I finally re-read and get to write about one of my all time favourite books and story ever! I purposely picked The Last Unicorn for the July Book Club because its my fave AND it was my birthday in July as well. This story along with my love of horses from a young age is what made me fall in love with unicorns too. They're mysterious, magical, immortal and beautiful beyond compare. If you don't love unicorns, and/or dragons and other mythical beasts, then we cannot be friends. Sorry.
The Last Unicorn was written in 1968 and is one of the most famous classic fantasy novels ever written. Its up there with the likes of The Lord of the Rings, The Once and Future King, Earthsea and anything written by Patricia A. McKillip. It also has one of the most magical and endearing adaptations of all time as well. Most people actually know of The Last Unicorn because of the animated film and not because of the book.
Most of us in book club were already familiar with this book, but it was really nice to read it as adults and we all felt we got something different from it now that we're older than we did when we were kids or teens. We also all gave it high ratings; the average was 9/10 on our rating scale. This made me especially happy, because I cannot stop going on about how much I love this story. I also feel like I haven't read a book with an adaptation in a while, so I was really looking forward to watching the movie and writing about it along with the original text.
As a child or a young teen, I feel like most readers (or viewers of the film) would be more attached to the unicorn because she is the magical creature. But as older book clubbers we definitely felt we got more out of Schmendrick the Magician on this read through. I found I made more notes about his interactions, his speech, and his story. We discussed his growth throughout the story quite a bit. Like how he so badly wants to be a real magician that he is constantly giving up on it but also still chasing it, which is a very common adult behaviour, especially if things get hard. He has lots of ups and downs throughout the plot where as some of the other characters fall a little flat.
We also talked a lot about the underlying theme of greed and how many aspects of the book reflect the human condition. All the characters are greedy about their interactions with the unicorn; Schmendrick wants her to make him a real magician, even though he knows she cannot; Molly just wants to be with her as she is the salvation of Molly's youth; Prince Lír wants to love her and marry her; and King Haggard wants her because she is the last. There is a unique sense of longing that hangs over all the characters, even the unicorn. Carmen expressed it the terms of "everyone gets what they want in the end, but its not what they expected it to be."
Jane pointed out the human condition aspects which was very intriguing. I don't think this is overly spoilery if you haven't read the book or seen the movie, so I will list what she noted. The carnival reflects death and the natural fear humans have of it. Captain Cully and his band of freemen touch on the real vs illusion aspects of life, but also on the need for leaving a legacy which falls into the greed and desire theme. The town of Hagsgate's people all give up meaningful lives in fear of losing what they had. And King Haggard is never happy and is always searching for the next thing which is great analogy for today's consumer culture and constant quest for the next big thing. No one is happy with what they have, they always covet what others have that they don't.
Eventually the topic of the unicorn's immortality came up as well. Beagle did a good job of putting in subtleties about the immortal vs mortal viewpoints. The unicorn cannot fathom some the actions of the humans, and yet they also don't understand her non-reactions to them. A good example is when Molly Grue joins the story. The unicorn's understanding of mortals only develops as things happen to her. This aspect is very specifically touched upon during the one major event with the Red Bull, which is also the major plot point in the whole story. First hand experience comes into play. There is also a very key line near the end of the book when Molly is "wise enough to know that no mortal was ever meant to see all the unicorns in the world". This speaks to the limited capacity of human mortality in contrast with the immortality of unicorns. Something I never picked up on before, and thanks Jane for pointing it out.
Obviously I don't think I really need to say that I recommend this book, because clearly, I do.
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The Last Unicorn was adapted into an animated film in 1982 and it is absolutely brilliant. The music, the artwork, just all of it is MAGICAL. I also learned, much to my surprise because I never clued in on it before, that the screenplay was also done by Peter S. Beagle himself! The more you know! Also, coming back to the music quickly - it is all done by the band America, and it is absolutely key to the aesthetic and ambiance of the movie. And that is a hill I will die on if you want to try and fight me on it!
The voice acting in the film is also star-studded, but parts of it do fall flat. In particular, Jeff Bridges as Prince Lír and his song with the Lady Amalthea. That part is cringe-worthy. However, stand outs are Christopher Lee as King Haggard and René Auberjonois as the skeleton. The pirate-cat and the skeleton are some of the best parts of the movie, especially because the pirate cat was the best use of artistic license I have ever seen!
Parts of the book were left out, which is par for the course for many adaptations, but I didn't feel like the film was losing anything from that. If anything, the parts that were left out allowed the film to keep some more magic and mystery to it that those parts would have foreshadowed or explained. I appreciate that more about the film now when I look at it through my adaptation studies lens.
My favourite part of the film will always be the major plot point that I mentioned before. Mia Farrow delivers one of the most powerful lines in the whole film in such a heartbreaking and passionate way. I just... it gets me. Every. Time.
UP NEXT: For August, Jane was going back and forth between Brave New World and 1984. Eventually we voted and BNW won out! I am really intrigued by this book, but mostly because one of my other friends really hates it and I can't wait to figure out why. I have never read it before, so this is new to me.
