The Last Unicorn
They only told me that it was the greatest fantasy novel ever written. As a Tolkien fan, I doubted this. But it wouldn’t hurt to read it, would it?
With this premise, I started seeking out a copy of Peter Beagle's The Last Unicorn. It proved hard to find in Metro Manila, and once found, also proved to be quite expensive. So I kept scouring second hand bookshops in my Finder-of-Lost-Treasures mode until by some wheel of fate, I managed to get my hand on a copy at 1/18th of its original price. I admit that while looking at the slim, worn-out volume, I had my doubts about its potential greatness. If it was truly as amazing as it is touted to be, how come someone out there decided to give it away and leave it to the fate of questing fantasy enthusiasts?
A number of other things also held me back. Even if I knew enough not to judge a book by its cover, a part of me wasn't enticed to read the book immediately. What's more is that when I tried to read the first five pages, my interest was only mildly hooked. At some point, I started to feel as if I was only trudging through it; I was going through the notions just so I could say I have read this so-called amazing novel. I blame it on my being jaded. I am 24 years old, overworked and underpaid. My only escape is reading, and when I invest my mind in it I want it to be worth it.
I'm glad I had the wisdom to put it down and save it for later reading. Maybe a part of me recognized the faint shimmering jewel hidden inside the book and warned me, albeit subconsciously, that this is a story I must digest - - not speed-read through while inside a crowded bus after a tiring day at work.
Finally, I was able to read it during a long weekend. To my amazement, I picked up the book and couldn't put it back down. From the solitude of my room, I was catapulted into a world where unicorns exist -- at least, one still does. This creature has lived through the centuries and has brought beauty to its home forest. She didn't know she was the last unicorn, but she knew something was amiss because she could not sense any other. Without unicorns, magic bleeds out of the world like water color and everything that is beautiful fades away with it. Not knowing cowardice or regret, she set out with the desire to find her kin and for other beings able to recognize her. For if they can still name her, then a little magic must have remained and it would be enough to guide her way. She learns that the other unicorns were captured by the Red Bull owned by King Haggard and she chose to seek them both. But before she could even begin her quest, she is captured by the Midnight Carnival and was put on display for a fee. Here she meets Schmendrick the Magician and the story picks up its speed.
From the darkest Carnival ever assembled in the middle of the forest, we follow the unicorn and Schmendrick to the edges of the trees, beyond the borders of the fertile land and into the charred, barren lands of Haggard's kingdom. We meet petty mayors and merry thieves, friendly townsfolk and greedy cursed men. I say we, because I was truly transported into this cunning, fascinating country where I could only follow the unicorn's path.
The story of The Last Unicorn is a story of a lot of astonishing things. Very few books, fantasy yarns especially, could be said to influence people’s lives. Yet reading through the book has re-taught me the value of purity of heart, honesty of intentions, wisdom and heroism. As the world grows more jaded, its tendency to sneer at fairytales also increases. Child’s grabble, they call it. But the story boldly claimed that only the fantastic and the mythical are ever real. People are just part of one long, winding fairy tale. We are all playing our parts as authored by the Unknown Hands who conjured us. We are only on earth for such a little time. Why not make the best out of it? Why do we seem to prefer to leave as much permanent damage as we can manage? We wage wars, we cut trees, we treat animals as negligible things, and we drink from Styrofoam cups only to throw them in mountains of trash. We wound the earth and we do not even notice that the magic has almost completely seeped away.
I wish I have read The Last Unicorn when I was younger. There are too many things I want to unlearn at my age now and maybe a great many things I wished I could have retained from what I originally knew as a kid. I knew that unicorns existed and that true love can perform miracles. I knew that I can do magic and it is only hidden deep inside me just waiting for the appropriate time to reveal itself. I knew there were good and bad, black and white. I avoided the grey areas because is drab and listless. Instead, I preferred true colors. If I read it earlier, I believe I could've distilled some better truth, some purer knowledge from the book. But then again, maybe this cut off feeling from anything magical is part of the enchantment. The book spurs me into action -- hold it! hold it! before the last stardust fades away.
I think I've just managed to catch a tail of it, and that's why the world shimmers a little happier, a bit brighter than it did yesterday. Just as the captured unicorns were set free and let loose into the land to bring back the magic, thus I summon magic back into my life as well.
With this premise, I started seeking out a copy of Peter Beagle's The Last Unicorn. It proved hard to find in Metro Manila, and once found, also proved to be quite expensive. So I kept scouring second hand bookshops in my Finder-of-Lost-Treasures mode until by some wheel of fate, I managed to get my hand on a copy at 1/18th of its original price. I admit that while looking at the slim, worn-out volume, I had my doubts about its potential greatness. If it was truly as amazing as it is touted to be, how come someone out there decided to give it away and leave it to the fate of questing fantasy enthusiasts?
A number of other things also held me back. Even if I knew enough not to judge a book by its cover, a part of me wasn't enticed to read the book immediately. What's more is that when I tried to read the first five pages, my interest was only mildly hooked. At some point, I started to feel as if I was only trudging through it; I was going through the notions just so I could say I have read this so-called amazing novel. I blame it on my being jaded. I am 24 years old, overworked and underpaid. My only escape is reading, and when I invest my mind in it I want it to be worth it.
I'm glad I had the wisdom to put it down and save it for later reading. Maybe a part of me recognized the faint shimmering jewel hidden inside the book and warned me, albeit subconsciously, that this is a story I must digest - - not speed-read through while inside a crowded bus after a tiring day at work.
Finally, I was able to read it during a long weekend. To my amazement, I picked up the book and couldn't put it back down. From the solitude of my room, I was catapulted into a world where unicorns exist -- at least, one still does. This creature has lived through the centuries and has brought beauty to its home forest. She didn't know she was the last unicorn, but she knew something was amiss because she could not sense any other. Without unicorns, magic bleeds out of the world like water color and everything that is beautiful fades away with it. Not knowing cowardice or regret, she set out with the desire to find her kin and for other beings able to recognize her. For if they can still name her, then a little magic must have remained and it would be enough to guide her way. She learns that the other unicorns were captured by the Red Bull owned by King Haggard and she chose to seek them both. But before she could even begin her quest, she is captured by the Midnight Carnival and was put on display for a fee. Here she meets Schmendrick the Magician and the story picks up its speed.
From the darkest Carnival ever assembled in the middle of the forest, we follow the unicorn and Schmendrick to the edges of the trees, beyond the borders of the fertile land and into the charred, barren lands of Haggard's kingdom. We meet petty mayors and merry thieves, friendly townsfolk and greedy cursed men. I say we, because I was truly transported into this cunning, fascinating country where I could only follow the unicorn's path.
The story of The Last Unicorn is a story of a lot of astonishing things. Very few books, fantasy yarns especially, could be said to influence people’s lives. Yet reading through the book has re-taught me the value of purity of heart, honesty of intentions, wisdom and heroism. As the world grows more jaded, its tendency to sneer at fairytales also increases. Child’s grabble, they call it. But the story boldly claimed that only the fantastic and the mythical are ever real. People are just part of one long, winding fairy tale. We are all playing our parts as authored by the Unknown Hands who conjured us. We are only on earth for such a little time. Why not make the best out of it? Why do we seem to prefer to leave as much permanent damage as we can manage? We wage wars, we cut trees, we treat animals as negligible things, and we drink from Styrofoam cups only to throw them in mountains of trash. We wound the earth and we do not even notice that the magic has almost completely seeped away.
I wish I have read The Last Unicorn when I was younger. There are too many things I want to unlearn at my age now and maybe a great many things I wished I could have retained from what I originally knew as a kid. I knew that unicorns existed and that true love can perform miracles. I knew that I can do magic and it is only hidden deep inside me just waiting for the appropriate time to reveal itself. I knew there were good and bad, black and white. I avoided the grey areas because is drab and listless. Instead, I preferred true colors. If I read it earlier, I believe I could've distilled some better truth, some purer knowledge from the book. But then again, maybe this cut off feeling from anything magical is part of the enchantment. The book spurs me into action -- hold it! hold it! before the last stardust fades away.
I think I've just managed to catch a tail of it, and that's why the world shimmers a little happier, a bit brighter than it did yesterday. Just as the captured unicorns were set free and let loose into the land to bring back the magic, thus I summon magic back into my life as well.
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