The Last Unicorn (The Last Unicorn, #1) in Beyond Reality

Feb 18, 2012 mark monday rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy-60s-70s-80s

so i set the mood for rereading The Last Unicorn by putting together a nifty mix of woodstock era classics, heavily featuring the likes of jethro tull & canned heat & richie havens & a lot of early pink floyd. i put on my comfy clothes. i brewed some tea. i picked my sunniest room and my cat - sensing my mood - snuggled in close. however, i did not smoke any weed. perhaps this was my mistake? nonetheless, the mood was definitely set and the enjoyment swiftly commenced.

this is a nice little book. so i set the mood for rereading The Last Unicorn by putting together a nifty mix of woodstock era classics, heavily featuring the likes of jethro tull & canned heat & richie havens & a lot of early pink floyd. i put on my comfy clothes. i brewed some tea. i picked my sunniest room and my cat - sensing my mood - snuggled in close. however, i did not smoke any weed. perhaps this was my mistake? nonetheless, the mood was definitely set and the enjoyment swiftly commenced.

this is a nice little book. it's sweet and cheeky and full of a kind of idealistic purity. it is very counter-culture in its quiet way. i was reminded constantly of things like Harold & Maude and King of Hearts and the Yellow Submarine and Jonathan Livingston Seagull. and of laying out on the grass with my friends during college in the 90s, happily on drugs and talking about life. it made me think of flowers and sunshine and animals that i like. this is certainly not a trippy book, but it is a pleasantly mellow one in tone and outlook. the writing is similarly warm and fuzzy. characterization is relaxed; living metaphors for freedom & authority & purity & greed & experience are mixed and matched in a loose, breathable fashion. the entire endeavor is what one would call a warm and human experience. i can see why this book has so many admirers and why it has apparently never been out of print. reading it is like reading a modern fable - it feels instantly classic, automatically timeless. and hopefully its beautiful messages about life and how to live it will never go out of style.

my favorite parts came early and then at the very end. the final standoff between our heroes and the Red Bull was very well done and genuinely gripping. even better was the time spent in Mommy Fortuna's horrible caravan. that was awesome! the descriptions of the different ensorcelled beasts, the dreaming spider, Schmendrick's introduction, Mommy Fortuna herself (such a poisonous yet rather sad & pathetic character), Mommy Fortuna as Old Age, and of course the terrifying, brilliantly rendered harpy... all quite delectable.

it's interesting to me to think about my two different reactions to the book: now and then. "then" was back in junior high, i think. i LOVED Schmendrick and found Molly Grue to be an annoying, tedious character. despite her, i loved the book from beginning to end. the beauty of its ultimate meaning (whatever that may have been to my 14-year old self) had me thinking about life and how to live it. many, many years later - yesterday! - i found Schmendrick to be distinctly annoying and Molly Grue to be the secret hero of the novel. this grouchy, critical, often overbearing middle-aged lady is also brave, honest, decent, completely down to earth - and such an unusual character to find as a lead in a fantasy novel. go, Molly, go! unfortunately, i also found myself to be positively un-charmed by all the anachronisms and whimsy. all that stuff just felt dated, goofy, sorta cheap. like that fookin butterfly for chrissakes. so unfunny. and judo. and "last of the red-hot swamis". and much more. ugh!

still, a lovely book with a timeless message. although i found those whimsical anachronisms to be obnoxiously precious & cutesypoo, overall they didn't end up being too dire and my experience was not remotely ruined. hell, i roll my eyes at my closest friends and i still enjoy their company. this may only be a 3-star book for me, but i did like it a lot. it remains sweetly appealing and genuinely charming. maybe if i was stoned now, i would give it 4 stars. but nowadays i only get stoned to reality tv. ...more

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Aug 29, 2008 Stephen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mythstories-and-legends, fantasy, 1954-1969, animalistic

5.0 stars. WOW, why did it take me so long to get around to reading this extraordinary novel!! I actually only decided to read this now because one of my favorite authors, Patrick Rothfuss, mentioned that it was one of his favorite novels of all time. Well, I can certainly see why. This is fantasy at its best. Beautifully written, smart and full of heart. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

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Jan 12, 2016 Tani rated it liked it

Shelves: male-author, fantasy, sff-2016, sff-explorer-2016, 2016-novels

I feel like I talk a lot about being apprehensive about older scifi, but the same actually holds true for fantasy. I really like the modern day character sensibilities, and so the older stuff doesn't tend to measure up for me. There's just not the emotional connection. I've also never seen the movie that was based on this book, so there's no childhood nostalgia involved. Just my own biases.

I will say that the writing was lyrical. The author has a beautiful turn of phrase, and it gave the book t ...more

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Jun 16, 2010 Words rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

I vaguely remember seeing the cartoon version of this story when I was very small, and then I only remember an image of the unicorn. I never thought to read the book until several years later as I was standing in line at a comic-con, waiting to get George RR Martin's autograph. It was the end of the day, and I watched a girl in a green cloak (probably role playing a character from Robert Jordan's book), bypass everyone to get the autograph of another author who'd at that point been sitting off b ...more

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Oct 28, 2010 Frank Taranto rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have seen the movie many times when my girls were young, because they all liked it and one would often pick it out at the movie rental place when they were staying with me.
I liked the way it turned fairy tales on their side, e.g., Prince Lir doing what he did because that's what heroes do.
While it didn't have your typical fairy tale ending; nobody lives happily ever after; it had an ending that fit.
...more

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Dec 05, 2012 Tom Britz rated it really liked it

A very nice little fantasy.

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Jul 31, 2010 Michelle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Nice mixture of myth-making and humor...

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Jun 21, 2008 Kevin rated it really liked it

Apparently a 60's phenomenon? I don't know, I wasn't around then. If anyone else would like to comment. It still remains a timeless story and an enchanting read of the last of a magical species. ...more

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