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A review by swaggle
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
4.0
I thought this book was quite funny which I haven't seen anyone mention. The characters all have a natural sense of humor to them, which made it fun to read. Beagle was clearly having a laugh when he wrote the characters talking past each other and making fun of his poor wizard by having seemingly every character say "you couldn't turn cream into butter". I think the sense of humor and the fun Beagle had writing this is where the book really shines. There are also plenty of references the characters make to the story that they're in and how their fate relates to how the story must progress or is progressing, which is kind of funny in a breaking-the-fourth-wall kind of way.
The plot centers around the themes of mortality and legacy. One of the main characters of the book, Schmendrick the Magician, introduces himself by saying that you would never had heard of him, despite the fact that he's an immortal wizard. Schmendrick eventually evolves as a wizard, finding himself and realizing "Whatever can die is beautiful--more beautiful than a unicorn, who lives forever, and who is the most beautiful creature in the world." And what becomes of the unicorn is that "she is a story with no ending, happy or sad. She can never belong to anything mortal enough to want her."
This book does have a certain je ne sais quoi, but the descriptive language, poetry that evokes lore, the atmosphere and world building I think all comes together to make this book a classic, and something I could imagine reading to my imaginary future child during bed time.
The plot centers around the themes of mortality and legacy. One of the main characters of the book, Schmendrick the Magician, introduces himself by saying that you would never had heard of him, despite the fact that he's an immortal wizard. Schmendrick eventually evolves as a wizard, finding himself and realizing "Whatever can die is beautiful--more beautiful than a unicorn, who lives forever, and who is the most beautiful creature in the world." And what becomes of the unicorn is that "she is a story with no ending, happy or sad. She can never belong to anything mortal enough to want her."
This book does have a certain je ne sais quoi, but the descriptive language, poetry that evokes lore, the atmosphere and world building I think all comes together to make this book a classic, and something I could imagine reading to my imaginary future child during bed time.