2020 EDIT: No doubt about it, 'The Last Unicorn' is a beautiful book. It was written to be reread again and again. Contained within its enchanting pages is a bit of everything: it is funny, sweet, dynamic, clever, witty, complex, and above all charming. It is like the best, most colourful poem in prose form - posy, lyrical, a soulful sonnet, among the actual extracts of fun poetry in it.
It is ethereal, and breathtaking, like seeing the whole world anew, from the top of the highest snowy mountain, and looking at the rich rosy horizon at sunset.
'The Last Unicorn' reminds me of snowdrops and sea foam, butterflies and horse hay, moon flowers and willow trees, house cats and brimstone, lovely pastures and dark ruins. One of the greatest fantasy books ever, it is to be read by all ages, throughout all times. A gorgeous fairy tale.
Final Score: 5/5
Original Review:
A mystical, rich, touching, fun, and stunningly-written fairy tale. I admit to having had the film in mind whilst reading this - I couldn't help it, I saw it first - but in prose form, I can say that the book is better.
'The Last Unicorn' contains wonderful passages such as:
'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.' - p.1,
'The magician crept as close to the unicorn's light as he dared, for beyond it moved hungry shadows, the shadows of the sounds that the harpy made as she destroyed the little there was to destroy of the Midnight Carnival. But another sound followed them long after these had faded, followed them into morning on a strange road - the tiny, dry sound of a spider weeping.' - p. 54,
'He was the color of blood, not the springing blood of the heart but the blood that stirs under an old wound that never really healed. A terrible light poured form him like sweat, and his roar started landslides flowing into one another. His horns were as pale as scars.
For one moment the unicorn faced him, frozen as a wave about to break. Then the light of her horn went out, and she turned and fled. The Red Bull bellowed again, and leaped down after her.
The unicorn had never been afraid of anything. She was immortal, but she could be killed: by a harpy, by a dragon or a chimera, by a stray arrow loosed at a squirrel. But dragons could only kill her - they could never make her forget what she was, or themselves forget that even dead she would still be more beautiful than they. The Red Bull did not know her, and yet she could feel that it was herself he sought, and no white mare. Fear blew her dark then, and she ran away, while the Bull's raging ignorance filled the sky and spilled over into the valley.' - p.133-134,
... and there are countless other examples of simple yet imaginative writing. Truly one of the finest fantasy novels I've read.
There is so much I could talk about regarding 'The Last Unicorn'. It's a deceptively simple story, with memorable and flawed characters, epic themes, symbols, a reconstructing of fairy tale tropes and archetypes, and has an action-packed and bittersweet-but-satisfactory ending. I'll just write what I've learned from reading this beautiful book.
Its themes are self-discovery, self-worth, destiny, pre-destiny, belief, and finding that we are all living in a fairy tale in our own minds and souls. The unicorn gives in to her curiosity and leaves her safe-haven forest to go on a dangerous journey to find others of her kind, and learns that not everyone believes in unicorns anymore. No human has seen one in a long time - times have changed, and stories told by grandparents become myths. No one believes in the unicorn, and she is all alone, at first...
Schmendrick the magician, who saves the unicorn from a witch's imprisonment, is the bumbling ally with a mysterious past. He feels a need to prove himself by working his magic, for better or for worse; magic which he cannot undo when he is not ready. He is a comic relief character who is deeper and wiser than even he knows.
Molly Grue - one of my favourite characters - is a grouchy woman who, deep down, never stopped believing in her girlish dreams and fancies. She is in tears upon laying eyes on the unicorn for the first time. She is very human and vulnerable, but practical and as sympathetic as the other humans the unicorn encounters. I have to add that it's great to see, in a fantasy story, an older woman who is an ally and not a villain. Good subversion.
The old King Haggard of the cursed valley of Hagsgate is unsatisfied with everything in life. He is depressingly bored; a spoiled recluse from his own kingdom, and finds that only unicorns can lift his spent spirits even a little bit, for a little while. He has everything, except a complete soul: He is an example of what greed and getting everything you want can do to a human being.
Haggard has no real love for his son, Prince Lir, who he sees as another case of wasted entertainment in his existence. Lir is not like the king, and will find that life is worth living if you go out and do things for that one special goal that keeps you motivated.
Each character - human or animal - in 'The Last Unicorn' sees unicorns in different ways. Some in awe, some as a means to an end, some as something to protect, or possess, or love and never let disappear from the world. But above all they see themselves in the magical, pale white-horned creatures.
The last unicorn herself is set to be the protagonist, however while she experiences internal and external changes during the course of the story, she unknowingly changes the lives of the other characters. This book is about clinging to belief and the purposes in life; externally it does not have to be a fantasy, but internal goals of varied types of fulfilment are important in any genre. Hence 'The Last Unicorn' is one of the most creative and clever examples of an Epic Fantasy I've happily come across.
There are images and symbols: Snow, the sea, princesses, magicians, pureness, and cats that talk only when they feel like doing so. These elements are scattered throughout the story and work imaginatively in a fantasy. They fit in with the purpose-finding theme. 'The Last Unicorn' is a basic children's fairy tale, but one with enough cleverly thought-out subtext and richness to read to both young and old minds. I could read it loads of times.
As delicate and mysterious as a unicorn, I love this treasure. Now I am interested in the horned horses - in myth and in stories. I am only sorry I did not review it sooner; I might have had more things to talk about and discuss.
A recommended read for those who love and believe in the power of fantasy.
Final Score: 5/5
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