Literature: The Last Unicorn
Last Sunday, I finished reading The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. I've read this book before (as I mentioned before I have a 1st ed. hardcover copy and a 1st ed. softcover copy). I will honestly say that this book gets better with ever reading. Although I loved the cartoon when I was a child, and still enjoy it, the book is much better. Awkward moments in the cartoon are much more natural in the book, and there is a depth to it...
This time around, I found myself wonder, "What form does the Red Bull have during the day?" One of the characters wondered this, and it got me thinking as I continued reading. Could the Red Bull be humanoid in form during the daylight hours, whether male or female? Haggard goes down to it's lair often, and there's no sense that Haggard has any interest in intimacy with any person, not even a past one. I also started thinking about Haggard's land, how it was the perfect reflection of it's king's depression and emptiness. Of course, this was touched on later, but with my melancholy of late, this just struck harder than I remembered.
But I also noticed that of all the characters, only one has a full name. Molly Grue. She's also the most grounded character in the story; a taste of earthy logic with a touch of hope and belief. It's when I grew older than I really felt the connection to her and I no longer wished to be more like the unicorn (or Lady Amalthea). All the other characters have titles or descriptions with their names, but only she seems to have a first and last name, without any frills. Schmendrick the Magician, King Haggard, Prince Lir, Rukh, Mommy Fortuna, Drinn, Lady Amalthea, Captain Cully, Jack Jingly... None have a full name revealed. It's like Molly enters the story to act as a window... like she never was fully part of that world while being thoroughly rooted there. She's also the only main character that is not given the chance to tell her story. She starts to a few times, but is cut off, so you only gather a little here and there, but you don't really have any idea where she's from or who she was beyond the character you meet initially. I really love her as a character. (I also love Schmendrick... but that's another story.)
Would I recommend this book. I completely plan to read it again and again, and one day to my child (children), just as I introduced my son to the cartoon. It is one of my top favorite books.
This time around, I found myself wonder, "What form does the Red Bull have during the day?" One of the characters wondered this, and it got me thinking as I continued reading. Could the Red Bull be humanoid in form during the daylight hours, whether male or female? Haggard goes down to it's lair often, and there's no sense that Haggard has any interest in intimacy with any person, not even a past one. I also started thinking about Haggard's land, how it was the perfect reflection of it's king's depression and emptiness. Of course, this was touched on later, but with my melancholy of late, this just struck harder than I remembered.
But I also noticed that of all the characters, only one has a full name. Molly Grue. She's also the most grounded character in the story; a taste of earthy logic with a touch of hope and belief. It's when I grew older than I really felt the connection to her and I no longer wished to be more like the unicorn (or Lady Amalthea). All the other characters have titles or descriptions with their names, but only she seems to have a first and last name, without any frills. Schmendrick the Magician, King Haggard, Prince Lir, Rukh, Mommy Fortuna, Drinn, Lady Amalthea, Captain Cully, Jack Jingly... None have a full name revealed. It's like Molly enters the story to act as a window... like she never was fully part of that world while being thoroughly rooted there. She's also the only main character that is not given the chance to tell her story. She starts to a few times, but is cut off, so you only gather a little here and there, but you don't really have any idea where she's from or who she was beyond the character you meet initially. I really love her as a character. (I also love Schmendrick... but that's another story.)
Would I recommend this book. I completely plan to read it again and again, and one day to my child (children), just as I introduced my son to the cartoon. It is one of my top favorite books.