I have forgotten that men cannot see Unicorns. If men no longer know what they're looking at, there may be other unicorns in the world yet, unknown, and glad of it.
The Last Unicorn
In this sad day and age, when J.K. Rowling's interesting yet somewhat cliche Harry Potter series is carried on everyone's shoulders as the epitome of good fantasy writing, all the true classics are being huddled into dusty closets and buried under unwanted shoes. This blog is dedicated to a great fantasy story from my kiddie days. It's a fantastic story for little children as well as mundane adults who pish-posh all the magical creatures. Count of the usual suspects for a true classic - dabbles in satire, explores morality, tickles your imagination and nostalgically reminds you of that phase of delightful discovery in your childhood when everything was a mystery to be uncovered. The book is none other than The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. Articulate, funny and with enough sad bits to make the most macho man sniffle. I'm not going to spoil the story for potential readers so here is a summary of the story! A carefree unicorn finds out that she is the last of its kind in the whole world and so she sets off on a quest to discover the fate of the rest of her kind. It's a meandering journey where travelers she meet are very human in their make-up - self-absorbed, cynical, hopeful, self-enterprising, among other colorful human traits. The unicorn may seem uncaring but she is matter-of-fact in her views; albeit clinical but reasonable, choosing moral high ground but not apologetic about it. Two companions join her to aid in the quest. The unicorn might find the answers she is looking for; she has to defeat a magical creature that might just take her life or imprison her forever. If you think the summary is a bit vague, let me tell you that was on purpose. For any eager newbies, I am not going to spoil the adventure. Let's talk about the reasons why The Last Unicorn differs in quality from the Harry Potter bonanza.
Here are some noteworthy points from this classic novel:
Icing can make it pretty, only eggs can fix a base
Ahh the content, the egg that binds the cake! It may be a quest to fight evil but a far cry from the ordinary tales of a group of diverse beings banding together for the greater good. Far from it. This was a quest for self discovery for everyone involved; people wanting to know who they are, someone trying to be what they are not or people who destroys what they can never be. The amount of social comment is delightful - for example, the carnival owner has to give the unicorn a fake horn so spectators don't mistake her for a house i.e. people will only see what they want to see.
No need to leave your brain at home anymore
Not only is the content rich and thought provoking but the descriptions are almost poetic. The play on words, the riddles, the humor - every aspect acknowledges and appeals to the reader's intelligence. It is a relief to see a writer who doesn't treat his readers like empty vessels.
And for all of you Neanderthals out there, yes, there is an animated movie so you "don't have" to read to partake in this magical experience ... *mutter* philistines, the whole lot of you *mutter*... For the sake of all that is good in the world, please choose the latter remastered version as opposed to the original release. Repeat do not buy the animated version from amazon or wherever!
Explanations are in order and it is of great significance. True, the Last Unicorn animated movie released in 1982 was remarkable; it stayed true to the book, it's character and content. Why?
Not only was in based on the book, author Peter Beagle wrote the screenplay for it. Here's where it gets ugly. Granada Media has been distributing the animated versions, in all its glorious forms, and they haven't paid a cent of the sales to Peter S. Beagle. Scummy I know. However, Conlan Press now handles book sales for Beagle and they have just released a 25th Anniversary DVD for The Last Unicorn, where due proceeds ( more than half of each sale ) are handed over to Peter Beagle. If you want to buy The Last Unicorn DVD, I mean the Beagle friendly version, please click here.
To end the blog, how about a few quotes from the Last Unicorn book? Someone can play some uplifting music in the background - given the talk about Peter Beagle's rights, Eye of the Tiger should set the mood.
Quotes:
Amalthea: Who am I? Why am I here? What is it that I'm searching for in this strange place, day after day?
The Butterfly: "Death takes what man would keep and leaves what man would lose"
Schmendrick the Magician: "We are not always what we seem, and hardly ever what we dream."
The Skull: "When I was alive, I believed--as you do--that time was at least as real and solid as myself, and probably more so. I said 'one o'clock' as though I could see it, and 'Monday' as though I could find it on the map; and I let myself be hurried along from minute to minute, day to day, year to year, as though I were actually moving from one place to another. Like everyone else, I lived in a house bricked up with seconds and minutes, weekends and New Year's Days, and I never went outside until I died, because there was no other door. Now I know that I could have walked through the walls."
Mabruk the Wizard: "I always say perserverance is nine-tenths of any art--not that it's much help to be nine-tenths an artist, of course."
Sources:
Peter Beagle Official Site
Last Unicorn the book
Last Unicorn 25th anniversary DVD
Conlan Press
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