The Last Unicorn!

 Charming is the ideal word to describe Peter Beagle's classic The Last Unicorn. First published in 1968, story by Beagle's account is the continuation of a story he told as a young boy. Admittedly with a great deal more wit and social awareness.  Fantasy was a hot commodity in 1968 as Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings available in paperback and was inspiring imitators. The Last Unicorn is not one of those. I first bought the paperback in 1975 and read it then. I don't know that I've read it since. 

We are introduced to the last Unicorn of the title just as she is becoming aware of her singular status. Since unicorns live outside of time, being immortal, the fact that the numbers were dwindling was not of great moment. Nothing was or is exactly. Once realizing the possibility she might be the last she leaves the security of her protected and isolated wood and heads into an impossible world of fantasy and modern cultural reference. 

The characters in this story are aware of fairy tales and to greater and lesser degrees attempt to fit into these classic roles. Beagle punctures the texture of the world he creates with modern references just often enough to keep the reader from relaxing and treating the story in a classic fantasy way. Anyway, the Unicorn is captured by a traveling sideshow and shown off for what she is, though it takes a false horn to allow regular folks to see the myth. She meets a magician named Schmendrick, there who does recognize here helps her to escape though that is a dangerous thing as well. The Unicorn is not the only real mythical beast in the show and the other is downright dangerous. 

One of Beagle's stated inspirations for the novel is The Colt from Moon Mountain by Dorothy Lathrop from 1941 which put a unicorn in Kansas of all places. 

The Unicorn and the Magician meet up with a gang of bandits and out of that group they hook up with a woman named Molly Grue who also can see the Unicorn for what she is. They travel to castle of King Haggard, who it seems is the man who has used a magical Red Bull to gather and imprison all the unicorns. To keep the Unicorn from becoming his next victim Magician changes her into a woman he names  Alamathea. The trio end up in Haggard's castle and eventually do find their way to the lair of the Red Bull and discover the secret of the missing unicorns. 

I found the book surprisingly challenging to read this time. Some of that had to do with me not getting enough sleep, but also it is that the text demands your full attention. It's well worth the effort. Beagle has written a smattering of sequel short stories which have appeared here and there. For more on those check out this link. 

In 1982 the Rankin/Bass animation outfit joined forces with ITC Films to produce a perfectly fine adaptation of the novel. It's more geared for the younger set than is the novel, as nearly all the social commentary is removed. The core story remains and it's not unpleasant to watch. Although I did specifically have to watch something a bit tougher afterwards to get the some of the saccharin off. 

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