The Unicorn Sonata [Import] [Hardcover]

Peter S.; Rodriguez, Robert (illustrator) Beagle (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Atlanta, GA, U.S.A.: Turner Publishing, Incorporated; First edition. edition (1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0747219435
• ISBN-13: 978-0747219439
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,852,641 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A childhood morality tale that really delivers, May 27, 2000

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Unicorn Sonata (Hardcover)

I am aware of the tendency of fantasy writers to dwell upon the subject of voyages into fantastic otherworlds, which lead the characters to discover their inner strengths and weaknesses. Peter S. Beagle's "The Unicorn Sonata" is a case in point. Like any childhood fairy tale, it speaks of wonderful creatures like unicorns, satyrs, the division between the world of rigid adult control and the carnivalesque world of the child. What really makes the tale deliver is not the fact that Josephine "Joey" Rivera goes through another formulaic journey into a world parallel to the human world, but the identity of the saviour-child she assumes in the fantastic otherworld as she introduces her grandmother, a Mexican woman of her own superstitions, into the realm to heal the sick unicorns. The book, simple as it appears due to its illustrations and the dominant viewpoint of Josephine, is laden with symbolism that unravels bit by bit the need to be selfless and to look at the world around us for miracles. The result of this is a complicit faith in the innocence of the child, and her(or his) ability to change the world, regardless of age and status in society.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Last Unicorn for elementary school readers!, February 23, 2003

By 

"grograman" (US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Unicorn Sonata (Hardcover)

I am huge fan of Beagle's "The Last Unicorn," and finally have decided to check out some of his other works. This is the first one I grabbed off the shelf because it is also about unicorns. I was a little disappointed because the plot is very slow and not that interesting, and the dialogue is not very deep or memorable. It lacks most of the lyrical qualities of "The Last Unicorn" in both plot and style. However, I don't think this a bad book!!! Its just different, that's all. I'm sure that Beagle had a different audience in mind. If I were 10 or 12 I would be raving about this book for sure! Call it a "Last Unicorn" for elementary school readers. "The Last Unicorn" is a difficult book after all, full of beautiful poetry, deep characters, and detailed descriptions. Perhaps this is a good stepping stone for younger readers to use... and eventually discover "The Last Unicorn!"

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Music of Innocence, May 14, 2001

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Unicorn Sonata (Hardcover)

Thirteen year old Josephine (`Joey') Rivera helps out part time at John Papas' music store in return for lessons. When a young boy named Indigo walks into the store trying to sell a strange horn on which he can play wonderful haunting music Joey is entranced. While John Papas cannot play the instrument Joey finds that she can. But Indigo's price for the instrument is too high and Joey is left with only the memory of his song. Several nights later, after visiting Abuelita, her grandmother, Joey hears the music again and follows it. Suddenly she finds herself in a different world, Shei'rah, the home of the unicorns.

She meets Ko, a Satyr, who takes her to meet The Eldest, the nearly immortal unicorns, in an adventure we will never forget. Shei'rah is a world of beauty and danger, and The Eldest, at it's heart, are the music of that world. Gradually she learns their ways and of a blinding disease which is gradually destroying them. Traveling back and forth across the border between our world and Shei'rah, Joey seeks to help heal the Unicorns and bring their music back. "The Unicorn Sonata" is the story of her quest, told beautifully by Peter Beagle and illustrated by Robert Rodriguez.

Beagle is the author of "The Last Unicorn" and "A Fine and Private Place," which is on my all time favorites list. In the years since these novels Beagle has become a more youth oriented. While he has remained accessible to us adults, he aims his message where it will do the most good. This is especially true of the "The Unicorn Sonata," which is not really a coming of age story, but one of finding one's self.

Beagle has the ability to turn commonplaces into mysteries in his fiction and from those mysteries construct tales that reflect his abiding belief in human nature. The reader rediscovers the world through the eyes and ears of Joey and her friends. In her quest to heal the unicorns' vision she brings clarity to her own. She is stretched and tested, but never found wanting. Always, in the end, hope returns and we find healing.