The Last Unicorn
Peter S. Beagle
‘Have a taco.’
This book was absolutely wonderful to read :-D
The Last Unicorn is a fictional story told in the style of old fairytales. So along with the odd reference to more modern things, thrown in for humour (like the taco), or perhaps to keep the story grounded.
The last Unicorn goes like this: a unicorn living by itself in a lilac wood (kept eternally flowering by unicorn magic) overhears some hunters talking about her as the last of her kind. Afraid and unbelieving, she decides to go on a journey and see for herself. She wants to find other unicorns. Once she leaves the woods she goes through many adventures, and meets both enemies and allies, including Molly, Schmendrick, Lir, Mommy Fortuna, and of course, King Haggard. Haggard is ultimately the reason nobody has seen a unicorn in so long - he has had his henchman the Red Bull capture them all and drive them into the sea! The unicorn’s quest becomes freeing her trapped people from their captivity. Along the way she is turned into a human, and then back again by Schmendrick, and falls in love with a prince, just like any good fairy tale protagonist.
What I took away from this book was just how unreal it felt. Many things aren’t described as we would understand them - who goes white as a dream, or laughs like the starlight? Nothing does, but it adds to the dreamlike quality of this modern fairytale, and it kept me immersed in the world these characters inhabited. This also extends to the characters - I’m still not sure what the Red Bull actually is - a magical creature, but one that seemed to grow and shrink as time went on. It didn’t seem fully real.
It really did feel like a fairy tale - it had the same faint air of melancholy, and feels as if it is describing events that took place many centuries ago, despite the contemporary references. Eagle-eyed readers will also catch references to mythologies we already have in our world, possibly put down as a means of showing where the characters are.
Despite all the talk of liking the unreality of this story, I liked that the character of Haggard was totally believable in a real sense. Maybe not in the sense of capturing unicorns, of course, but in the sense that he is constantly looking for something - anything - to make him feel something again. Oh, to have therapists in fairy stories. It would probably have solved a lot of problems.
The love story between Lir and Amalthea felt real as well - I loved Lir turning into a bona fide hero through his desire to be of service to her. I also loved that Molly helped him move beyond that, to show him that a hero could be a hero even without a courtly romance to strive for.
Schmendrick was always a source of humour, even when we and the narrative moved past seeing him as simple comic relief, and instead saw him as a tragic figure, doomed to immortality unless and until he could control his powers. And then, the moment when he gained control of his power was also one of immense pathos, because it meant that Amalthea became a unicorn again. Yes, she defeated her enemy and brought back the unicorns…but at what cost, Schmendrick?? At what cost?
And finally, Molly. Oh, Molly. The fairy tale manages to convey that she has had a hard life without sacrificing its tone of gentle melancholy. I loved Molly so much. She was practical, but also romantic. She was a good friend to people, and a good mentor, even if she didn’t mean to be. I hope we all find a Molly in our lives when we need one.