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Summary: A story of wit and charm, immeasurable beauty and emotion.
Review: The Last Unicorn is one of most astounding books I have ever read. Not only because of the story, which is a fairytale in every sense of the word, but also because of Beagle's flawless writing, which weaves a spell of words and images that I find myself willingly ensnared in every time I open its pages. I find myself lingering over each sentence, each word, and I am astounded by the care with which he tells this tale.Once upon a time, there was a unicorn. A beautiful unicorn... who was all alone. She sets out on a journey to seek others of her kind and is joined on her travels by a bumbling magician and an old spinster, neither of who are what they first appear to be. Encountering magical monsters, outlaws and suspicious townspeople, the three travelers find themselves at the gate of a forbidding castle wherein lives a cruel king and a gentle prince. It is in the walls of this castle that the truth lies. But can they accept what the truth will bring? Beagle tells an amazing tale, of love and loss, of heartache and hope. Each of the characters in his work has such life and depth, and I see myself in each and every one of them. From an inept magician who desperately seeks to be more than what he is to the outlaws who cry out with loss of that which they have never known, there is so much life in these few short pages that I find myself reading and rereading each page, afraid lest I miss something. When Schmendrick cries, "I'll make you into a bad poet with dreams!" I want to laugh, but at the same time I want to cry with pity, with unexplainable sorrow for something I can't quite understand and am not sure I want to. The Last Unicorn is about more than just a quest for unicorns. It is also a story about the things that we love and what we will do - or not do - for that love. It is about what really defines a hero, and what constitutes a happy ending. But most of all, it is about magic. Joy. Sadness. Beauty. It is about all the things we are and all the things we long to be. It is a breathtakingly beautiful story by a wonderful writer, and I recommend it as one of the best books I have ever read.
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Summary: The Last Unicorn
Review: The Last Unicorn is an all time classic. I loved this book after reading the first two pages. It is that addicting. Peter S. Beagle wrote the best book I have ever read when he wrote this. The story is about a Unicorn, who was the color of the snow while being relected in the moonlight. She is wonderfully described by Beagle. She learns through several scourses that she is the last unicorn in the world, and she starts on a quest to find her people. On the way she is captured by the vile witch Mommy Fortuna, and is held captive. But among her captivity she finds a trusted friend, a bumbleing magicain named Shemdrick. Shemdrick joins the Unicorn on her quest. Soon they find another ally, in the form of a jaded woman named Molly Grue. As the trio continues to search for the rest of the world's unicorns, the find themselves face to face with death, danger, betrayl, love, and an alcoholic skull (sorry, but I had to include that). I read this book at least once every month, and every time I still get the same thrill when the Unicorn battles the Red Bull, or when the Lady Amalthea confesess her love for Prince Lir. This is the best book I have ever read in my life, and will remain the best book I have ever read. You should without a doubt pick up a copy of this book and read it.
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Summary: Nice, but no Tolkien
Review: I remember watching the movie, the original by Rankin/Bass many many years ago, and fell in love with it. Here I am, 28 years old, and just read the book. This is one case where I think the movie was better. A lot of people compare this particular story to Tolkien. But I have to be honest and say, it is far from his works. Granted it is an interesting story, original. But I found it to be a little boring. It has interesting fantasy, and a great villan (love the bull). But I couldn't help but be slightly bored with the slow travel, and encounters, and very few climactic scenes (or battles). It has it's moments, surely, but it isn't all it's cracked up to be. People make this book sound like it's the next gospel. But I found it to be creative, yet simple, and even though it's fairly small book (which was surprising) it took a while to get through it. And I found some areas difficult to understand, and had to re-read a few paragraphs to understand exactly what was happening. Nevertheless I'm glad I read it. It isn't horrible, it's just been glamourized a little too much. Check out the movie, I think it's actually better.
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Summary: Beautiful and Fantastic
Review: No matter how many fantasy books you have read, The Last Unicorn is a fantasy unlike any other. Unlike many other denser books, The Last Unicorn is light in both tone and content. There is a fey air of the absurd about it that makes it all the more magical. While I can put other fantasy books aside, I simply had to read The Last Unicorn from cover to cover in one sitting. It really drew me into its own unique world; a world both beautiful and elusive. The story is a simple one revolving around a unicorn (she is never named) who leaves her enchanted lilac wood only to find that she is the last surviving unicorn. She decides to go on a quest in order to discover why, and is soon joined by Schmendrick the magician and Molly Grue, a scullery maid. Together, this motley group travels to the castle of King Haggard where they believe the Red Bull has imprisoned all the other unicorns of the world. All does not go as planned, of course, and adventure follows. I think many people make the mistake of thinking The Last Unicorn is exclusively a children's book. Nothing could be further from the truth as this beautiful, little tale can be read on many levels: as an adventure story or as an exploration of the nature of truth, beauty, reality, immortality and the ultimate purpose of life. Of all the fantasy books I have ever read, this is my alltime favorite and the one I find most beautiful as well as possessing the most depth and emotion. It is a lovely tale that brings the secrets of life and love into wonderful focus.
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Summary: A beautiful story
Review: An unusual and quite lovable fairy tale, "The Last Unicorn" captures a certain eerie and mystical quality that sends shivers down your spine, and adds alot of enjoyment to the book. I sometimes found myself quite frustrated with the unicorn, wondering how she could be so callous and unfeeling, but her emotional as well as physical journey is a main theme in this book. Her companions are quite far from perfect, an unusual concept in fantasy, and one which I enjoyed very much. You can't help but grow quite fond of the fumbling Schmendrick, or the tough, practical Molly Grue, both of whom add a bit of diversity to the story. I was also fascinated with the wierd, witchlike Mommy Fortuna, who knows the limits of her own power but lets her covetous nature of all things immortal be her downfall. Written with a dreamlike quality, "The Last Unicorn" isn't as much fantasy as it is a story about beauty, and the search for it, and how magic is a very tangible part of our lives.
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Summary: The Last Unicorn
Review: She is the last of the Unicorns. For centuries, she has lived within her forest, at one with nature and her surroundings. Immortal, she has been unconcerned with the fate of the other Unicorns, for surely, if they were all gone, she would know of it? But it is not the case. Feeling curiosity and doubt for the first time in many years, she sets off to find out what has happened to the other Unicorns, why humans don't even seem to see her, and just what the mysterious Red Bull is. Beagle writes beautifully. Metaphors and similes are used with ease, and almost without exception they evoke images of verdant forest, shimmering lakes or crashing seas. Nature is a well-used tool for poetic license, and fits the theme and setting of the book perfectly. Along the way, she meets the bumbling magician Schmendrick after being captured by a dark, evil witch, then Molly Grue next befriends her. Together the trio explore the land, venturing deep into the mean King Haggard's domain in search of the Red Bull. Characters are either very black or very white. The Unicorn, we are told, is the most perfect, beautiful creature of all, and this lofty description is met and matched and every opportunity. We believe that she is perfect because her actions are perfect and the words to describe her are perfect. There is a sense of great sadness when she walks through a human town and is considered to be only a white mare, she cannot understand how the villagers seem unable to even see her horn. There are mis-steps along the way, but not many. Some of the dialogue between humans is too anachronistic for my liking, and the opening to the second part of the novel in Haggard's castle dragged a little bit. A few too-clever modern day references were made as well, but really, all of these are minor. The writing is beautiful, capable of evoking sadness and joy, and the characters are a lot of fun to be around. The ending, while tidy, was expected almost from the start and is thus satisfying. On a last note, the butterfly near the start was probably my favourite part of the whole novel, what a great character!
Rating: 
Summary: Very Disappointing!
Review: The book got off to a rocky start. It became better during the part where the Unicorn meets the wizard. Then, almost a chapter later turned on a downhill course. I stayed up reading it until midnight hoping it would turn out better, but I was thoroughly put out with the end. Sure the wizard has a happy ending, but the Unicorn is forced to go around the world for eternity, knowing she is different from the rest of her kind. I found it a waste of time and wonder why many think that it is "'Extraudinary'" Unfortunately, 1 star is the lowest rating on here.
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Summary: A real fairy tale.
Review: "The Unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone..." But when one day she overhears two hunters arguing about the existence, or not, of her kind, she starts wondering if she's indeed the last unicorn, and sets off on a quest to find others like her. Nobody believes in fairy tales anymore and everyone she meets thinks she's nothing more than a white mare. Even Mommy Fortuna, who captures her one night while she's indiscreetly sleeping on the edge of a wood, and puts her in a cage to entertain and impress customers of her Midnight Carnival, alongside other animals that the witch turns into various illusory mythical beasts. Hopefully, one of Fortuna's assistants, Schmendrick the wannabe magician, recognizes the unicorn for what she really is. He releases her, and travelling together, meeting a new companion called Molly Grue on the way, they make for King Haggard's cursed castle. There lives the terrible Red Bull, the blind, devilish creature responsible for the disappearance of the unicorns, or so they've heard. The Last Unicorn is a real fairy tale, where everything seems to happen in a kind of ethereal, parallel reality. Beagle's style is such that every place, every character, and every action that takes place is hard to focus on, as if it were a dream that you're trying to remember. And on the other hand, it approaches very real themes, ones you can relate to, such as finding who you are and what you want to be, or making the right choices and compromises in your life... I won't say I understood it all, but I was charmed by this deep, very poetic, and sad tale of love and magic, good and evil, by this quest for seasons of candor, when we believe in fairy tales and legendary creatures.
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Summary: This book pwns!!
Review: The last unicorn is in the cube behind me! Buy this book!
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Summary: The Post-Modern Fairy Tale
Review: Along with the rest of the civilized world, my wandering memories often lead me back to two of my favorite childhood movies, "The Neverending Story" and "The Last Unicorn." Practically all I could remember of the latter was some skull yelling "Unicorn! Uuuunicorn!" That image and that voice have left a lingering discomfort in the back of my mind for years. A while back, I found a little time to investigate Michael Ende's novel, "The Neverending Story," and just recently, I managed to come across a copy of "The Last Unicorn," and I couldn't help but read it. In both cases, these novels have more than repayed my childhood memories, giving my adult mind philosophical and literary substance as well as real joy. Peter S. Beagle's 1968 novel, "The Last Unicorn," is much more than a simple fantasy story - though it is rife with magicians, mythical creatures, and all of the customary trappings. It is even more than a complex fantasy story - somehow Beagle enchants us into a timeless place where nothing seems unusual - "The Last Unicorn" creates a space for magic in our modern lives. The novel begins as a unicorn overhears two hunters riding through her wood - the hunters debate whether unicorns exist anymore. The unicorn begins to wonder if indeed she is the last of her kind, and goes in search of other unicorns. She is caught sleeping by Mommy Fortuna, owner of the Midnight Carnival, who displays the unicorn for a time alongside a real harpy and a motley bunch of meek, hopeless animals who are made, through Fortuna's magic, to resemble other dangerous mythical beasts for the entertainment of travellers, tourists, and townsfolk. Schmendrick, a fairly useless magician, and an assistant to the Midnight Carnival, recognizes the unicorn for what she is, and freeing her, they set off together to find the unicorns. Once they are joined by a woodland dweller named Molly Grue, the company is complete. Their search brings them to the domain of King Haggard, who, along with the demoniacal, but eerily incorporeal Red Bull, seems to have something to do with the disappearance of the unicorns. Though the novel is a quest, there isn't much real movement - the novel moves from the unicorn's wood, over land to Haggard's castle by the sea, which is where almost half of the novel takes place. The more significant quests here are ones of self-discovery, as the unicorn, Schmendrick, and Prince Lir, King Haggard's heir, must all try to figure out who they are, what they want to be, and how to accomplish their goals without being consumed by existential despair. Related questions the novel poses include speculations on the nature of the hero, on the metafictional nature of the fairy tale as a genre, and what the difference is between evil and self-interest, between love and hatred. "The Last Unicorn" is also a rumination on the nature of interpersonal (or interspecies) relationships, and is in spots as concerned with ecology and the environment as J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings." However, far and away, the most compelling facets of "The Last Unicorn" for me are Beagle's minor touches, minutiae that some people might miss on a first reading. Seemingly meaningless conversations, like the one between the hunters which begins the novel, between Captain Cully and his disaffected latter-day Robin Hoods in the forest, or between a 'married' pair of blue jays betray a depth and attention to detail and a real artistry in Beagle's literary workmanship. They alert us, as certainly as Tolkien's work does, to the fact that we, the novel's readers, live in a prosaic world, divested of magic and enchantments. Beagle's novel shows that creating, living in, and sustaining a fantasy world can be as much work, and can involve as much pain as our own normal daily lives. Indeed, one amazing quality of "The Last Unicorn" is that it hardly differentiates between the normal modern world and that of the fairy tale. One reviewer mentions that the novel takes place in the Middle Ages - is it at all astonishing then, to hear Cully at one point mention the "field-recordings" that will one day be made of his oral poetry while he himself eats a taco? "The Last Unicorn" has endured for almost 40 years because it manages to imbue things like "field-recordings" with a kind of magical quality that seems as natural as talking birds and butterflies. Beagle also reminds us that we are each heroes of our own stories - whether we stick to the literary conventions of genre or not. The inclusion of subtle anachronisms and metafictional commentaries like these clues us to Beagle's art - the creation of a new kind of fairy tale, one which attempts to make our own world, our own lives, sources of almost limitless wonder and joy, as well as of continuing epic challenges.
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