Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

This is our discussion of the classic fantasy novel...

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
(1968)

Well, I've wanted to mention this since I read the summary: I'm going to be reading the Spanish translation, a language that, as a general rule, differentiates between masculine and femenine for nouns and adjectives.

This creates a somewhat awkward situation here, since the title was translated as "El Último Unicornio" (which is the male form) yet every other mention of it, as far as I can tell, is about a "unicornia" (which is the female form). Relevant? Maybe not, but I found it a strange choice nonetheless :P

Laura wrote: "Well, I've wanted to mention this since I read the summary: I'm going to be reading the Spanish translation, a language that, as a general rule, differentiates between masculine and femenine for nouns and adjectives.

This creates a somewhat awkward situation here, since the title was translated as "El Último Unicornio" (which is the male form) yet every other mention of it, as far as I can tell, is about a "unicornia""

Isn't the masculine form the general form?
El Unicornio means just unicorn but La Unicornia means female unicorn. So La Ultima Unicornia would mean the last female unicorn, meaning there could still be a few male ones.

Laura wrote: "the title was translated as "El Último Unicornio" (which is the male form) yet every other mention of it, as far as I can tell, is about a "unicornia" (which is the female form). Relevant? Maybe not, but I found it a strange choice nonetheless :P..."

I don't think it's relevant. The unicorn in question is female.

I thought it interesting that Beagle feels so strongly about his image of the unicorn that he leads right off with a description, making unicorns more resembling deer than horses. The description is reflected in the accompanying artwork as well as the movie designs.

But, he then goes on to have ordinary people confuse her with a mare.

I never would have picked this one up by myself, but I found this book to be entrancing. I finished it faster than anything I've picked up in the past year.

G33z3r wrote: "But, he then goes on to have ordinary people confuse he with a mare. "

Well if they couldn't see the horn, maybe the other aspects of being a unicorn got glamoured over as well. And you're more likely to come across a white mare than a white deer so one might make that assumption first (though just yesterday there was a quick news segment on a herd of white deers, very pretty).

I made sure to read 5 pages before going to bed last night after midnight, so far it's what I hoped it would be, magical. Also it didn't clash yet with the movie since I'll expect that to be jarring to me :)

Super excited to be reading this.

I'm starting today. This is one I've wanted to read for a long time so I'm glad to have an excuse to pick it up.

Whoops, I somehow managed to acquire the graphic novel version by accident! I might try and get the actual novel though.... Although I might keep it as a back up for the bingo challenge and alternative formats!

Andrea wrote: "I've read a couple of his books before, but because I near worshiped the movie as a kid I've always been wary of tackling the book. ..."

i think I mentioned earlier that Beagle wrote the screenplay for the movie, and even the dialog is taken from the book. The biggest difference is omissions, for time reasons. That, and when you read the book you don't have to listen to Mia Farrow & Jeff Bridges singing. :) I've got the DVD here, so I'll probably re-watch it after finishing the re-read.

Chapter 1 just introduces the Unicorn (no name; unicorns have no need of names :) A passing hunter introduces her to the idea that she's the last unicorn. A crazy butterfly reinforces the notion, and drops the name Red Bull, which was not a drink in 1968. (Or 1982 for the movie's fans.)

Chapter 2 introduces Mommy Fortuna's Midnight Circus. "Creatures of night, brought to light." (Like Andrea I've seen the movie a few times, and so always hear that in my head in Rukh's drone. The Carnival is mostly fake, designed for the rubes who want to believe.

I very much liked the spider, who also believed (wanted to believe the fake webbing Mommy Fortuna had added to the display was really the spider's own work. I love the spider's reaction when freed (doesn't want to go!) and reaction when the Carnival is destroyed.

Mommy Fortuna herself takes strange pride in her ability to hold a few genuinely enchanted creatures. Especially the Harpy.

Why is a raven like a writing desk? Lewis Carroll never told us the answer, either.

I like some the quips & curse Beagle uses. "A bad poet with dreams."

G33z3r wrote: "i think I mentioned earlier that Beagle wrote the screenplay for the movie, and even the dialog is taken from the book. The biggest difference is omissions, for time reasons. That, and when you read the book you don't have to listen to Mia Farrow & Jeff Bridges singing. :) I've got the DVD here, so I'll probably re-watch it after finishing the re-read."

I must have been misinformed as to there being big differences between the book and the movie, don't remember now where I heard that. Aside from some bits obviously cut out to save time (like Hagsgate) it's an extremely close match, even my favorite lines from the movie were clearly some of the best lines in the book too. I should have read this years ago!!

:) Although Schmendrick's love affair with the tree wasn't nearly as graphic as it was in the movie. I've got the movie on VHS and fortunately still have a player for it, so I'll also be doing a rewatch when I'm done.

G33z3r wrote: "I very much liked the spider, who also believed (wanted to believe the fake webbing Mommy Fortuna had added to the display was really the spider's own work. I love the spider's reaction when freed (doesn't want to go!) and reaction when the Carnival is destroyed."

That was so sad! The sound of a spider crying...

I'm halfway through now and just loving it, it's beautifully written. I read The Unicorn Sonata thinking this would be magical and lyrical but found it was like any other middle grade fantasy book.

But The Last Unicorn is a classic for a reason, it's everything a unicorn tale should be. He ensures the unicorn is not just a magical horse, or even anthropomorphic (i.e. thinks/acts human). It's an immortal magical beast and views the world in a very different way from the rest of us. And those characters that can see her for what she is, recognize that. For example they don't ride her even though it would get them where they are going faster, they barely even touch her.

Also interesting is that this isn't a "kid's" book in the sense that those books almost always have children as protagonists. The characters here are adult or even past their prime as Molly Grue points out to the unicorn. While I don't know Beagle's target audience, it gives the book a much more adult feel. Like Watership Down which I argue isn't a kids book at all, cute bunnies notwithstanding. The Last Unicorn has more humour in it, but also some really dark stuff like that Harpy...after all its core theme is regret, something kids are too young to really experience yet.

This book is also filled with references to other things which could be pulled apart the same way we did with Lonesome October. Just unraveling the butterfly's ramblings could probably fill an essay :)

I was just peeking at some people's reviews of the book on Goodreads and one person wrote this:

"it's funny how some (not all) good writers get closer to telling what life is like by taking a step in the seemingly opposite direction and telling a completely impossible story."

A lot of people mock fantasy as silly fluff for kids and SF as "for nerds", but you can tell truly human tales, and cover really serious issue in both SF and F. You can discuss drug addiction by having a wizard who is a magic addict (or in the case of Winterlands mentioned above, PTSD from demon possession). You can discuss racism through aliens. And you can discuss loss and regret and broken dreams through a unicorn.

I couldn't remember if I'd read this one before or not, I'm a big fan of The Last Unicorn movie, and I remember not wanting to read the book in case it somehow spoiled the movie for me. (I hadn't realized Beagle wrote the screenplay, & I could easily imagine there could be back stories or additional material that would make Molly or Schmendrick less sympathetic. Ultimately not an issue, since as G33z3r & Andrea note, it turns out the movie was a very faithful adaptation.)

Having come to the movie first, it was impossible for me not to picture the imagery/characters from the film version. I did wonder whether I would have found the unicorn very sympathetic if I hadn't already been won over by the movie -- her motivation for wanting to find the other unicorns is a little murky. I don't blame her for (view spoiler)[ not being too torn up over Mommy Fortuna's demise; it's to Schmendrick's credit that he feels bad (hide spoiler)] but there are several other points, esp. early on, where her reaction is basically "I don't care." I know she's supposed to be above human concerns, but she makes for a pretty cold protagonist at times.

I mostly liked the poems (Lir's song about the philanderer was fun, though tragic in its way) & humor (though I'm ambivalent about the blue jay interlude); I enjoyed the references to medieval & English lit.

Hillary wrote: " I did wonder whether I would have found the unicorn very sympathetic if I hadn't already been won over by the movie..."

I liked one exchange where Unicorn tells Schmendrick she can't make his a real magician. He responds I didn't think so. Don't worry about it. And the Unicorn replies "I'm not worried," a direct and innocent expression of her indifference to humans.

I allso loved Cully's sentries.

"We changed the password while you were gone."

and Giraffe calls. (If this wasn't the weird kind of book it is, one could ask how these guys would be familiar with giraffes.) "That's the genius of it!"

It's a shame they didn't make it into the movie.

G33z3r wrote: "I allso loved Cully's sentries.

and Giraffe calls..."

two long, one short

Something I love about this book is its sincerity and tonal consistency. I was really disappointed that The Princess Bride kept veering into sarcasm and meta for the sake of meta. The Last Unicorn is beautiful all the way through.

Here's a detailed video comparing the movie and book, made by a guy who liked them both less than I did:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOUb-...

The first time I heard about the last unicorn was because of the movie, I loved it since the beginning, I had to wait a lot of time to find the book, read it a few years back, I’m glad I have the opportunity to read it again, in barely into chapter three, and this time I’m finding something like a sadness in everything described, maybe more like a longing, that suits the story in general, but I think it’s a deeper feeling that I had the idea the last time I read it.

Andrea wrote: Like Watership Down which I argue isn't a kids book at all, cute bunnies notwithstanding.

The "bunnies" in Watership Down are not cute.

Marcia wrote: "Andrea wrote: Like Watership Down which I argue isn't a kids book at all, cute bunnies notwithstanding.

The "bunnies" in Watership Down are not cute."

Exactly, but everyone assumes they are. Also because there was an animated movie (violent and bloody as it was), it must be for kids because it's a cartoon right? I mean I did watch it as a kid and loved it, but I did find the several scenes to be very scary. Didn't stop me from watching it over and over again though...

Andrea wrote: "The characters here are adult or even past their prime as Molly Grue points out to the unicorn. ..."

Iksei wrote: " in barely into chapter three, and this time I’m finding something like a sadness in everything described, maybe more like a longing, that suits the story in general, but I think it’s a deeper feeling that I had the idea the last time I read it. ..."

I think that's true. Everyone we meet is disappointed in their life. Schmendrick wanted to be a great magician, not is a side-show hack (or clown to Haggard). Mommy Fortuna wanted fame, recognition for her accomplishments (however questionable those are). Molly wanted a fairy tale life – maid Marion or a Unicorn, either would do. Cully wanted to be Robin Hood but ended up a two-bit thief ("we rob the poor because they can't fight back, and we give to the rich so they leave us alone.") Haggard is so old and jaded that nothing gives him joy anymore. Lir wanted to be a hero to romance the Lady. These are all adult character who have found out life isn't a faery tale.

In the castle, Molly asks the four old guardsmen who are Haggard's only retainers why they stay. "It is our age. When you are old, anything that does not disturb you is a comfort."

Notice how not-linear the story is. It meanders around, none of this hitting plot points and having regular battles. This is a mature work, not for kids.

Brenda wrote: "Notice how not-linear the story is. It meanders around, none of this hitting plot points and having regular battles. This is a mature work, not for kids."

Yes, I was surprised that we cut right from meeting King Haggard in person to having lived in his castle for most of the winter. (I imagined maybe there were some episodes filling in that time that were cut from the screenplay for time.) But we don't need to see Molly cooking in the castle kitchen for the first time or witness all of Schmendrick's bad card tricks -- we get a taste of it and the sense that time has passed, and we skip right into descriptions of what that time has meant to the characters, esp. Amalthea/the Unicorn.

G33z3r wrote: In the castle, Molly asks the four old guardsmen who are Haggard's only retainers why they stay. "It is our age. When you are old, anything that does not disturb you is a comfort."

It’s a sad point of view, as the situation with Hagsgate, they have everything and every day a little more, but the fear of losing it don’t let them enjoy anything year after year, I’m discovering a lot of teachings that I didn’t realize when I read it when I was younger, definitely more than a kids story behind his words

The book is stuffed full of heart wrenching and humorous quotes.

“The true secret in being a hero lies in knowing the order of things. The swineherd cannot already be wed to the princess when he embarks on his adventures, nor can the boy knock on the witch's door when she is already away on vacation. The wicked uncle cannot be found out and foiled before he does something wicked. Things must happen when it is time for them to happen. Quests may not simply be abandoned; prophecies may not be left to rot like unpicked fruit; unicorns may go unrescued for a very long time, but not forever. The happy ending cannot come in the middle of the story.”

--> I like how throughout the book Schmendrick explains how the humans are essentially trapped in a fairy tale and have their roles to play, of the hero, the wizard, the maiden, even if the wizard is inept and the maiden isn't so much a maiden anymore. Only the unicorn could follow her own fate, at least until she became human herself and then was trapped but the rules of the story, becoming the princess for the hero to woo and rescue from the evil kind (I had to laugh at all the princesses that needing saving from evil uncles or trapped in towers or about to be devoured by dragons that Prince Lir had to save)


“I have been mortal, and some part of me is mortal yet. I am full of tears and hunger and the fear of death, although I cannot weep, and I want nothing, and I cannot die. I am not like the others now, for no unicorn was ever born who could regret, but I do. I regret.”


“As for you and your heart and the things you said and didn't say, she will remember them all when men are fairy tales in books written by rabbits.”


“The magician stood erect, menacing the attackers with demons, metamorphoses, paralyzing ailments, and secret judo holds. Molly picked up a rock.”


“Then what is magic for?" Prince Lír demanded wildly. "What use is wizardry if it cannot save a unicorn?" He gripped the magician's shoulder hard, to keep from falling.
Schmedrick did not turn his head. With a touch of sad mockery in his voice, he said, "That's what heroes are for.”

yes. . . such beautiful quotes. You got two of my favorites.

I've never read this before, seen the movie, nor have I been reading this topic so I didn't really know what to expect. I expected something good, though. I've heard it was 'g-g-great!' for years. I'm not finding it so. Half the time it reads like a Mel Brooks movie & the other half like a ponderous fairy tale. I think I'm about halfway through it.

Jim wrote: "I'm not finding it so. Half the time it reads like a Mel Brooks movie & the other half like a ponderous fairy tale. ..."

I think its supposed to convey a feeling charm and whimsy in its telling, a self-aware faery tale. Tonally I think its akin to Alice in Wonderland, as the references to Alice are intended to convey.

Obviously the prose has failed to grab you that way.

G33z3r wrote: "I think its supposed to convey a feeling charm and whimsy in its telling, a self-aware faery tale. Tonally I think its akin to Alice in Wonderland, as the references to Alice are intended to convey...."

That makes sense. No, it's not striking me that way. It's too uneven, almost jarring at times. I'm guessing that I'm just out of step with the humor. My funny bone often isn't in the same spot as most. I've never cared for a lot of popular humor (Douglas Adams, Monty Python, Seinfeld). I'm listening to the author read it & he's got a good voice, so I guess it's just me.

I asked my daughter later last night & was surprised to find she didn't like it either. I thought she had. Her older brother does. He & I generally have similar tastes in this area. Oh well.

I figure I've got BINGO options with this one: I wasn't sure one singing Butterfly would qualify, but with that plus one riddling Cat, I'm pretty comfortable listing this as "SF/F with Talking Animals." Then there's "Novel with Non-Human Protagonist."

Which brings me to ask ... (view spoiler)[
Is the Unicorn the protagonist of the story? Does the story start to shift toward the end to follow Lir? We do, after all, learn his origin story; he's the one baked into the prophecy; his consciously heroic self-sacrifice is the turning point in the show-down with the Red Bull; most of the denouement seems to focus on his reactions and future.

Are the Unicorn, Lir, Schmendrick, and Molly, our little band of heroes, all protagonists? It seems clear the Red Bull would not have been defeated without the contributions of Lir and Schmendrick.

Would the ending be any different without Molly? She's one of my favorite characters, but when the Red Bull appears, she has to be carried through the tunnels, and she advocates (out of compassion for Amalthea/the Unicorn) for walking away and leaving the unicorns unsaved. (hide spoiler)]

Hillary wrote: "I figure I've got BINGO options with this one: I wasn't sure one singing Butterfly would qualify, but with that plus one riddling Cat, I'm pretty comfortable listing this as "SF/F with Talking Anim..."

I think they all qualify as protagonists, but I almost feel like it's Schmendrick's story in some way. Maybe because he's always explaining the rules of the story to everyone else. Or maybe I'm just being human centric and picked up on the first human we encountered. After all his story starts even before the book does, and he only achieves his goal at the very end by turning the Lady Amalthea back into a unicorn. The unicorn just sort of gets pushed around by everyone else, other than setting out on the journey, she herself doesn't *do* all that much.

But I used Non-Human protagonist, after all without the unicorn nothing else would have happened, she's the catalyst for everything else. Just because the protagonist would have failed in her mission without the help of the other characters, she's still a protagonist. Harry Potter wouldn't have gotten far without his friends either, but, hey, the series is called Harry Potter and .... so it's obvious he's the protagonist :)

As for speaking animals, the cat talks, but only once or twice, so unless I had no other option for that BINGO slot, I would look for something else. The butterfly "talks" the unicorn, but doesn't mean he's speaking English, maybe unicorns just understand "butterfly babble" :) I doubt any human would have been able to speak with the butterfly. Technically, the unicorn could be considered a talking animal too though, she's still an animal even if magical (as opposed to an inanimate object, or alien, or ghost, or humanoid being like elves, that could talk but wouldn't be "animals" so wouldn't count).

Amazingly, it doesn't work as an award winner. For a book that often ends up in the top 10 best fantasy books, it never won anything!

The unicorn certainly had a character arc.

Andrea wrote: "I think they all qualify as protagonists, but I almost feel like it's Schmendrick's story in some way. Maybe because he's always explaining the rules of the story to everyone else. Or maybe I'm just being human centric and picked up on the first human we encountered."

Schmendrick is so interesting to me because the book seems to be giving him this great character arc, but I just don't see him changing much. His cocky-buffoon hiding a dash of worried bitterness and a big soft heart schtick seems pretty consistent. We know he's not entirely self-absorbed because he recognizes the Unicorn in the first place, and he shows glimpses of compassion throughout the book. Perhaps he earns his Magician status in part through his months of selfless service in Haggard's court -- but is that really much different from all the time he spent at the carnival? (You could argue he stayed with Mommy Fortuna because he didn't see any other options, while with Haggard he really was putting someone else's agenda first.) But even toward the end of the book & in battling the Red Bull, he seems to have the same approach & level of control. When the magic finally comes and obeys, it seems almost random: it's like, well, the stakes are high, it's time for a happy ending now.

In the special features on my Last Unicorn DVD, Peter Beagle says that Schmendrick finds his power when he's able to give up control. It seems to me, though, that Schmendrick is trying for control in the same way as he has in the past when he tries to transform Amalthea. During the battle, though, the book does describe a moment when Schmendrick is hopeless (he's certainly failed before, but he's failing again now, when it's life and death) -- perhaps it's that "rock bottom" of magic that jolts him out of himself and into the awareness of magic that enables him to claim his Magician mantle.

& I'm ambiguous about Molly & Schmendrick as a couple. I suppose I'm mildly more "for" than "against" ...

Even though I'm skeptical of a late addition to what seems a perfectly-sized story, it's enough to make me curious about the "Two Hearts" short story, which apparently revisits the characters at a much later time in their lives -- & which I think would qualify as an award-winner (Hugo).

I wonder if Mabruk shows up in any other stories...

Hillary wrote: "I'm ambiguous about Molly & Schmendrick as a couple. I suppose I'm mildly more "for" than "against" ...

Even though I'm skeptical of a late addition to what seems a perfectly-sized story, it's enough to make me curious about the "Two Hearts" short story, which apparently revisits the characters at a much later time in their lives -- & which I think would qualify as an award-winner (Hugo)."

Agreed, I'm not seeing those two as a couple. Friends yes, traveling companions yes, but lovers? Not so much.

I believe I planned Two Hearts for my award winning slot. I tried to go through unicorn books first when planning out my BINGO :) Might aim to read it this weekend, going to be FREEZING outside so might as well sit at the computer and read...

Hillary wrote: "In the special features on my Last Unicorn DVD, Peter Beagle says that Schmendrick finds his power when he's able to give up control"

Maybe it's like falling? If you try to control your fall your stiffen up and you'll hurt yourself, you need to relax. Maybe Beagle meant something like that, rather than just wave his hands in the air and let magic do whatever it wants. I mean what if instead of turning a unicorn into a human he turned the red bull green, or grew a flower in his hat, you still need to direct the magic as to what you want to achieve even if you don't control exactly how the magic does it :)

Maybe letting go would be like saying to magic "turn that unicorn into a human" rather that "ok, take the hooves and turn them into hands with fingers and feet with toes, remove the tail, etc" which was maybe what he was trying to do when "controlling" the magic? But you're right, in both the book and the movie we don't quite get a clear explanation as to why he only had random ability before, and now has consistent ability, even though he didn't really do anything different when he turned her back into a unicorn.

Hillary wrote: "Is the Unicorn the protagonist of the story?"

Interesting information - In my copy of The Last Unicorn: The Lost Journey Beagle wrote that Molly Grue is key to the story, that without Molly there's no story.

I thought that was interesting. See, here I was thinking the Unicorn wasn't in the fairy tale, as Schmendrick himself said, but then as Lady Amalthea she becomes the maiden/princess for the hero to rescue. But Molly doesn't have a "fairy tale role". She's not the wizard, the hero, the maiden, the villain. Molly is their glue, she's like the rest of us, just a regular human.

I'm a little bit late to the conversation - my new copy took ages to turn up. And the graphic novel version is a bit odd (and not half as good).
I enjoyed this book. I can see why people liken it to a fairytale and while it had that kind of vibe about it. It read more like poetry to me - the language was almost lyrical at times, and like poetry, it was pretty but I didn't always get the point. I'm sure there were layers and layers of meaning that just went straight over my head. Or perhaps it is more like Alice in Wonderland and the meaning is what you make of it. I was not at all surprised to see the authors bio notes say that he's also a poet.
Anyway, my favourite character was Molly - she just seemed less self-pitying and more active (despite managing to faint towards the end but what's a book without some drama?), she got on with doing things. I'm also skeptical about her and the magician as a couple, although I certainly thought that the author intended them to be a couple. Maybe a couple that comes together out of proximity and convenience, rather than love?
I did like the imagery of the unicorns when they finally were found. And I liked that while in unicorn form, the Unicorn was definitely and consistently otherworldly and did not conform to human niceties.

Cat wrote: "And the graphic novel version is a bit odd (and not half as good)."

Interesting to know. I was tempted to buy it but I might be able to get it through the library (not sure if they do inter-library loans, will ask next time I go) so maybe I'll do that instead.

Cat wrote: "I enjoyed this book. I can see why people liken it to a fairytale and while it had that kind of vibe about it. It read more like poetry to me

I was not at all surprised to see the authors bio notes say that he's also a poet."

A lot of classic fairy tales are written this lyrical way, it's why they all have a fairy-tale feel. Like someone is reciting them. Beagle is also a musician. He apparently wrote the first version over a summer where he and a friend rented a place in the country. He'd sit at the kitchen table and try to write (and generally failing, he didn't intend to write fantasy, he wanted something "serious" or literary like Hemingway but he couldn't get past the image of the unicorn in the woods) while his friend would go out and return with paintings of the surrounding landscapes.

Cat wrote: "I'm sure there were layers and layers of meaning that just went straight over my head."

Me too, and I'm sure people can read in layers that aren't there. In The Lost Journey even Beagle says he doesn't remember where all the quotes the butterfly recites came from.

Cat wrote: "Anyway, my favourite character was Molly"

I think she might be the only character that was a person, and not a kind of caricature to fill a fairy tale role. Beagle himself said there's no story without her, maybe because then it just devolves into a kind of fairy tale spoof without that piece of "reality" to anchor the rest? I'm not sure about the couple thing either, but I can see them become close traveling friends, neither of them perhaps looking for your standard relationship. After all neither of them is young anymore, not looking to start families, etc.

Andrea wrote: "Cat wrote: "Anyway, my favourite character was Molly"

I think she might be the only character that was a person, and not a kind of caricature to fill a fairy tale role. Beagle himself said there's no story without her, maybe because then it just devolves into a kind of fairy tale spoof without that piece of "reality" to anchor the rest? I'm not sure about the couple thing either, but I can see them become close traveling friends, neither of them perhaps looking for your standard relationship.

She does, endearingly I think, spring to Schmendrick's defense in the castle kitchen scene. He seems to have earned her loyalty in a way Cully hadn't. There's something to be said for the we-can-put-up-with-each-other as opposed to the puppy-love couple that I think can still be romantic. It's a slow build though, and the attraction goes unstated.

Speaking on things I learned from the DVD extras, I was really surprised to learn that in Beagle's first drafts for the book, it was more of an early urban fantasy, with the Unicorn travelling in our modern world!

Guess I should also have posted it here, this is what I wrote in the January Reading thread about reading The Lost Journey:

Was very interesting reading The Last Unicorn: The Lost Journey. It starts off exactly the same, but it's a depressed dragon that tells the unicorn about the rest of her kind going missing. Butterfly is still there, but instead of running into Schmendrick and Molly she runs into a demon and travels with him. Instead of wandering a fairy tale medieval world she's wandering a 1960's world with cars driving by and pollution in the air. I think Beagle did the right thing to move it all into a fairy tale setting rather than have it be a kind of urban fantasy satire.

Oh, no red bull either, the butterfly says that the "black road" covered all sign of the passage of the unicorns.

Note that the story is unfinished, we never do find out what happened to the unicorns. Was a bit disappointed, wanted to find out what the original King/castle/sea would be replaced with!

I don't know if I'd recommend buying The Lost Journey, for a ~100 page book it was nearly a full sized hardcover price, so you need to be a real fan, but it was definitely an interesting read so if you can get a copy I recommend just to see how very different it was. As Rothfuss (who is apparently a huge Last Unicorn fan) wrote: "It's like reading an early draft of The Lord of the Rings where Tom Bombadil shows up at Bilbo's door instead of Gandalf"

Also, I discovered that the artist who illustrated the book was the same one whose calendar I had hanging on my wall last year :)

Lost Journey is more for people who are interested in how writers write.

It's possible that it has no ending because he had written himself into a corner and couldn't go on.

I just finished The Last Unicorn and enjoyed it very much. I’ve never seen the film, which I suppose is good because I didn’t come with any expectations.

I think the lack of an obvious protagonist reflects the theme of story vs. real life. In real life, we are all the protagonists in our own life dramas, and who the hero. of a story is depends on who is looking at the story. When you’re making a transaction in a shop, you’re the protagonist, but to the shop clerk, they’re the protagonist.

This can be seen regarding the issue of love in the book, with Molly and Schmendrik acting as foils to Lir and Amalthea. Lir and Amalthea have a fairy tale love, where he finds her beautiful and falls in love with her because she is really a unicorn and therefore has to be the most beautiful woman in the world, but they can’t be together because her destiny is to be a unicorn and his is to be a hero.

Meanwhile, Molly and Schmendrik fall in love slowly over time as they get to know and learn to respect each other, and when Schmendrik finally sees her as the most beatiful woman in the world, it’s not because she actually is the most beautiful, but because that is how real life love works.

We can also see in Molly the idea of choice in real life that doesn’t exist in stories. Molly running off with Cully when she was younger seems like something from a fairy tale. However, Molly chooses to leave eventually. She has the power to choose her destiny and to change things when she isn’t happy. Lir and Amalthea don’t get to choose whether to stay together; the story they are in dictates what their futures are to be. (The scene toward the end where Schmendrik refuses to help the damsel in distress and sends him to Lir, the hero, instead, reiterates this in a humorous way.

Perhaps the bars that surround the unicorn when she is a the “zoo” represent being trapped in a story in this way. Even when she escapes the zoo, she never escapes the confines of the story that she is in.

Strange as it, I have the book but I can't remember if I read it or not... Because I saw the movie first, a long time ago, and not so long ago. And I can't dissociate scene from the movie from the book.

@G33z3r: about the description of the Unicorn, either in the book or the movie. I felt it strongly looks like the Unicorn in the tapestry "La dame à la licorne" which was the classical, mythological description.

Emmanuelle wrote: "And I can't dissociate scene from the movie from the book."

For the most part, they are exactly the same. Very little got changed when the book was turned into a screenplay, just a few things trimmed out (like all the Hagsgate stuff which as we can see from the movie, was easily trimmed with no loss to the overall storyline, though you lose the the point Beagle was making using that town as an example) so not surprising you can't differentiate between the two :)

Emmanuelle wrote: @G33z3r: about the description of the Unicorn, either in the book or the movie. I felt it strongly looks like the Unicorn in the tapestry "La dame à la licorne" which was the classical, mythological description.

More from the DVD extras (or maybe the 25th anniversary paperback introduction, can't remember): Beagle talks about visiting the Unicorn Tapestries at the Cloisters Museum as a kid.

This is my first time participating in one of the groups book discussions, so here it goes.

This is not the first time I've read The Last Unicorn and I have seen the movie several times. I never knew anything about the author or the behind the scenes stuff so I've enjoyed reading the other threads.

Yes, the story is a little dark at times, but aren't most fairytales in their original form? I think it's more of how a story leaves you and even though this has a sad ending it still leaves you with hope. You know Schmendrick and Molly are going to be okay because they achieved something that each longed for. Even if it didn't happen they way they expected, they are still grateful.

This is something I think Schmendrick tries to teach Prince Lir. Instead of being like some of the other characters and exploiting the dreams of others (Mommy Fortuna), pretending to live a dream they're not (Captain Cully), forgetting about the dream (pretty much everyone else), or destroying the dreams of others because he can't have his (King Haggard); Schmendrick shows the Lir his responsibilities but doesn't present them as drudgery. Lir is shown that his saving the unicorn saved the land and that he is a hero and no one can take that dream away from him. You have that hope that Lir will find his princess and be a better King than his adopted father and everything will be all right with the world because there are still unicorns in it.

Catherine wrote: "This is my first time participating in one of the groups book discussions, so here it goes.

This is not the first time I've read The Last Unicorn and I have seen the movie several times. I never ..."

I liked your summary of dreams and the different ways dreams are lost or maintained. It seems each character in this book had different to represent.

Catherine wrote: "This is my first time participating in one of the groups book discussions, so here it goes.

This is not the first time I've read The Last Unicorn and I have seen the movie several times. I never ..."

Funnily enough, I didn't find the ending particularly sad. I mean, the characters were sad because they weren't going to see their unicorn friend again... but the situation itself wasn't sad, it felt more like a real-life ending than a happily ever after. They'd mostly achieved what they set out to do, yet there was more work to do. They'd gained somethings and lost others. It wasn't all wrapped up with a bow on it. It was a bittersweet ending, and I liked that about it.

It's interesting - there are quite a few comments about how this is a fairytale-ish story then how it differentiates. Such as the lack of an obvious protagonist as Marcia pointed out. I find it interesting that we keep comparing it to a fairytale but then finding out all the ways that it's not. Is it really like a fairytale then? Is it just because of the style of writing that it seems fairytale-ish?

Well, it takes place in a location having no connection to ordinary lands and times, or even very much similarity -- that's fairy tale.

Catherine wrote: "You know Schmendrick and Molly are going to be okay because they achieved something that each longed for. ..."

A good point. I mentioned somewhere that all the characters seem unhappy or disappointed, but in the end the ones who prosper are those who pick up stakes and do something different (perhaps to try to change their lot, or maybe just for the same of difference.) Schmendrick leaves the carnival, and Molly leaves Cully & Co. (It seems Cully is the lucky one of those; most of the other characters who just continued to carry on ended up dead.)