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El unicornio
Barcelona. 20 cm. 385 p., 1 h. Encuadernación en tapa blanda de editorial ilustrada. Colección 'Narrativa', numero coleccion(40). Mujica Lainez, Manuel 1910-1984. El unicornio. Novelas históricas .. Este libro es de segunda mano y tiene o puede tener marcas y señales de su anterior propietario. 8432071404
385 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1965
31 people are currently reading
1619 people want to read
About the author
Manuel Mujica Lainez
100 books117 followersManuel Bernabé Mújica Láinez fue un escritor, biógrafo, crítico de arte y periodista argentino.
En 1936, publicó Glosas castellanas, una serie de ensayos centrados en su mayor parte en el Quijote.
Tres años después, publicó Don Galaz de Buenos Aires. Le siguen las biografías de su antepasado Miguel Cané (padre), en 1942, más las de Hilario Ascasubi (Aniceto, el Gallo, 1943) y de Estanislao del Campo (Anastasio, el Pollo, 1947).
En 1949, publicó un libro de cuentos, Aquí vivieron, en torno a una quinta de San Isidro.
Su segundo libro de cuentos, Misteriosa Buenos Aires, se ambientó también en la capital de la Argentina y su historia desde la fundación, en la que mezcla personajes típicos ficticios con hechos y personajes reales.
Le siguieron una serie de libros sobre la sociedad porteña de su época, con un tinte que algunos consideraron decadente: Los ídolos, La casa, Los viajeros, Invitados en el Paraíso.
Con Bomarzo, inició un nuevo ciclo de obras eruditas y fantásticas en el género de la novela histórica. Es una historia sobre el Renacimiento italiano narrada por un muerto, Pier Francesco Orsini, el noble jorobado que dio nombre a los famosos y extravagantes jardines italianos de Bomarzo. En esta novela se asiste a la coronación de Carlos I de España, a la batalla de Lepanto, pasando por las poco edificantes costumbres de papas y personajes de la época y crímenes de copa y puñal.
La obra ha dado argumento a una ópera con música de Alberto Ginastera, cuyo libreto compuso el mismo Mujica Lainez. Se estrenó en Washington en 1967 y fue prohibida por la dictadura militar de Juan Carlos Onganía, por lo que en la Argentina no se estrenó hasta 1972.
El unicornio está ambientada en la Edad Media francesa de los trovadores. Su protagonista es el hada Melusina, víctima de una maldición por la que, todos los sábados, adopta cuerpo de serpiente y alas de murciélago; testigo de los avatares de la época de las Cruzadas, sigue las peripecias de su prole de Lusignan hasta la toma de Jerusalén por Saladino.
Le suceden Crónicas reales, y De milagros y melancolías.
Ya en La Cumbre, Córdoba, escribió Cecil, relato autobiográfico narrado por su perro, el wipet Cecil, y El laberinto, otra novela histórica protagonizada por "Ginés de Silva", el chico que, en la parte inferior del cuadro El entierro del Conde de Orgaz de El Greco sostiene un cirio encendido, mira al espectador y presenta la escena al espectador, en el que según algunos autores, estaría retratado Juan Manuel Theotocopuli, el hijo de El Greco.
Esta novela presenta la sociedad española en tiempos de Felipe II, su esplendor y su miseria, antes de que el protagonista partiera hacia América. Éste declara ser hijo de la La ilustre fregona cervantina, y sobrino del Caballero de la mano en el pecho, y con esos mimbres presentará a personajes que van desde Lope de Vega al Inca Garcilaso, pasando por Fray Martín de Porres o Juan Espera-en-Dios, el Judío Errante (que, de una forma u otra, aparece en todas las obras de la trilogía formada por Bomarzo, El unicornio y El escarabajo).
Otros libros son El viaje de los siete demonios, Sergio, Los cisnes, El brazalete, El Gran Teatro y Un novelista en el Museo del Prado.
Todavía publicó otra novela histórica, El escarabajo, sobre un anillo egipcio que es, a la vez, el narrador de la historia de todos sus posesores, desde la reina Nefertari hasta una millonaria estadounidense, pasando por la mano de uno de los asesinos de Julio César o la de Miguel Ángel, entre otros.
Sus libros han sido traducidos a más de quince idiomas.
Se le deben, además, traducciones de los Sonetos de William Shakespeare y de piezas de Racine, Molière y Marivaux.
En 1936, publicó Glosas castellanas, una serie de ensayos centrados en su mayor parte en el Quijote.
Tres años después, publicó Don Galaz de Buenos Aires. Le siguen las biografías de su antepasado Miguel Cané (padre), en 1942, más las de Hilario Ascasubi (Aniceto, el Gallo, 1943) y de Estanislao del Campo (Anastasio, el Pollo, 1947).
En 1949, publicó un libro de cuentos, Aquí vivieron, en torno a una quinta de San Isidro.
Su segundo libro de cuentos, Misteriosa Buenos Aires, se ambientó también en la capital de la Argentina y su historia desde la fundación, en la que mezcla personajes típicos ficticios con hechos y personajes reales.
Le siguieron una serie de libros sobre la sociedad porteña de su época, con un tinte que algunos consideraron decadente: Los ídolos, La casa, Los viajeros, Invitados en el Paraíso.
Con Bomarzo, inició un nuevo ciclo de obras eruditas y fantásticas en el género de la novela histórica. Es una historia sobre el Renacimiento italiano narrada por un muerto, Pier Francesco Orsini, el noble jorobado que dio nombre a los famosos y extravagantes jardines italianos de Bomarzo. En esta novela se asiste a la coronación de Carlos I de España, a la batalla de Lepanto, pasando por las poco edificantes costumbres de papas y personajes de la época y crímenes de copa y puñal.
La obra ha dado argumento a una ópera con música de Alberto Ginastera, cuyo libreto compuso el mismo Mujica Lainez. Se estrenó en Washington en 1967 y fue prohibida por la dictadura militar de Juan Carlos Onganía, por lo que en la Argentina no se estrenó hasta 1972.
El unicornio está ambientada en la Edad Media francesa de los trovadores. Su protagonista es el hada Melusina, víctima de una maldición por la que, todos los sábados, adopta cuerpo de serpiente y alas de murciélago; testigo de los avatares de la época de las Cruzadas, sigue las peripecias de su prole de Lusignan hasta la toma de Jerusalén por Saladino.
Le suceden Crónicas reales, y De milagros y melancolías.
Ya en La Cumbre, Córdoba, escribió Cecil, relato autobiográfico narrado por su perro, el wipet Cecil, y El laberinto, otra novela histórica protagonizada por "Ginés de Silva", el chico que, en la parte inferior del cuadro El entierro del Conde de Orgaz de El Greco sostiene un cirio encendido, mira al espectador y presenta la escena al espectador, en el que según algunos autores, estaría retratado Juan Manuel Theotocopuli, el hijo de El Greco.
Esta novela presenta la sociedad española en tiempos de Felipe II, su esplendor y su miseria, antes de que el protagonista partiera hacia América. Éste declara ser hijo de la La ilustre fregona cervantina, y sobrino del Caballero de la mano en el pecho, y con esos mimbres presentará a personajes que van desde Lope de Vega al Inca Garcilaso, pasando por Fray Martín de Porres o Juan Espera-en-Dios, el Judío Errante (que, de una forma u otra, aparece en todas las obras de la trilogía formada por Bomarzo, El unicornio y El escarabajo).
Otros libros son El viaje de los siete demonios, Sergio, Los cisnes, El brazalete, El Gran Teatro y Un novelista en el Museo del Prado.
Todavía publicó otra novela histórica, El escarabajo, sobre un anillo egipcio que es, a la vez, el narrador de la historia de todos sus posesores, desde la reina Nefertari hasta una millonaria estadounidense, pasando por la mano de uno de los asesinos de Julio César o la de Miguel Ángel, entre otros.
Sus libros han sido traducidos a más de quince idiomas.
Se le deben, además, traducciones de los Sonetos de William Shakespeare y de piezas de Racine, Molière y Marivaux.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
June 2, 2024
“The Wandering Unicorn is not a reconstruction of time past; it is like a glowing dream set in the past.” Jorge Luis Borges
This definition of the tale is precise and the novel is a true poetical and ironic wonder…
The immortal fairy Melusine is a magnificent raconteur… And she tells a story of her life… Her fairy story…
Middle ages… The time of crusades… The time of courageous knights and valour…
Then one night the Knight of the Unicorn arrives…
Incorporeal and invisible, under her mother’s curse, she secretly joins the troupe of minstrels and witnesses the reunion of the father and his son… She follows them into an inn…
Cleverly blending historical facts and fantasy Manuel Mujica Lainez creates a fanciful narrative cocktail – an inebriating tale of chivalry, piety, adventure and romance…
The eternal battle of good and evil never stops even for an instant.
This definition of the tale is precise and the novel is a true poetical and ironic wonder…
The immortal fairy Melusine is a magnificent raconteur… And she tells a story of her life… Her fairy story…
The scarcely comprehensible discoveries multiply around fairies and shake a world that is not theirs any more, that slips through their immaterial fingers. And so it goes on – all sorts and conditions of fairies, whispering together, purring to themselves, unnoticed on the impercipient earth. And I am one of them.
Middle ages… The time of crusades… The time of courageous knights and valour…
In the year I am talking about, 1174, an angel was living in the main tower of the castle; he had, I think, made it a permanent home.
Then one night the Knight of the Unicorn arrives…
I had seen such needy, well-born paladins before but this one, perhaps because of his age and gravity, was somehow different. Also, the lance fixed in his stirrup was not the usual pole of ash, but a unicorn’s horn: a unicorn’s horn nearly seven feet in length, like that the King of Persia sent to Charlemagne a weapon princes might have envied, and quite different from the rest of the meagre harness.
Incorporeal and invisible, under her mother’s curse, she secretly joins the troupe of minstrels and witnesses the reunion of the father and his son… She follows them into an inn…
Cleverly blending historical facts and fantasy Manuel Mujica Lainez creates a fanciful narrative cocktail – an inebriating tale of chivalry, piety, adventure and romance…
The Devil meddled everywhere, as I have said. Could he have been here? What angered me most, and angers me still, was the failure of my fairy powers, which should have warned me of anything supernatural. The supernatural was my domain – I had studied it, graduated in it – but now I detected nothing.
The eternal battle of good and evil never stops even for an instant.
March 9, 2016
I'd seen this book highly recommended for fans of Tolkien, so I picked it up. I'm not sure where that recommendation came from, because I didn't see any similarity in the writing style or themes. The writing style was particularly stilted; perhaps because it was translated from the Spanish, and I simply didn't find it particularly enjoyable.
Inspired by mythology, but without a 'mythic' feel to the story, the book briefly outlines the story of the fairy Melusine,who took human form to love a man, but was cursed to be rejected when her lover came upon her in her true, monstrous form, in her bath. The largest part of the book follows the incorporeal spirit of Melusine as she follows around a young knight in the Crusades, her descendant, that she is obsessed with. Although at one point she tries to take human form to
be with him (it doesn't work out, as she ends up in a male body, and the knight isn't gay), this places the bulk of the narrative at a remove, actions being described by an intangible observer, which is distancing.
Inspired by mythology, but without a 'mythic' feel to the story, the book briefly outlines the story of the fairy Melusine,who took human form to love a man, but was cursed to be rejected when her lover came upon her in her true, monstrous form, in her bath. The largest part of the book follows the incorporeal spirit of Melusine as she follows around a young knight in the Crusades, her descendant, that she is obsessed with. Although at one point she tries to take human form to
be with him (it doesn't work out, as she ends up in a male body, and the knight isn't gay), this places the bulk of the narrative at a remove, actions being described by an intangible observer, which is distancing.
July 4, 2021
There is so, so, so much telling in this book. And all the women are sex starved. Writing is good, but yeah the story doesn't grab. And I love the story of Melunsine.
April 12, 2012
I did love this tale, and in particular for the unconventional ending. About which I'll promptly shut up.
February 9, 2019
El Unicornio es una novela histórica con tintes de fantasía medieval (al estilo de Bomarzo, otra de sus novelas, que transcurre en el Renacimiento). Mujica Láinez nos lleva del reino de Lussignan, en Francia, a medio oriente, y en especial a Jerusalén, para arrojarnos en medio de las Cruzadas, de las sangrientas batallas contra Saladino, de las intrigas con respecto a la sucesión del "rey leproso" Baudoin IV, y de esa mezcla extraña de devoción religiosa y superstición mágica que da forma a la mentalidad medieval.
Lo más interesante es el narrador que elige Mujica Láinez: nada menos que un hada. Melusina, maldecida por su madre con una cola de serpiente y alas de murciélago, y con la vida eterna, está condenada a observar cómo sus descendientes de la casa de Lussignan transitan y abandonan la vida. Cuando se enamora perdidamente y sin esperanza alguna de Aiol de Lussignan, un noble y bello caballero de su estirpe, decide seguirlo a Jerusalén y así se convierte en nuestra cronista de los hechos históricos y de su propio amor desventurado. Como le dice Oberón, rey de las hadas, quien también ama en vano: "Estamos condenados a la soledad, a arder como lámparas solas. Pero una lámpara que aislada derrocha su materia y se consume, da luz y da calor. En ello consiste nuestra misión difícil. Es lógico que padezcamos y que a menudo nos rebelemos contra la injusticia cruel de una situación desigual que no hemos seleccionado, y es lógico, asimismo, que a veces nos falten las fuerzas para seguir con tan desproporcionada y disparatada locura, mas nuestro acicate se cifra, creo yo, precisamente en la iniquidad tirana que nos aflige y nos reduce a la amargura de víctimas inocentes. Todo amor verdadero es puro. Tu amor y el mío lo son y basta eso para redimirlos y exaltarlos, pese a cualquier torpe crítica e hipócrita convención. Tendrás que resignarte, Melusina, a dar calor y luz. Y esperar."
Me encantó la novela y la pluma de Mujica Láinez es magistral.
Lo más interesante es el narrador que elige Mujica Láinez: nada menos que un hada. Melusina, maldecida por su madre con una cola de serpiente y alas de murciélago, y con la vida eterna, está condenada a observar cómo sus descendientes de la casa de Lussignan transitan y abandonan la vida. Cuando se enamora perdidamente y sin esperanza alguna de Aiol de Lussignan, un noble y bello caballero de su estirpe, decide seguirlo a Jerusalén y así se convierte en nuestra cronista de los hechos históricos y de su propio amor desventurado. Como le dice Oberón, rey de las hadas, quien también ama en vano: "Estamos condenados a la soledad, a arder como lámparas solas. Pero una lámpara que aislada derrocha su materia y se consume, da luz y da calor. En ello consiste nuestra misión difícil. Es lógico que padezcamos y que a menudo nos rebelemos contra la injusticia cruel de una situación desigual que no hemos seleccionado, y es lógico, asimismo, que a veces nos falten las fuerzas para seguir con tan desproporcionada y disparatada locura, mas nuestro acicate se cifra, creo yo, precisamente en la iniquidad tirana que nos aflige y nos reduce a la amargura de víctimas inocentes. Todo amor verdadero es puro. Tu amor y el mío lo son y basta eso para redimirlos y exaltarlos, pese a cualquier torpe crítica e hipócrita convención. Tendrás que resignarte, Melusina, a dar calor y luz. Y esperar."
Me encantó la novela y la pluma de Mujica Láinez es magistral.
August 30, 2025
really quite remarkable novel-as-medieval-romance from this argentinian writer whose other book bomarzo is being reissued by nyrb shortly. like a lot of my favourite 'historical' novels this is very concerned with the past as another country - the middle ages as a time of a different mentality, hard to really conceptualise or understand from the view of modernity. it's also, and the erotic children's book illustration that my edition has on the cover was perhaps a hint, very concerned with sex, sexuality and unrequited love, there is also some surprisingly modern takes on gender and body dysmorphia, which i suppose is bound to happened when an extremely heterosexual female fairy is incarnated into a young male body. aficionados of tourneys and crusader armies being annihilated by my boy saladin will also find plenty to enjoy here.
April 15, 2014
I've been struggling with this book for months. I don't know why -perhaps in that it was just barely readable enough. Perhaps part of me held out hope that it would pick up at the end. Perhaps I just wanted to know what happened?
But no, the real reason I read this book is to get ideas on how *not* to write. This book was such a clear example of crippling passive voice and excessive foreshadowing that I had to keep going - just to satisfy that little budding author voice inside of me that was crying out "Oh, I see! Don't do that or the reader is going to be disappointed. And oh! This would have had much more impact in active voice!" My inner author got plenty out of this novel, but the part of me that desired escapism and a good story was battering down the doors to get out!
Here is what frustrated me about this book:
Major action often took place off-screen. Huge battles were only described by their aftermath or not described at all. Deaths of major characters are mentioned almost as an afterthought. An example - one character discovers his sibling dead after only just being re-united with them. This is announced by the passage 'the next day she was dead' and goes on to describe the surviving sibling's depression, but not one word is spoken about the discovery of the body or what happened when they found out she was dead. Surely a dramatic moment, but it is not even touched.
Almost every major event is so heavily foreshadowed it has absolutely no suprise, and I was begging for major characters to just hurry up and die, as if it was the opposite of Game of Thrones.
The passive voice everywhere! Maybe it was an issue with the translation, but is seems the majority of the book it written in the most passive voice imaginable.
The narrator also blabbers. Melusine wanders off into philosophical musings and the personal histories of irrelevant characters at every opportunity. Even at the climax of the book she wanders off into self-indulgence yet again, forcing me to skim entire pages or abandon the book entirely in frustration.
I did not know until I finished the book that it was a translation. I try to read books without knowing too much about them or it can skew your expectations. Perhaps I would have been more forgiving had I known that it was not originally written in English, but at the end I found this book very unsatisfying in almost every respect instead of it's lessons to the writer in what not to do.
But no, the real reason I read this book is to get ideas on how *not* to write. This book was such a clear example of crippling passive voice and excessive foreshadowing that I had to keep going - just to satisfy that little budding author voice inside of me that was crying out "Oh, I see! Don't do that or the reader is going to be disappointed. And oh! This would have had much more impact in active voice!" My inner author got plenty out of this novel, but the part of me that desired escapism and a good story was battering down the doors to get out!
Here is what frustrated me about this book:
Major action often took place off-screen. Huge battles were only described by their aftermath or not described at all. Deaths of major characters are mentioned almost as an afterthought. An example - one character discovers his sibling dead after only just being re-united with them. This is announced by the passage 'the next day she was dead' and goes on to describe the surviving sibling's depression, but not one word is spoken about the discovery of the body or what happened when they found out she was dead. Surely a dramatic moment, but it is not even touched.
Almost every major event is so heavily foreshadowed it has absolutely no suprise, and I was begging for major characters to just hurry up and die, as if it was the opposite of Game of Thrones.
The passive voice everywhere! Maybe it was an issue with the translation, but is seems the majority of the book it written in the most passive voice imaginable.
The narrator also blabbers. Melusine wanders off into philosophical musings and the personal histories of irrelevant characters at every opportunity. Even at the climax of the book she wanders off into self-indulgence yet again, forcing me to skim entire pages or abandon the book entirely in frustration.
I did not know until I finished the book that it was a translation. I try to read books without knowing too much about them or it can skew your expectations. Perhaps I would have been more forgiving had I known that it was not originally written in English, but at the end I found this book very unsatisfying in almost every respect instead of it's lessons to the writer in what not to do.
February 9, 2009
En cierto sentido, Mújica Lainez es una de las joyas ocultas de la literatura latinoamericana. Quizás eso se deba a que su estilo no fue tan abiertamente experimental como el de Borges o por qué su temática no fue particularmente "latinoamericana", a lo García Márquez. Sin embargo, en sus obras, su prosa delicada se ven combinadas con una gran erudición. Una de los leitmotifs centrales de su obra es la recreación minuciosa del pasado. En el caso de "El unicornio", Mújica Lainez recrea y expande la leyenda medieval del hada Melusina. A través de su prosa, su personaje central no sólo se vuelve (literalmente) un ser de carne y hueso, sino que se vuelve nuestra guía en una Edad Media en incontenible ebullición, plena de caballeros andantes (manteniendo un precario equilibrio entre sus ideales caballerescos y la cruda realidad que los rodea), un mundo poblado de visiones místicas y realpolitik, de seres angelicales y féericos, de leyendas vueltas realidad y de realidades de proporciones épicas. La recreación del mundo medieval no se consigue sólo a través de las descripciones minuciosas, sino por la recreación del "world picture" de los personajes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 21, 2012
Es la mismísma hada Melusina quien nos relata esta historia. Melusina, la condenada a vivir por la eternidad (y para completar la desgracia, a hacerlo con la mitad de su cuerpo convertido en serpiente) habitando invisible, por los siglos de los siglos, el campanario del Castillo Lusignan, desgarrándose en gritos y lamentos cada vez que alguno de sus nobles descendientes emprende su viaje final. Melusina nos traslada con sus recuerdos a una época pasada, en la que los hombres creían en el Honor y en el Poder de la Magia y se sabían en compañía diaria de ángeles y de demonios. Y de unicornios con cuernos mágicos. Y de hadas como Melusina, que nos relatará su triste historia y la de un descendiente de su real estirpe, el hermosísimo Aiol de Lusignan.
Una novela completa y compleja de Manuel Mujica Lainez, plagada de descripciones detalladas y referencias mitológicas e históricas. Al menos en lo personal, no me ha resultado nada sencilla su lectura pero si enormemente satisfactoria.
Una novela completa y compleja de Manuel Mujica Lainez, plagada de descripciones detalladas y referencias mitológicas e históricas. Al menos en lo personal, no me ha resultado nada sencilla su lectura pero si enormemente satisfactoria.
June 11, 2020
El unicornio es una mezcla genial entre novela histórica y fantástica, que recoge la esencia del imaginario medieval con todo el catálogo de tópicos y no tan tópicos históricos y legendarios. Lo que más adictivo me ha parecido es la ironía y ternura que contiene. La novela la construye a partir de un romance del siglo XV de Jean de Arrás, en la que el hada Melusina se emparenta con los Lusignan, una noble estirpe de Aquitana que fue protagonista de la caída del reino cruzado de Jersusalén. Lo mollar de la trama es la historia de un amor imposible y como tal acaba como acaba porque entre un hada y un mundano caballero no puede ser de otra forma. Además de en el romance del hada Melusina, la novela se inspira en otros más y en varios mitos y leyendas medievales. Los elementos mágicos se dan a lo largo de toda la novela, pero más en la primera mitad de ésta. En los últimos capítulos la acción se traslada al reino cristiano de Jersusalén y en estos sí tiene más peso la componente histórica: en ellos se describen los momentos previos a su caída, las intrigas y luchas por el poder entre las distinta facciones cristianas.
August 8, 2013
The beautiful fairy, Melusine herself, states tartly: "It's a fairy's life, a fairy story. Anyone who doesn't believe in fairies had better shut these pages here and now and throw them into the wastepaper basket, or cut them up to line his bookshelves... he will miss some extremely interesting things... perhaps the stupidest [way of being poor in spirit] is to say no to the hidden relish that gives life its magic."
She is confined in a tower and begins her life's story...
She angers her mother and is cursed. After the death of her husband, she heads for the 3rd Crusade with a travelling player, Aiol. Aiol is her descendant. They obtain a magical unicorn's horn. After that, she thinks to entitle her memoirs "Wandering Unicorn." Aiol wishes to find the Holy Lance [which pierced Christ's side.] They arrive at the Crusade and become friends with Baldwin IV, the Leper-King. Melusine's mother gives her a human body--that of a youth. Melusine and Aiol become knights and fight Saladin with the other Crusaders. Does Aiol find the Holy Lance? The ending of the story is quite unexpected.
This was a clever take on this legend. But I didn't like Melusine much; she was a name-dropper; I got lost in all those names, despite a Guide to Kings of Jerusalem--and their relatives. I finally tried to skim them and just concentrate on the story. She was also verbose, a complainer, and a real yenta.
It was confusing how the story kept switching from different time periods, mostly in different parts of the Middle Ages, but sometimes in present-day, with references to Proust, Freud, and cars. I felt there was much repetition and the book could have been tighter. Sometimes it was a slog to read, but other times enjoyable. I enjoyed the lore of unicorns and Melusine's telling us the Oberon and Huon of Bordeaux story, a medieval tale.
All in all, recommended for fantasy-lovers and for those who love retellings.
She is confined in a tower and begins her life's story...
She angers her mother and is cursed. After the death of her husband, she heads for the 3rd Crusade with a travelling player, Aiol. Aiol is her descendant. They obtain a magical unicorn's horn. After that, she thinks to entitle her memoirs "Wandering Unicorn." Aiol wishes to find the Holy Lance [which pierced Christ's side.] They arrive at the Crusade and become friends with Baldwin IV, the Leper-King. Melusine's mother gives her a human body--that of a youth. Melusine and Aiol become knights and fight Saladin with the other Crusaders. Does Aiol find the Holy Lance? The ending of the story is quite unexpected.
This was a clever take on this legend. But I didn't like Melusine much; she was a name-dropper; I got lost in all those names, despite a Guide to Kings of Jerusalem--and their relatives. I finally tried to skim them and just concentrate on the story. She was also verbose, a complainer, and a real yenta.
It was confusing how the story kept switching from different time periods, mostly in different parts of the Middle Ages, but sometimes in present-day, with references to Proust, Freud, and cars. I felt there was much repetition and the book could have been tighter. Sometimes it was a slog to read, but other times enjoyable. I enjoyed the lore of unicorns and Melusine's telling us the Oberon and Huon of Bordeaux story, a medieval tale.
All in all, recommended for fantasy-lovers and for those who love retellings.
March 19, 2023
The Wandering Unicorn, as Jorge Luis Borges observes in his foreword, is more than anything a pleasure to read. It is neither a conventional fairy tale nor a pure work of historical fiction, but convincingly and wittily combines elements of each. Mujica Lainez's well-researched attention to the vicissitudes of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and its various historical notables gets a little tiresome in the latter half of the book, at least for those of us who are impatient to see what happens to his fictional characters, but the freshness of the narrative voice is a delight throughout.
May 27, 2022
I was excited to read this book but I just couldn’t get into it. Maybe something was lost in translation, maybe the story just wasn’t for me. I found it dull and I couldn’t really engage with the characters.
I was disappointed
I was disappointed
February 3, 2016
In his utterly charming novel The Wandering Unicorn (1965) the Argentinian author Manuel Mujica Lainez (1910-64) develops the legend of Melusine.
Set in medieval France and the holy Land of the Crusades, Lainez 19s novel is a rich serving of fantasy and romance. Narrated from the perspective of the shape-changing Melusine, the early events of the original legend are soon recounted before she embarks upon an adventure and love-affair with Aiol, the son of Ozil, a crusader knight who bequeaths a Unicorn 19s lance to his son. Together the young knight Aiol and Melusine travel across Europe to eventually arrive in war-torn Jerusalem of the Crusades. The reader is drawn into Lainez 19s neglected gem of magical realism with growing empathy towards Melusine 19s first person narration of her adventures and devotion to Aiol, only to experience the full emotional impact of the tragic and sad ending of the love between a mortal and an immortal spirit.
Set in medieval France and the holy Land of the Crusades, Lainez 19s novel is a rich serving of fantasy and romance. Narrated from the perspective of the shape-changing Melusine, the early events of the original legend are soon recounted before she embarks upon an adventure and love-affair with Aiol, the son of Ozil, a crusader knight who bequeaths a Unicorn 19s lance to his son. Together the young knight Aiol and Melusine travel across Europe to eventually arrive in war-torn Jerusalem of the Crusades. The reader is drawn into Lainez 19s neglected gem of magical realism with growing empathy towards Melusine 19s first person narration of her adventures and devotion to Aiol, only to experience the full emotional impact of the tragic and sad ending of the love between a mortal and an immortal spirit.
July 5, 2012
Mujica Lainez recrea la Edad Media (el siglo XII) desde la voz narrativa del hada Melusina. A través de la mezcla de datos, lugares y personajes históricos con la ficción, el libro emprende la dura tarea de ambientar el medioevo y de trasladarnos a él. La narradora-personaje resulta efectiva en esta tarea y con minuciosas y riquísimas descripciones, la magia y la vida medieval confluyen en esta novela. Repleto de alusiones a leyendas, referencias históricas, maravillas, criaturas míticas y religión, El unicornio refleja la erudición de Mujica Lainez y sus dotes narrativas, excepcionalmente talentosas.
Recomendado más que nada a quienes les apasiones o tengan gran interés en la Edad Media europea.
Recomendado más que nada a quienes les apasiones o tengan gran interés en la Edad Media europea.
December 23, 2023
Durante la lectura de esta novela, y en especial al término de la misma, recordé las palabras de Borges publicadas en el prólogo de la edición de 1954 de la Historia universal de la infamia, cuando decía que Barroco era «aquel estilo que deliberadamente agota (o quiere agotar) sus posibilidades y que linda con su propia caricatura». Mujica Lainez lleva al lenguaje, al imaginario, y también al lector, a una extenuación, a un abuso de enumeraciones y de riqueza sensorial y humanística que, a la vez, asombran y aturden. Es a la vez un libro magnífico y un libro insoportable, maravilloso y agotador, porque te lleva al límite.
March 29, 2015
Una hermosa historia que me fascinó totalmente, sobretodo al ir descubriendo que en sus hojas se entrelazan hechos/personajes reales con la fantasía medieval.
Mi único pero y que me demoró en la lectura fue la forma de escritura, incluso esto mismo me hizo bajar la nota general de la obra.
Sin embargo, el conjunto general da forma a un libro maravilloso, donde es posible escapar a siglos en el pasado de mano de una de las tantas historias del hada Melusina.
Mi único pero y que me demoró en la lectura fue la forma de escritura, incluso esto mismo me hizo bajar la nota general de la obra.
Sin embargo, el conjunto general da forma a un libro maravilloso, donde es posible escapar a siglos en el pasado de mano de una de las tantas historias del hada Melusina.
June 10, 2019
This was a very intriguing book, and it was told with a very unique point of view. The writing was beautiful and the whole story captured the evocative mystery of the Middle Ages.
The reason I didn't rate it 5 stars was because for the latter part of the book (the last quarter approximately), there was a lot of focus on wars and the conclusion kind of faded out. But it was a great book nonetheless!
The reason I didn't rate it 5 stars was because for the latter part of the book (the last quarter approximately), there was a lot of focus on wars and the conclusion kind of faded out. But it was a great book nonetheless!
January 1, 2019
Es un libro interesante. Por momentos puede ser pesado, como suele pasar con El Señor de los Anillos. Pero se aprecia y se disfruta la prosa, la forma en la que está escrito. La historia es atrapante. Quizás me gustó más Bomarzo, del mismo autor, pero es un libro recomendable para que los que disfrutan de la buena escritura.
October 11, 2012
I adored this book when I read it years and years ago; time to find a copy again.
January 29, 2023
This one's a real oddity. It wanders (ha!) far from the typical pattern of the Tolkien-inspired "heroic fantasy".
Our narrator is Melusine, a (mostly) disembodied fairy linked to a noble family in southern France, who obsessively follows one of her (mostly) human descendants as he becomes squire and knight in medieval France and eventually goes on crusade in the Holy Land. Much of the story is her rambling, frankly self-absorbed stream-of-consciousness, and she more or less openly tells us that she's telling the story she wants to tell, not necessarily the story that someone else wants to hear. She's kind of charming in her guilelessly self-absorbed chattering, but she does leave a lot for the reader to fill in by inference, and her relentless nattering about her own obsessions can become a little frustrating to readers who get tired of hearing about how handsome her great-to-some-degree-grandson is, and how pretty the blue and white scales of her snaky tail and her wings are. (She really wants to make sure that no one thinks she has black bat wings. So unattractive.)
She's also pretty frankly erotically interested in her handsome great-to-some-degree-grandson,
I enjoyed the matter-of-fact way in which Melusine portrays the cognitive dissonance with which people in her world, whether knight, hermit, lord, lady, merchant, peasant or magical fae, view the world. Knights may be the holy hand of God on Crusade (Deus lo volt!) but they also father bastard children and shamelessly scheme for political advantage, private grudges, and economic gain. Highborn ladies preside in splendor over aristocratic courts, issuing erudite rulings over the intricacies of "courtly love", and also casually take lovers when they feel like it. Husbands ignore such, unless it becomes too obvious and embarrassing, at which point it becomes a deadly serious matter of honor. Holy hermits and angels are the devoted servants of God, and also have magical woodland familiars and seem to have no particular animosity toward faeries (even ones with snaky tails and pretty blue-and-white wings). It's kind of disorienting to a reader who's accustomed to having such things neatly sorted into different clearly labelled boxes of "Godly" and "unGodly", "pagan" and "Christian". And yet -- one suspects -- that's how it could have been, in the minds of many medieval folks, given all the wildly conflicting ideas and stories and memes that have come down from that age to ours through history and literature and folklore. Just think of the ambivalent status of Merlin, for example, who derived from thoroughly un-Christian roots and yet is the magical tutor and protector of Arthur, God's-own-anointed-king. Or for that matter the Lady of the Lake, who like Melusine began as a pagan water-spirit before taking on other job duties.
Our narrator is Melusine, a (mostly) disembodied fairy linked to a noble family in southern France, who obsessively follows one of her (mostly) human descendants as he becomes squire and knight in medieval France and eventually goes on crusade in the Holy Land. Much of the story is her rambling, frankly self-absorbed stream-of-consciousness, and she more or less openly tells us that she's telling the story she wants to tell, not necessarily the story that someone else wants to hear. She's kind of charming in her guilelessly self-absorbed chattering, but she does leave a lot for the reader to fill in by inference, and her relentless nattering about her own obsessions can become a little frustrating to readers who get tired of hearing about how handsome her great-to-some-degree-grandson is, and how pretty the blue and white scales of her snaky tail and her wings are. (She really wants to make sure that no one thinks she has black bat wings. So unattractive.)
She's also pretty frankly erotically interested in her handsome great-to-some-degree-grandson,
I enjoyed the matter-of-fact way in which Melusine portrays the cognitive dissonance with which people in her world, whether knight, hermit, lord, lady, merchant, peasant or magical fae, view the world. Knights may be the holy hand of God on Crusade (Deus lo volt!) but they also father bastard children and shamelessly scheme for political advantage, private grudges, and economic gain. Highborn ladies preside in splendor over aristocratic courts, issuing erudite rulings over the intricacies of "courtly love", and also casually take lovers when they feel like it. Husbands ignore such, unless it becomes too obvious and embarrassing, at which point it becomes a deadly serious matter of honor. Holy hermits and angels are the devoted servants of God, and also have magical woodland familiars and seem to have no particular animosity toward faeries (even ones with snaky tails and pretty blue-and-white wings). It's kind of disorienting to a reader who's accustomed to having such things neatly sorted into different clearly labelled boxes of "Godly" and "unGodly", "pagan" and "Christian". And yet -- one suspects -- that's how it could have been, in the minds of many medieval folks, given all the wildly conflicting ideas and stories and memes that have come down from that age to ours through history and literature and folklore. Just think of the ambivalent status of Merlin, for example, who derived from thoroughly un-Christian roots and yet is the magical tutor and protector of Arthur, God's-own-anointed-king. Or for that matter the Lady of the Lake, who like Melusine began as a pagan water-spirit before taking on other job duties.
August 26, 2023
Somewhere along the way my suspension of disbelief (usually quite willing to tolerate a minor lapse or two) faltered. I'm not quite sure where it happened or why but somewhere around the description of the battle of the Horns of Hattin and its aftermath, the plotline seemed a little forced rather than flowing.
The rich and fulsome historical details lend a gorgeous texture to the "adventure".
The ones I particularly cherished were:
Pilate's praetorium was allegedly built where the Tower of David now stands. (p45)
Horsemen with their helmets swathed in floating Arab keffiyeh is the origin of heraldic mantling. (p45)
The Holy Lance: One was held in Jerusalem until the mid-14th century. In 614, it was taken to Constantinople. Its tip was removed then given to St Louis of France in 1298 by Emperor Baldwin II. It disappeared after the French Revolution. The other part was given to Pope Innocent VIII in 1492 by Sultan Bajazet. Another lance, the Holy Lance of Antioch, was found by Bartholomew on 14 June 1098 and declared false by Pope Benedict XIV in the 18th century. It was already lost by 1101. Armenian historians, however, spoke of this lance in their own country, first at the monastery of Kiekart, then Estchmiatzine. Meantime, the Lance of Constantine, shown at Pavia in the 10th century, is part of the regalia of the kings of Italy. It became known as St Maurice's Lance, then the Lance of the Passion, and is among the crown jewels in the Hofburg in Vienna. A copy of this last lance is the Holy Lance of Cracow. (p58)
Dog-faced men from India are ancestors of the Greek St Christopher. (p73)
A fadet is a fairy dwarf. (p 91)
Acre was also called Akka or Ptolemais. (p182)
In any court was a Constable, Seneschal, Marshal, Chamberlain and Chancellor. The languages of the Crusader knights living in the Holy Land were langue d'oc and langue d'oil. (p185)
The Kingdom of Jerusalem was 30-40 miles wide and 400 miles long. (p197)
The biblical term, zaarath, chastised of God. (p205)
Subeiba in Hermon, near Banyas, dominated Caesarea Philippi. (p211)
Norman kings of Sicily established themselves in Lucca and Florence. (p249)
The ceremony of the scapebird for the healing of leprosy. (p272)
The ceremony of the scapebird should be for commemorating the healing, not seeking it. (p273)
The Master of the Templars had a Pythagorean sceptre. (p294)
Salah ed-Din, King of Kings, Conqueror of Conquerors, is, as other men, the slave of Death. (p299)
Lance of Longinus in Petra. (p315)
Sacrificial altars to Baal and to the Five Goddesses in Petra. (p316)
The rich and fulsome historical details lend a gorgeous texture to the "adventure".
The ones I particularly cherished were:
Pilate's praetorium was allegedly built where the Tower of David now stands. (p45)
Horsemen with their helmets swathed in floating Arab keffiyeh is the origin of heraldic mantling. (p45)
The Holy Lance: One was held in Jerusalem until the mid-14th century. In 614, it was taken to Constantinople. Its tip was removed then given to St Louis of France in 1298 by Emperor Baldwin II. It disappeared after the French Revolution. The other part was given to Pope Innocent VIII in 1492 by Sultan Bajazet. Another lance, the Holy Lance of Antioch, was found by Bartholomew on 14 June 1098 and declared false by Pope Benedict XIV in the 18th century. It was already lost by 1101. Armenian historians, however, spoke of this lance in their own country, first at the monastery of Kiekart, then Estchmiatzine. Meantime, the Lance of Constantine, shown at Pavia in the 10th century, is part of the regalia of the kings of Italy. It became known as St Maurice's Lance, then the Lance of the Passion, and is among the crown jewels in the Hofburg in Vienna. A copy of this last lance is the Holy Lance of Cracow. (p58)
Dog-faced men from India are ancestors of the Greek St Christopher. (p73)
A fadet is a fairy dwarf. (p 91)
Acre was also called Akka or Ptolemais. (p182)
In any court was a Constable, Seneschal, Marshal, Chamberlain and Chancellor. The languages of the Crusader knights living in the Holy Land were langue d'oc and langue d'oil. (p185)
The Kingdom of Jerusalem was 30-40 miles wide and 400 miles long. (p197)
The biblical term, zaarath, chastised of God. (p205)
Subeiba in Hermon, near Banyas, dominated Caesarea Philippi. (p211)
Norman kings of Sicily established themselves in Lucca and Florence. (p249)
The ceremony of the scapebird for the healing of leprosy. (p272)
The ceremony of the scapebird should be for commemorating the healing, not seeking it. (p273)
The Master of the Templars had a Pythagorean sceptre. (p294)
Salah ed-Din, King of Kings, Conqueror of Conquerors, is, as other men, the slave of Death. (p299)
Lance of Longinus in Petra. (p315)
Sacrificial altars to Baal and to the Five Goddesses in Petra. (p316)
October 8, 2023
Hace tiempo que dejó de interesarme el género medieval fantástico, pero este año decidí volver a él con el tan laureado Olvidado rey Gudú, que por desgracia tuve que abandonar cerca de la página 300 de lo cansino y aburrido que se me estaba haciendo. Sin embargo, el año pasado leí El Escarabajo de Mújica Lainez y me fascinó. Compré entonces El unicornio en una librería de segunda mano y, después de verlo un año en la estantería, para (crucé dedos) resarcirme del sabor de boca que me había dejado la Matute, me lancé a leerlo. De nuevo nos encontramos con un lenguaje sobrecargado, repleto de adjetivos y descripciones tremendamente eruditas, pero de un lirismo y una belleza sobrecogedores, que además le vienen como anillo al dedo a la historia, más medieval que fantástica, todo sea dicho. El hada Melusina es un personaje maravilloso y complejo, que en ciertos momentos recuerda al Orlando de Virginia Woolf. El libro se divide claramente en dos partes. En la primera, de ritmo más pausado y que, personalmente, a mí es la que más me ha gustado, los acontecimientos tienen lugar en la Francia del siglo XII, una Francia repleta de castillos y frondosos bosques, de caballeros y trovadores. La segunda transcurre en el medio Oriente, donde se narran las cruzadas, y está repleta de personajes históricos que a veces cuesta ubicar con tanto ir y venir. Los acontecimientos se aceleran y el autor se ve obligado a inviertir menos tiempo con los personajes principales, digamos que los suelta de la mano y deja que se pierdan un poco en la vorágine de traiciones y batallas. Además de Melusina, me gustaría destacar a Aiol, a Azelaís y al rey leproso. El final, con ese cameo del judío errante, está a la altura, en él hay claras alusiones a la Comedia de Dante y (a mi parecer) también a las últimas páginas de El maestro y Margarita, que a su vez también recuerda sospechosamente a la parte del Paraíso.
May 26, 2025
This is the worst book I have read so far. (Granted I am only 16 and so I have not been able to read too many horrible books) The main character is incredibly annoying, the characters you are supposed to hate somehow turn out to be the most likeable ones and the author has seemingly never heard of the concept of "brevity". Honestly, the only characters in the book that I found compelling were Seramonde, Aymè, Humphrey IV, Azelais and Oberon - (spoiler)
Spoilers ahead:
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August 21, 2022The Wandering Unicorn by Manuel Mujica Lainez creates an illuminating picture that represents an example of a medieval legend set on the outcast Melusine, an immortal figure who is half human and half serpent. The story is based on a romantic encounter between Elynas, the King of Albany and Pressyne, the mother of Melusine. Demonstrating a source of broken trust, Elynas failed to live up to Pressynes standards that she held against him before marriage, resulting in the abandonment of both his wife and kids. As time proceeds, Melusine wants to take revenge on her cruel father and gathers her sisters to seize him in the mountains. The result of one mistake led to Melusines uncalled for punishment of being sentenced to take the form of a serpent every Saturday. I admire the theme of this story as it exemplifies how trust can be taken advantage of and used against you in unimaginable ways. If Elynas were to have kept his vow to his wife, his life would not have become a torn down misery, same goes for his daughter Melusine. The author demonstrates a profound message through his writing and expresses his ideas in a detailed way for readers, however nearing the end of the book, the writing formality becomes complex and out of context. Though this book goes back to medieval times, the storyline holds similar ideas that are found in times today, an example being facing the consequences of your actions. Overall, this book has an enjoyable storyline to journey and learn from. I believe that it has an important lesson to pick up on with an educational backstory.
June 30, 2020
Want some autherian-adjacent legends, but without the white-washing and straight-washing? Well, have I got a treat for you!
I had to double check some names (HOW many Almarics are there in history? a LOT) but this does pretty much fit in with the historical/mythical crusades. While our main character has met Merlin, Morgan, etc, this story takes place a good 600 years later; i.e. about the time that the authurian legends were getting written down. You'll recognize everything from the knights to the style of shoes if you've read De Troyes. But we follow a different fairy, and we also acknowledge that the crusades meant that a lot of knights were not white, and also that there have always been gay people. And, refreshingly, neither of these things are winks and nods; our main love interest is Arab, and we encounter at least three gay men with speaking roles whose sexuality is not even their main feature. Only one of them dies tragically. That's not to say there's no bigotry in this book; there is, but it feels authentic to the time and the story, instead of just sweeping whole swathes of humanity under the carpet and pretending they don't exist.
Really, this isn't the kind of story I love. It's overwrought, and tragic, and very, very dramatic. But. It feels, aesthetically and thematically, perfectly in line with the authurian legends and I would wholeheartedly recommend it over literally any retelling of those that I have read.
I had to double check some names (HOW many Almarics are there in history? a LOT) but this does pretty much fit in with the historical/mythical crusades. While our main character has met Merlin, Morgan, etc, this story takes place a good 600 years later; i.e. about the time that the authurian legends were getting written down. You'll recognize everything from the knights to the style of shoes if you've read De Troyes. But we follow a different fairy, and we also acknowledge that the crusades meant that a lot of knights were not white, and also that there have always been gay people. And, refreshingly, neither of these things are winks and nods; our main love interest is Arab, and we encounter at least three gay men with speaking roles whose sexuality is not even their main feature. Only one of them dies tragically. That's not to say there's no bigotry in this book; there is, but it feels authentic to the time and the story, instead of just sweeping whole swathes of humanity under the carpet and pretending they don't exist.
Really, this isn't the kind of story I love. It's overwrought, and tragic, and very, very dramatic. But. It feels, aesthetically and thematically, perfectly in line with the authurian legends and I would wholeheartedly recommend it over literally any retelling of those that I have read.
February 18, 2021
Qué cierto es que hay libros que, o los pillas en cierta época, o no hay manera.
Este libro me lo recomendó leer mi profesor de Lengua en 1º de Bachillerato, para que entrara un poco en el "ambiente mental" de la Edad Media. Me lo bebí y lo recordaba con mucho cariño. Ahora, cierta cantidad de años después, decidí releerlo y... no. Cuenta la historia de Aiol de Lusignan, un joven descendiente de esta casa noble francesa. La narradora es Melusina, el hada de la que se supone que descienden los Lusignan. Aiol es, pues, su descendiente, pero aun así ella se enamora de él y decide acompañarlo en su deambular, primero por Francia y luego por Tierra Santa.
La premisa es interesante, y más cuando empiezan a aparecer personajes reales, entre cuyas intrigas tienen que sobrevivir Aiol y los suyos. Pero el texto es plomizo hasta decir basta, y acaba por cansar.
Rescato, eso sí, dos cosas muy interesantes. La primera es que Melusina escribe desde el siglo XX, por lo que no deja de comparar sus aventuras medievales con la actualidad; este elemento tan original me gustó mucho. La segunda es que estamos ante otra muestra de autor "serio" y "canónico" que escribe un libro de fantasía... pero a nadie se le ocurriría calificarlo como tal porque la fantasía es un género menor y este autor es, como digo, "serio" y "canónico".
Este libro me lo recomendó leer mi profesor de Lengua en 1º de Bachillerato, para que entrara un poco en el "ambiente mental" de la Edad Media. Me lo bebí y lo recordaba con mucho cariño. Ahora, cierta cantidad de años después, decidí releerlo y... no. Cuenta la historia de Aiol de Lusignan, un joven descendiente de esta casa noble francesa. La narradora es Melusina, el hada de la que se supone que descienden los Lusignan. Aiol es, pues, su descendiente, pero aun así ella se enamora de él y decide acompañarlo en su deambular, primero por Francia y luego por Tierra Santa.
La premisa es interesante, y más cuando empiezan a aparecer personajes reales, entre cuyas intrigas tienen que sobrevivir Aiol y los suyos. Pero el texto es plomizo hasta decir basta, y acaba por cansar.
Rescato, eso sí, dos cosas muy interesantes. La primera es que Melusina escribe desde el siglo XX, por lo que no deja de comparar sus aventuras medievales con la actualidad; este elemento tan original me gustó mucho. La segunda es que estamos ante otra muestra de autor "serio" y "canónico" que escribe un libro de fantasía... pero a nadie se le ocurriría calificarlo como tal porque la fantasía es un género menor y este autor es, como digo, "serio" y "canónico".
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July 15, 2022 UNICORNIO.
Manuel Mujica Lainez. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🦄 El unicornio es una novela del escritor argentino Manuel Mujica Lainez. Fue publicada en 1965.
🧚♂️ El libro, narra la leyenda medieval del hada Melusina, hechizada por su madre, quien la condenó a metamorfearse cada sábado en una mujer mitad serpiente mitad humano.
🦄 Este hecho es solo el punto de partida para contarnos este bellísimo cuento de hadas.
🧚♂️ Pero que el lector no se engañe, pues “cuento de hadas”, en este caso (y bien lo sabrá quien haya leído antes a Mujica Lainez), no es fantasía ligera dedica a un público juvenil. Quienes busquen eso, deberían abstenerse de esta lectura.
🦄 En un ambiente medieval perfectamente recreado, nos encontraremos con constantes referencias a personajes y hechos reales.
🧚♂️ Caballeros, cruzadas, magia y erotismo (homoerotismo me animaría a decir) serán los nudos centrales de la historia.
🦄 La prosa de Mujica Lainez es potente, de una riqueza excelsa, barroca y llena de lirismo (aunque peca, quizá, de demasiada erudición)
🧚♂️ En definitiva, una hermosa historia que no deben dejar de leer, y uno de mis libros favoritos.
@literatura_y_mass
#elunicornio #manuelmujicalainez #manuelmujicaláinez #literaturaargentina #literaturafanstastica #novelahistórica #hadas #melusina #hadamelusina
Manuel Mujica Lainez. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🦄 El unicornio es una novela del escritor argentino Manuel Mujica Lainez. Fue publicada en 1965.
🧚♂️ El libro, narra la leyenda medieval del hada Melusina, hechizada por su madre, quien la condenó a metamorfearse cada sábado en una mujer mitad serpiente mitad humano.
🦄 Este hecho es solo el punto de partida para contarnos este bellísimo cuento de hadas.
🧚♂️ Pero que el lector no se engañe, pues “cuento de hadas”, en este caso (y bien lo sabrá quien haya leído antes a Mujica Lainez), no es fantasía ligera dedica a un público juvenil. Quienes busquen eso, deberían abstenerse de esta lectura.
🦄 En un ambiente medieval perfectamente recreado, nos encontraremos con constantes referencias a personajes y hechos reales.
🧚♂️ Caballeros, cruzadas, magia y erotismo (homoerotismo me animaría a decir) serán los nudos centrales de la historia.
🦄 La prosa de Mujica Lainez es potente, de una riqueza excelsa, barroca y llena de lirismo (aunque peca, quizá, de demasiada erudición)
🧚♂️ En definitiva, una hermosa historia que no deben dejar de leer, y uno de mis libros favoritos.
@literatura_y_mass
#elunicornio #manuelmujicalainez #manuelmujicaláinez #literaturaargentina #literaturafanstastica #novelahistórica #hadas #melusina #hadamelusina
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January 5, 2023Can't write a review proper since I read the first few pages - which are quite gorgeous - and the last few, and skimmed very briefly across the middle.
It's very difficult to get a sense of time in this story, since it mentions the industrial age, and a castle the narrator built that is still standing since the time of the main story, as I gather it, which is to say the crusades.
Melusine has been cursed to live forever, and boy golly does she name drop. I'm not especially stupid, but I feel like I'd do much better with a copy of this in e-book, with handy wikipedia links to the billions of names and places from every era of history and mythology that this place lists, and religious terms and objects. Names, Names, Names, and the distinction between ones that are made up for the story and ones that are historical is made not at all.
The story was much too dense for me to get into, because my brain which helpfully creates images of everything it reads instantaneously 1) didn't know how to picture half of the words in this and 2) had to jump around between so many pictures that I couldn't see the story for the trees.
Might come back to it again in my old age if I manage to get smarter.
It's very difficult to get a sense of time in this story, since it mentions the industrial age, and a castle the narrator built that is still standing since the time of the main story, as I gather it, which is to say the crusades.
Melusine has been cursed to live forever, and boy golly does she name drop. I'm not especially stupid, but I feel like I'd do much better with a copy of this in e-book, with handy wikipedia links to the billions of names and places from every era of history and mythology that this place lists, and religious terms and objects. Names, Names, Names, and the distinction between ones that are made up for the story and ones that are historical is made not at all.
The story was much too dense for me to get into, because my brain which helpfully creates images of everything it reads instantaneously 1) didn't know how to picture half of the words in this and 2) had to jump around between so many pictures that I couldn't see the story for the trees.
Might come back to it again in my old age if I manage to get smarter.
February 26, 2021
I admit, I tried to read this book - managed to get to page 14 and then, enraged, threw it down and denied it access to my library.
It shows that it was written in 1965 - and by a man writing a woman's perspective, and it just isn't reading material for a modern reader. I have no idea why it was ever recommended on the "100 best fantasy" list.
"My goal was to be a housewife" is how it starts, and, I presume, continues throughout the novel. Brainwashing at its finest.
Upon meeting her beloved, even though he is currently experiencing heartbreak and despair, thinking that he killed his uncle, our "heroine" can only think of how attractive he is, and that she can see all of his body. I am appalled to think that this is how male writers in the 1960's imagined women to think and feel.
I sincerely had hoped that from the POV of a character that not only experienced the past, but also our modern world, we could gain some unique insight. Turns out that this, even in the small part that I read, conditions the reader (and I assume this was writting for a female audience) for male worship and loss of higher brain functions.
It shows that it was written in 1965 - and by a man writing a woman's perspective, and it just isn't reading material for a modern reader. I have no idea why it was ever recommended on the "100 best fantasy" list.
"My goal was to be a housewife" is how it starts, and, I presume, continues throughout the novel. Brainwashing at its finest.
Upon meeting her beloved, even though he is currently experiencing heartbreak and despair, thinking that he killed his uncle, our "heroine" can only think of how attractive he is, and that she can see all of his body. I am appalled to think that this is how male writers in the 1960's imagined women to think and feel.
I sincerely had hoped that from the POV of a character that not only experienced the past, but also our modern world, we could gain some unique insight. Turns out that this, even in the small part that I read, conditions the reader (and I assume this was writting for a female audience) for male worship and loss of higher brain functions.
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