#108: The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
"Books aren't ramen" -Patrick Rothfuss
Hello readers,
My year of fantasy is in full swing! I started N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy last week and feel like an explorer in a new world. I’m hoping to read all three books this month and have those reviews out in March.
Today I want to share some thoughts on Peter Beagle’s The Last Unicorn. This was recommended by my friend Bob Andrews and also happens to be Patrick Rothfuss’s favorite book of all time.
I typically think of the fantasy genre as chonky, multi-volume series, but Beagle’s 1968 novel clocks in at a breezy 210 pages. It has made several “Greatest Fantasy of All Time” lists, including this recent one from Time magazine.1 Let’s get into it!
I read the Special Anniversary Edition pictured above, but I highly recommend the 2022 edition that has a new introduction by Patrick Rothfuss. It is one of the best introductions I’ve ever read! I highlighted most of it, including this gem:
Books aren’t ramen. You heard it here first. They’re dances. Or rather, you dance with the book. The two of you work in concert, and the story is the dance. It’s unique because you’re not just adding water, you’re adding yourself.2
I love those analogies. Each reading experience is a unique dance as you bring yourself into the story.
And what a story this was! The unicorn lives peacefully in her wooded home, but she’s alone and wants to find the rest of her kind. She leaves peace and comfort to embark on a quest where she encounters other magical creatures, magicians, maidens, kings and princes. Some are allies, others are enemies.
The unicorn’s journey takes her and her companions to the town of Hagsgate where a witch has cursed the people by tying their fate to that of horrible King Haggard who rules the land. As long as the king’s castle stands, the people of Hagsgate will prosper effortlessly. “Gardens and orchards spring up by themselves” and “all sorrow parts to go around.” A townsperson says, “For fifty years, none but he and we have prospered. It is as though all others had been cursed.”
But this witch was no slouch: All that bounty comes at a cost. Not only is the rest of the realm suffering, but the people of Hagsgate aren’t free to enjoy their riches. The witch stated in the curse that King Haggard’s tower will eventually fall to the sea and that a citizen of Hagsgate itself will cause it. Listen to this lament and tell me this isn’t the GOAT of all curses!
How can we delight in our good fortune when we know that it must end, and that one of us will end it? Every day makes us richer, and brings us one day nearer to our doom…for fifty years we have lived leanly, avoided attachments, untied all habits, readying ourselves for the sea. We have taken not a moment’s joy in our wealth—or in anything else—for joy is just one more thing to lose. Pity Hagsgate, strangers, for in all the wretched world there can be no town more unhappy.3
To top off the misery, they make sure to have no children. Why bear and raise those who could result in Hagsgate’s doom?
You’ll have to read the book to find out if they escape the curse and if the unicorn finds the rest of her kind. I enjoyed my dance with this story and I think you will too.
Until next week!
Kyle
Beagle, Peter S.: The Last Unicorn (p. xvii). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Beagle, Peter S. The Last Unicorn (p. 119). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
The curse on Hagsgate seems to lend itself nicely to Buddhist critique. Nonattachment, participate joyously in the suffering of the world, etc.
I’ve never heard of this book, but if Rothfuss loves it, it must be good. Super interesting how the curse hits everyone, even those who seemingly benefit from it. I’ll have to check this one out.