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Summary: One of my all-time favorites
Review: This has been one of my all-time favorite books since I was a kid. One of the reviewers feared a let-down if he re-read the book now, but I did just that last summer (my copy is pretty dog-eared so I'm thrilled that they're releasing a new edition). I must confess that I wasn't the least bit let down. The story was just as whimsical and touching as I remembered it to be, with some profound lessons about death, and more importantly, life. I've always loved cemeteries because of this book.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Read - But Strange!
Review: This is an extraordinary concept - much less a book. I first read this while in high school where I found it in the school library. I checked it out so many times - that I can't even remember. Since I was a library aide - the Librarian finally told me to keep it - and I still have it. I've reread it so many times - that the book is basicly falling apart. I noticed that the book has a different cover - I prefer the original. My bookcover is the same in that it has the raven on the front - and the musoleum - but, Rebek is shown sitting playing chess with Laura and Michael. Anyway, it is a sort of "macabre" love-story. If you can get over the fact that one set of lovers (Laura & Michael) are dead - then you'll really enjoy this wacky love-story!
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Summary: A Fine and Private Place
Review: What a romantic novel, and what imagination Peter S. Beagles's had! I wished I could be Michael Morgan when I first read this book - back in 1974! The characters were so well developed and real they were unreal, or were they so unreal that they seemed real? I lost count of the number of times I read it, and I still think about it often. I'm getting a new copy to replace my totally worn one so I can start over again.
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Summary: From Love, To Life
Review: What defines life? Where is the line between alive and dead? What makes life worth living? Sound like an outline for a course in philosophy? But these questions are what drives this lyrical, quiet, and unassuming story of two ghosts, a raven, a man caught somewhere in-between the living and the dead, and a very traditional Jewish widow.
The raven has an attitude, but insists on dragging sandwiches to Mr. Rebeck, a pharmacist who decided to live in the cemetery many years ago. Mr. Rebeck is lonely most of the time, except when there is a new burial, for then that person's ghost will stick around a little while and keep him company, until the ghost forgets what it is to be human, to be alive.
Michael Morgan and Laura are two such new ghosts. Each has a conflicted past, not fully remembered, and take different approaches to this new state of 'living', Michael trying fiercely to retain all he can of himself and his past, Laura trying to fully leave the world of the living. Mr. Rebeck suddenly finds himself with an unusually rich set of company, for besides Michael and Laura, he finds himself involved with the widow Mrs. Klapper, coming to visit the tomb of her husband.
Each of these characters is finely delineated, their conversations with each other slowly illuminating their pasts, their ambitions, their fears, and their hopes. From a little evening singing, quiet walks, the raven bringing news of the outside world, the story is built bit by little bit, with no large dramatic moments until the very end. It is, in essence, a character study, and each character's approach to life imposes its message about life's meaning and purpose. There are some fairly deep philosophical ruminations presented within this, part and parcel of the story line, stated with ease and a poetic feel that suffuses this entire work, with the raven perhaps as the cynic to provide some balance and comedy relief. Ah, but the final point is the attraction these characters begin to feel for each other, all quite logical, even predictable, but the result we end with is a believable love story of both the dead and the living.
Perhaps this work could have done with a little more action, a little more drama. But then again, adding such elements might have spoiled this poem in prose. Not perfect, but certainly one of the more unusual and very readable fantasy works I've read, with a set of ideas that possibly could not have been investigated in any other literary genre.
--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)
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Summary: What IS love? And life? And death?
Review: Written when the author was just 19, this deeply touching first novel is woven through with wisdom and compassion - and, not to make it sound ponderous, it's also warm and romantic and laugh-out-loud funny at the most unexpected times. Two lonely souls who find true love only after dying, two living souls who are dead to the world around them until they find each other - what more is there? A cynical, smartass raven who steals bologna sandwiches from city workers to feed his friend, for one! Peter Beagle is among a handful of writers like no others, fully and truly themselves from the first word they ever wrote; and while "The Last Unicorn" is justly praised as the masterpiece it is, don't pass up this quiet, poignant, lyrical tale of love and death ... and love.
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