Book Details:Genre: Fantasy
Page Count: 212
Publication Date: 1968
Why I read it: Beyond Reality group
Grade: B
Cover thoughts:
The cover to the left was not like the one on the book I read, but I liked it best. It's so pretty!
About the author:
Peter Soyer Beagle is an American fantasist and author of novels, nonfiction, and screenplays. He is also a talented guitarist and folk singer. He wrote his first novel, A Fine and Private Place , when he was only 19 years old. Today he is best known as the author of The Last Unicorn, which routinely polls as one of the top ten fantasy novels of all time, and at least two of his other books (A Fine and Private Place and I See By My Outfit) are considered modern classics.
The plot:
I can't believe that I've never read this before. It's about a unicorn who finds out she is the last of her kind. She sets off to find out what happened to the others. She meets up with a magician (who really can't do any magic) and a young woman who both help her on her way. This story is absolutely beautiful and magical and could be enjoyed by all ages.
Characters:
I'm having a hard time with this portion, because while I think the characters are very central to the story (the story is about the unicorn, after all), I really don't think the characters were that important. Is that weird? I just felt like the flow of the story, the poetic writing, and getting lost in the fairy tale were what it was all about.
Setting:
I didn't really get a good sense for the world in this story. There wasn't a whole lot of world-building, and even the kingdom of King Haggard that was described, I had a hard time picturing.
Notable quotes:
We are not always what we seem, and hardly ever what we dream.
Read this if you're in the mood for:
A classic fairy tale. It really is a sweet little story.
Continue or part ways?
I'm not sure if I would read more by this author or not. I really liked this one, but not in a way that I would run out and try to find other books by the author.
