The Last Unicorn
The novel “The Last Unicorn” by writer Peter S. Beagle (winner of numerous awards for the fantasy genre) is, like the titular being, a very unusual creature. You start with light reading and, as time passes, you realize the book is increasingly drawing you into its world and enchanting you, and along the way awakening very interesting emotions in you (which are, at least to me, rare for this genre).
In a lilac forest lives a lady unicorn. Brilliant, immortal, perfect, who isn’t touched at all by the world or its transience. People don’t burden her much and it’s not that she wants or needs to show herself to them (and magic allows her to seem like an ordinary white horse, i.e., mare to an ordinary person), except to some princess, just like that…
However, at one point thoughts also started to bother the lady unicorn… and that’s that she’s perhaps the last of her kind, because she hasn’t heard of another unicorn for a long time. And so she sets out on a distant journey without a concrete destination, hoping to find some traces or information about her compatriots. Hope (that perhaps she isn’t the last of her kind) is held in the statement of one schizophrenic butterfly, who in rare “clear moments of consciousness” told her she’s not the last of her kind, but that the others are imprisoned by the mystical Red Bull.
In her search, the lady unicorn is joined (better said, they simply started following her, because the lady unicorn is quite indifferent to people) by two unusual people. The first is clumsy wizard Schmendrick, who saved the lady unicorn at one point from a magical traveling circus. This wizard you could put in quotes, because magic (unlike normal wizards) seems not to “listen” to him at all because he can’t perform one proper magic, but more some cheap magic tricks… which can also go wrong. His wish is to become the greatest wizard. There’s also Molly Grue, who until recently lived in a common-law union with the leader of a second-rate (comedic) band of outlaws… for whom she ended up as head cook. As soon as she first saw the lady unicorn, she felt an incredible desire to help her in her mission and started following her without question.
And so this unusual trio travels, and finally discover their ultimate goal is the castle of nefarious King Haggard and his adopted son Prince Lír, where the dangerous Red Bull is also located.
And whether the lady unicorn will find her compatriots (if they even still exist), you’ll find out if you read the brilliant book “The Last Unicorn.” 🙂
Simply, the book increasingly enchants you as time passes. Interesting descriptions of places this unusual trio visits and characters they meet along the way (like the silly butterfly, clueless band of outlaws, King Haggard and his son Lír, as well as the Red Bull himself), lofty and somewhat naive thoughts of the lady unicorn who isn’t touched by the problem of mortality, cynically-wittily-philosophically inclined Schmendrick as well as pragmatic and simple Molly Grue, make one brilliantly composed whole through which the novel leads you.
What’s also an excellent element in the book is the last third of the novel, where the lady unicorn’s role (caused by someone’s magic) seriously changes, which brings new challenges for her and her companions, accompanied by her questioning the meaning of emotions she (suddenly) started to feel.
“The Last Unicorn” reminds me more of a fairy tale than a classic fantasy novel (if such a difference could exist?), which is also a nice plus. Whether it’s the writing style, descriptions of people (and mystical beings) and places, the way main heroes express themselves… it doesn’t matter, because everything contributes to that pleasant fairy tale experience.
The novel is also full of hidden symbolism and various motifs. For me perhaps the most memorable motif is in what the lady unicorn embodies, and Molly Grue too (in a specific way)… and that’s innocence (not in that sense!), purity and incorruptibility. Unicorns have always been presented as symbols of purity, magic, incorruptibility, pride, healing and connection with the world, which could be seen (and approached) only by people of pure heart, so our lady unicorn in the novel is the embodiment of these traits. On the other hand, Molly Grue sends a message that, even when we grow up, we must not lose that purity and innocence (not to say naivety), regardless of what challenges the world sends us… perhaps, after all, the right word is incorruptibility.
“The Last Unicorn” will take you through various moments, from happy to sad. You’ll be both delighted and pensive and wistful, and occasionally sad, with a very specific ending. But again, everything will have some fairy tale energy while you read and you’ll simply want to see what the lady unicorn’s fate will be.
Simply, there’s something in this novel that’s timeless and for all generations.
I see there was also an animated adaptation of the book, and perhaps a live-action version will be made someday (allegedly it was once in development then abandoned), because I think it would be a nice and instructive film.
In any case, worth reading.
And you, dear reader, do you believe in unicorns? 🙂
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