Ex Libris Kirkland

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First Written 1968
Genre Fiction
Origin US
Publisher Ace
ISBN-10 0451450523
ISBN-13 978-0451450524
My Copy library paperback
First Read April 26, 2017

The Last Unicorn



This is well-known a as classic of fantasy(?) literature, but it's new to me. I remember I read the first bit back in college, but didn't get an accurate sense of its flavor, and gave it up.

But man: I see now. It's an incredibly deft combination of myth and old stories, combined with a sensitivity that allows him to take ancient, mythic elements (manticores, the binding of Fenris, etc) add new and particularly modern elements - like the Robin-hood wannabe who writes his own epic ballads, and waits to be discovered by an ethnographer field recordist. It's such a unique and well-done approach, my initial thought on reading it was "nobody can ever write a book like this again."

Noted on April 30, 2017


Ex Libris Kirkland is a super-self-absorbed reading journal made by Matt Kirkland. Copyright © 2001 - .
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