The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

The first time I read THE LAST UNICORN, I was still in elementary school. A lot of the bigger concepts were beyond me, but the core story was still accessible and I acted out so many scenes from this book with my My Little Ponies back in the day (specifically the scene when the red bull drives all the unicorns into the sea).

THE LAST UNICORN is a beautiful story that is both a gentle parody of fantasy and fairytales in general, and also a loving homage. It is the story of The Last Unicorn, in a world where magic is slowly fading and people are becoming jaded and superficial. When the unicorn discovers that she is the last, she goes on a journey to find out what happened to the rest of her kind, where numerous tragedies and hardships befall her, and she picks up some friends along the way.

This is one of the few examples of books where I think the movie is slightly better. I feel like the movie streamlines the book, and takes all of the core elements to make them flow seamlessly. But it also removes a lot of the funny jokes and ribald bits, and the part about the town of Hagsgate entirely, which I found interesting because it explains Lir's role in the story a little bit more. But the story is still so beautiful. The only other fantasy parodies that I have loved as much because they also stand on their own are Flight of Dragons and a new favorite, HOW TO SURVIVE THIS FAIRYTALE. All three stories have equal parts hope and melancholy, and manage to capture the darkness and beauty of the original folklore vibe.

If you haven't read THE LAST UNICORN, you should. I always cry at the scenes where Molly asks the unicorn why she came to her now, when she is "this" (old and no longer innocent) and the scene when the unicorn-turned-woman says that she can feel her body rotting all around her. This is a book that hits different as you get older, because when you're younger, you read it at face-value, with the wide-eyed awe that comes from any fairytale. But as an older adult, you are captured by the bitterness, and the longing for things that were but never will be again, and the knowledge that life is all the more precious and beautiful because it-- like all fairytales-- will one day come to an end.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful book. I love it so much.

5 out of 5 stars