I’d enjoy both.
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Thanks, Teri. I think you would too. 😊
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I love the story and the movie! It is such a beautiful tale. Wonderful review!
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Thank you, Tessa! I’m glad you enjoy both as well. 😉
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I loved “The Last Unicorn”. Beagle’s “Lila the Werewolf” is another favorite.
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I like watching the movie and I love the ending. Seems as if, in comparing the movie to the book, the book is always different, at times, to an extreme.
Glad the kids enjoyed. Great review! 🦄
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I have not read this book, nor watched the movie, but I think I need to remedy that. I am glad that you and your kids were able to enjoy it together. It sounds beautiful. I am going to see if I can find and illustrated copy at the library. Great review Jen.
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The writing is different from what I’m used to, but it’s beautiful once you get into it. We’re reading the graphic novel right now and it’s stunning. Worth checking out! 😉 Thanks, Carla.
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I just saw the graphic novel on Scribd. I can’t find an illustrated version on the story, but my library has the book.
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The one on Scribd isn’t the correct one unless it’s a white cover. Maybe your Scribd offers different books, but it’s not on mine. Our library has the graphic novel. I how you can find it because the illustrations are beautiful and remind me of the movie. 😉
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No it is not a white cover. My library does not have it, oh well.
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Well, you have me intrigued now. I’m wondering if Scribd offers different titles do different users? Especially being that you’re in Canada. Sorry your library doesn’t have it. I’ll review it soon and let you know our thoughts on it. ❤️
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Not sure, it is a document that somone uploaded. It was published by IDW Publishing in 2010. It was adapted by Peter Gillis, Art by Renae DeLiz. It is actually more comic book than graphic novel.
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Interesting! I’m going to check it out. I don’t think I looked at documents. I’ll let you know if it’s the same one. 😉
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