November 30th: The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

[Kinokokao]

The Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle



Topic is open.

[Kinokokao]

So! It is midnight, and therefore officially the 30th.

Did everyone enjoy the book?

I remembered liking it quite a bit when I first read the book, many years ago, but on this re-read I realized just exactly how much I love this book! The writing, the imagery, its all very dreamlike I feel. It's got that classic feel to it, and I like how it plays the tropes of fantasy.

But I don't want to jump in too much with my own praise! In case one of you didn't like it or something I don't want you to feel bashful about speaking up.

I might think up some prompts or something later, once you guys have a chance to jump in, but for now check out this cool picture I found:

[Trifkin]

I absolutely loved it. Adding it to my list of fantasy favorites. I absolutely devoured it once I started reading.

I agree about the dreamlike quality. That's exactly what it felt like. And I looooooooved the writing, the imagery. So delicious.

I cannot think of one single complaint.

[negzee]

Reading the novel, I get the same sorts of feelings I remember experiencing as I watched the animated adaptation as a kid: it has a dreamlike and melancholic quality to it, mixing the sad sense of the ephemerality of life and the deep, unshakeable loneliness of eternity.

I'm not done reading it yet, but so far it has been seriously messing with my sense of time. I can't tell how long any given part of her journey takes or how far physically she's gone. Time and space just blend into a grey haze.

This is not at all a complaint.

[beekee]

The Last Unicorn is one of my favorite books ever, so I don't want to gush TOO much before the discussion gets rolling.

Like many, my first exposure to this story was through the Rankin-Bass movie (<3). I was mesmerized by it, and clamored to watch it every time it came on TV. The book only drew me deeper in to the secret heart of the story where everything is even bigger and fuller.

There are a lot of amazing qualities to this book, such as the bright, lyrical and rhythmic prose, the imagery that's just so fitting for a faery-tale. But this supports something even larger, which is the book's pervasive symbolism.

The story communicates immense themes: mortality, identity, change--what it means to have limited time, to regret the past, to not know one's place in the world, to not be seen for who and what you truly are. This all hit very close to home to me. At the time I read this book, it connected intimately what what I was feeling and going through, making the journey deeply personal and uplifting.

There's a part that I remember vividly, which I read one day while at work. It touched me so viscerally I almost started blubbing at my workstation in front of everybody.
Here it is:

Molly ;___;
The line about the gentle young thieves especially, it does me in every time.

[Kinokokao]

[Trifkin]

I've never seen the movie.

I already want to read it again.

[Kinokokao]

I suddenly envy you, to be enjoying the book so purely!

[negzee]

Seemed appropriate.