The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
This book has been sitting on my TBR shelf since 1999. I've ignored it, shoved it to the end of the line, and given unread copies of it away. Now that I am done I realized I should have read it long ago. The Last Unicorn is a wonderful adventure. I feel like I can now count myself as a fan of fantasy literature. This book is a corner stone. Honestly, I feel like I should have read it with a book club, it lends itself toward conversation. Beagle knows how to develop a story and a character.
The absolute best part of this book was the self awareness of all of the characters that they were part of a fairy tale. Schmendrick, the magician, propels the story forward by knowing the structures of the myths. He has an understanding of how it is going to end. In a sense the end of the story isn't all that surprising. It is the journey that is the best part. It is also worth noting that Beagle creates intelligent female characters. They defy the stereotype in the classic fairy tale.
Walking away from this book, I highly recommend it. It would make a fantastic Spring Break read. The next week or two may be light on posting. I have created a mini-reading project around The Hunger Games premiere. I am going to reread Battle Royale and The Hunger Games. I also plan on watching both films*. My goal is to do a big compare and contrast of the books and the movies. Originally it was going to be one big post, but seeing that Battle Royale is over 500 pages I am going to separate the two.
* Cross your fingers I can get tickets to see Battle Royale on the big screen. The Alamo Draft House has several screenings, but the tickets have yet to go on sale. They tend to sell out quickly.
This book has been sitting on my TBR shelf since 1999. I've ignored it, shoved it to the end of the line, and given unread copies of it away. Now that I am done I realized I should have read it long ago. The Last Unicorn is a wonderful adventure. I feel like I can now count myself as a fan of fantasy literature. This book is a corner stone. Honestly, I feel like I should have read it with a book club, it lends itself toward conversation. Beagle knows how to develop a story and a character.
The absolute best part of this book was the self awareness of all of the characters that they were part of a fairy tale. Schmendrick, the magician, propels the story forward by knowing the structures of the myths. He has an understanding of how it is going to end. In a sense the end of the story isn't all that surprising. It is the journey that is the best part. It is also worth noting that Beagle creates intelligent female characters. They defy the stereotype in the classic fairy tale.
Walking away from this book, I highly recommend it. It would make a fantastic Spring Break read. The next week or two may be light on posting. I have created a mini-reading project around The Hunger Games premiere. I am going to reread Battle Royale and The Hunger Games. I also plan on watching both films*. My goal is to do a big compare and contrast of the books and the movies. Originally it was going to be one big post, but seeing that Battle Royale is over 500 pages I am going to separate the two.
* Cross your fingers I can get tickets to see Battle Royale on the big screen. The Alamo Draft House has several screenings, but the tickets have yet to go on sale. They tend to sell out quickly.
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