The Legend of Sleepy Hollow & Rip Van Winkle

This book was terrible. Washington Irving just kept ranting on about the dumbest things that had no relevance to the story whatsoever. The only good part was the climax on the last couple of pages, but other than that I hated this short story.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is perhaps the most well known and popular of classics written by Washington Irving. The story’s enduring popularity no doubt has much to do with the tale’s terrifying villain, the Headless Horseman, whose status as an undead Hessian soldier gallivanting about the countryside sans his head has made it a classic Halloween tale for all ages. There are many editions of the story available, from the plain ol’ text edition found on Gutenberg’s web site as a free read to illustrated ones sold by your favorite online retailer. This review pertains to the Audible audiobook edition narrated by Tom Mison, who ironically played the main character, Ichabod Crane, in the Fox television series, Sleepy Hollow.

Written in 1820 while Washington was living abroad in Birmingham, England, the story takes place outside Tarrytown, New York, in a glen known as Sleepy Hollow. Our hero, Ichabod Crane, an unassuming school teacher, is introduced to the reader as a “worthy wight” and further described as such:

He was tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, feet that might have served for shovels, and his whole frame most loosely hung together. His head was small, and flat at top, with huge ears, large green glassy eyes, and a long snipe nose, so that it looked like a weather-cock perched upon his spindle neck to tell which way the wind blew. To see him striding along the profile of a hill on a windy day, with his clothes bagging and fluttering about him, one might have mistaken him for the genius of famine descending upon the earth, or some scarecrow eloped from a cornfield.
Crane is not that different from you or I. He is a contribution member of his community, acting as schoolmaster and music instructor; has dreams of success, which are perhaps exacerbated when he meets Katrina Van Tassel and wonders over the life they might have together (or, rather, the lands and other assets he will inherit as a result of such a union); and he possesses a healthy interest in the fantastic:

His appetite for the marvellous, and his powers of digesting it, were equally extraordinary; and both had been increased by his residence in this spell-bound region. No tale was too gross or monstrous for his capacious swallow. It was often his delight, after his school was dismissed in the afternoon, to stretch himself on the rich bed of clover bordering the little brook that whimpered by his schoolhouse, and there con over old Mather’s direful tales, until the gathering dusk of evening made the printed page a mere mist before his eyes.

Much of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow revolves around Crane’s pursuit of Katrina and the many obstacles standing in the way of his taking her hand in marriage. The entire audiobook runs about 1 1/2 hours; it isn’t until the last 22 minutes or so that the reader receives the full measure of Sleepy Hollow:

There was a contagion in the very air that blew from that haunted region; it breathed orth an atmosphere of dreams and fancies infecting all the land. Several of the Sleepy Hollow people were present at Van Tassel’s, and, as usual, were doling out their wild and wonderful legends. Many dismal tales were told about funeral trains, and mourning cries and wailings heard and seen about the great tree where the unfortunate Major Andre was taken, and which stood in the neighborhood. Some mention was made also of the woman in white, that haunted the dark glen at Raven Rock, and was often heard to shriek on winter nights before a storm, having perished there in the snow. The chief part of the stories, however, turned upon the favorite spectre of Sleepy Hollow, the Headless Horseman, who had been heard several times of late, patrolling the country; and, it was said, tethered his horse nightly among the graves in the churchyard.

It should come as no surprise that Ichabod Crane finds himself alone at night traversing the same area the Headless Horseman frequents. A chase ensues, and while we know the Headless Horseman proves too much for our gangly hero, Ichabod’s exact fate remains a mystery. All we know for sure is that he is never heard from nor seen again, though those passing his now deserted schoolhouse sometimes claim they can hear “his voice at a distance, chanting a melancholy psalm tune among the tranquil solitudes of Sleepy Hollow.”

Enough cannot be said for the narration of Tom Mison, whose voice with its captivating eloquence and English accent is a treat for the ears. His having played the role of Ichabod Crane in the Sleepy Hollow television series aside, he is the perfect narrator for this story, as he captures the time period and the story’s classic language superbly. As for the author himself, Washington demonstrates a mastery of the written word that somehow retains a high level of eloquence while remaining very readable despite the year the story was written.

If I were to have any complaint about this classic story is that it takes far too long to get to the real attraction: the Headless Horseman. That aside, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a classic read made even more so during the spookiness of Halloween. I give it four rockets and a recommendation for you to give it a read or a listen.

This book is a story about a practical joke played by a bully on a frail and timid man who is his rival for a woman's affections (a classic example of "punching down"). The malicious prank succeeds, the victim flees the town to avoid further abuse, the bully marries the woman and he, at least, lives happily ever after.

What a nasty story! Why would anyone want to read it, much less turn it into songs, plays, radio shows, movies, &c.?

And while we're asking, how did a story in which there are no actual supernatural events and no acts of violence become a classic of fantasy, horror and suspense?

Well, the answer lies in the immortal prose of Washington Irving. Irving created a marvelously creepy yet also funny atmosphere, making us feel what Ichabod Crane felt on his terrifying ride.

Yes, it's a classic story, but it's also quite unsatisfying. We want Ichabod Crane's virtue to be rewarded. We want Brom Bones' nasty behavior to be punished. And we want there to be an actual Headless Horseman, not just a hoax.

Thus the story is often retold with a real ghost to be laid to rest or an epilogue in which some surprising twist is revealed. This desire reached perhaps its ultimate in the Tim Burton movie in which the scrawny Crane is a heroic detective who lays the Headless Horseman to rest, destroys the even worse creature which spawned him, and of course gets the girl, and goes on to more supernatural adventures.

Meanwhile, the story itself is...amazing. No wonder the people of Tarrytown, New York, changed its name to Sleepy Hollow,* in recognition of the fact that Crane's route can still be followed, and is followed regularly by tour groups.

*I don't know why Bayonne, New Jersey, doesn't change its name to Gotham City....

A classic that, thankfully, holds up. Ichabod Crane is a local schoolteacher who has his eye on the daughter of one of the most wealthy local families. But he's not the only one. One late night home, he encounters the horrific figure of the Headless Horseman, and is never seen again.

I feel the thing I like most about this story is that there's such a normal explanation for what all happened here, but Irving makes is clear that the story has so sunk into local superstition that, with everything against the story being true, it is still regarded as an actual event in the town. It's exactly how you'd expect an urban legend to develop.

You can find this story from many sources, since it's in the public domain. I listened to a free audio production from Librivox.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is, without a doubt, the most famous ghost story in all the world. Mention the name of Ichabod Crane to just about anyone, and you will most likely get a tale of the headless horseman, in one form or another. I think this is the first time I've heard the story in its original form, and I am very glad to have heard it. Washington Irving has a writing style that is at once beautiful and plain. It reminds me a lot of Mark Twain's style. Maybe that should be the other way around since The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was written almost 60 years before Tom Sawyer.

In this Recorded Books edition, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is packaged together with another Washington Irving tale, Rip Van Winkle, in a 3 CD set. Both stories were written in 1819, and both have become timeless classics of American folklore.

In my own humble opinion, George Guidall is the finest audiobook narrator there is. He really has a way of bringing a story to life, and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle were no exceptions. I particularly enjoyed his voice for the elderly Rip Van Winkle. These stories are in the public domain and there are many many audio editions to choose from, but you just can't beat George Guidall.

If you're looking for a creepy little audiobook to listen to this Halloween, you've just found it. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is sure to tingle your spine, and chill your bones, and Rip Van Winkle is a nice bonus.

If you're like me, you basically know these stories from the many retellings of them in various media, but never actually got around to reading the originals written by Washington Irving. I finally did, and found it well worth doing. Irving is a fine writer, and puts in many details that make these stories much more vivid than in any other version I've heard and bring them to life. They also give fascinating glimpses into early American life, as when Rip Van Winkle declares his allegiance to King George and is nearly strung up by an angry mob. There is a reason these stories have become iconic, and that is because the originals drew these characters and their tales so brilliantly, much more so than any of the second-hand (and usually second-rate) versions.

Washington Irving has been called the father of American Literature, and without a doubt he appears to be one of the first great storytellers of our nation, later succeeded by Mark Twain in the late 19th century. Irving's wonderful tales, presented here in a superb audio reading, remind us why Irving has been so immensely popular for 200 years.
The stories are quite diverse, and many take place in foreign locales such as Germany, Paris, and the Alhambra in Spain. However readers will be most familiar with Irving's classic tales of the Catskills and Hudson River Valley, Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. For readers familiar with Tim Burton's recent gothic interpretation of the latter story, you may be surprised to learn that Irving's tale is more of a period piece about the battle for the affection of a young lady (Katrina Van Tassel) then a murder mystery starring the legendary headless horseman. And while a modern reader might get a little tired of hearing about the culinary delicacies which tempted schoolteacher Ichabod Crane, anybody would enjoy the detailed settings and timeless narrative style employed in these tales.
Irving had a knack for effectively setting the scene for a story, describing the bend of the great river and the hamlets (such as Tareytown) which are depicted in these tales. I believe they are best enjoyed in audio format, where a typical 30 minute commute might enable you to hear a single story during one sitting. These tales are well-read by Donada Peters, whose voice struck me as a cross between Angela Lansbury and Vanessa Redgrave. These tales are timeless, and while some tales are certainly better than others ( I thought the Tale of the Mason was pretty weak in particular) there is something to enjoy in each of them.

Washington Irving's (1783-1859) claim to fame is as a pioneer of American fiction, and he is widely recognized as the "father of American literature." The book that especially propelled him to fame was "The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent." which contained his two most famous fantasy stories - "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" - both of which are contained in this collection.

But it is not merely his ground-breaking efforts that garnered him literary recognition, because Irving's stories are at the same time characterized by charming and colourful prose befitting a skilled writer. The stories in this collection (the "Puffin Classics" series) are an excellent sampling of his craft. It's not always easy reading - in fact many of these stories would be too dense even for older children. His vocabulary is extensive, and sentences structure verbose and lengthy - a style rather unlike that employed by contemporary writers. But despite this, Irving demonstrates a wonderful command of the English language, and has the ability to create a vivid picture of his setting, characters and events. Particularly delightful is the attention he devotes to describing his characters. And yet his stories are far from mere character portraits - they are exciting and enchanting tales that make the reader eager to find out the outcome.

"Rip Van Winkle" has gained the status of a classic, and is familiar to most children, but likely few have read Irving's original. It breathes an authenticity and air not found in the contemporary abridged versions of the story. Irving presents his tale as the alleged discovered manuscript (complete with postscript) of the late Diedrich Knickerbocker. The delightful story of Rip Van Winkle - who fell asleep in the Catskill mountains after drinking a mysterious brew acquired from some strange little men, and then awoke 20 years later - will continue to please readers old and new. In the course of the story, Irving makes a profound social comment about the changes happening in his America. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is renowned for its chilling tale of the Headless Horseman, and is a Halloween favorite. Actually, however, it is much more than that. It is not so much a spooky tale of a legendary village ghost as it is a colourful tale about two rival suitors. Ichabod Crane is a simple school teacher who is in love with Katrina Van Tassel, and equally in love with the estates of her father, a wealthy Dutch farmer. His counter-part is the powerful local hero Bram Bones, whose affections for Katrina mirror those of Ichabod Crane, and who is determined to put an end to the affections of underdog Crane by a mysterious and elaborate trickery. As is evident also in his other stories, it is particularly fascinating how Irving exploits the supernatural superstitions of the popular mind to create a sense of mystery and fear, but himself gives a naturalist explanation that rises above such popular notions by explaining the supernatural with natural events.

Though lesser known, the other three stories in the "Puffin Classics" collection are equally enjoyable. "The Spectre Bridegroom" is one of the most fascinating tales in the collection. A young man is mistaken for a bridegroom and received into the castle of a wealthy baron as the husband of the baron's daughter. But before the marriage can be consummated, the bridegroom dashes off, and the baron's family hears shortly afterwards that he's been killed. But then who appears again except the bridegroom - or is it his ghost? - to steal his bride and vanish once more! In the end, it is a satisfying tale more of brilliant scheming than of ghosts - although the fearful superstitions of the general public about the supernatural play an important role in the effective execution of these schemes. "The Pride of the Village" is the tragic tale of a young lady whose heart pines in love for an army officer who has deserted her, only to die at his feet when he returns. "Mountjoy" is a wonderful study of an apparently incurable romantic, described by Irving as a "Castle-Builder". When Mr. Mountjoy discovers a delicate footprint on a sandy shore, his passion for metaphysics, creativity and romance leads him to dream up an imaginary beautiful young maiden, and he promptly fall passionately in love with the nymph of his dreams. The air castle he builds and its accompanying romanticism is crushed numerous times, even drowned, but each time is renewed and revived, just when it seems that "the cobweb romance I had been spinning" would be demolished completely. In the end Mr. Mountjoy meets the girl of his dreams, only to discover that his air castles need to be reshaped once more, and in the end, destroyed completely.

Readers used to the easy diet of modern fiction will find the pioneering work of Washington Irving rather tough to chew on. But those who delight in tasting words, biting on imaginative characters and settings, with a few sips of suspense and supernatural in the process, will discover that Washington Irving's stories are just the literary serving they are renowned to be: a classic. Irving won't please all children of the modern era. But children of literature who have acquired a fine literary taste will find that despite the heightened language of his time, Irving is still digestible and enjoyable. - GODLY GADFLY

Washington Irving's 'Rip Van Winkle' originally appeared in 'The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.' (1819) alongside another evocative piece of Americana, 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,' a wondrous story equally set in Irving's beloved Hudson River Valley.

Though not as multilayered as its longer and slightly more well known fellow, 'Rip Van Winkle' also has long roots in Old World folklore, which is appropriate, since 'The Sketch Book' was the first book by an American writer to be taken seriously by the European audiences that then set the standard in the West.

Like the earlier 'A Knickerbocker's History of New York' (1809), 'Rip Van Winkle' is playfully attributed to Dutch antiquarian "Diedrich Knickerbocker," the most famous and certainly the most charming of several personae Irving adopted as an author.

Written in simple but gorgeously visionary language, 'Rip Van Winkle' is the story of the lazy but warm spirited farmer, who, in an effort to escape the "petticoat despotism" of his "termagant" wife, flees for an afternoon's hunting in the lonely, autumnal Catskill Mountains.

Accompanied only by Wolf, his faithful but equally harassed dog, Rip is surprised when he notices an odd figure approaching through the wilderness and calling out his name.

The "short, square built old fellow with thick bushy hair and a grizzled beard" is carrying a "stout keg," and gestures to Van Winkle to assist him with his burden.

Taking up the "flagon," Rip hesitantly follows the little man into an isolated ravine, and thus steps unknowingly into fairyland; there he finds himself confronted by a solemn and outlandishly dressed party of dwarfs playing at ninepins.

Bewildered, Rip pours out the beverage for the assemblage, but can't resist taking a drink himself.

Awaking on the mountainside, Van Winkle, finding Wolf gone and a badly rusted gun at his side, returns to town, where he discovers his home in ruins, his wife dead, his children grown to adulthood, the land of his birth now an independent nation freed from the yoke of the British, and himself a stranger to the villagers, who stare at his tattered clothing and exceptionally long facial hair.

After making bewildered inquiries, he comes to accept that twenty years have passed.

As a humble, good hearted, and mild tempered dreamer, Rip is an archetypal fairytale hero, though the only dragon slain is Dame Van Winkle, and she accidentally, by the passage of time itself.

Like kindred spirit Ichabod Crane, Rip is not an absolute novice when it comes to the fantastic, for he has enjoyed telling the village children who love him "long stories about ghosts, witches, and Indians."

As in traditional Celtic fairy lore, in which eating or drinking while visiting fairyland is often punished with permanent residency there, Rip had made the honest mistake of partaking of fairy foodstuffs, and thus pays an unintended price for doing so.

For Celtic fairy lore also featured multiple variations on the theme of fairy time; one minute of perceived human time might be seven years of fairy time, and a man spending a happy week dancing in fairyland might discover that one hundred years or more has past on earth upon his return.

Whether dwarfs, elves, boggarts, or fairies, Irving's little people are first cousins to many of the mythological beings of European mythology.

Interestingly, like the literally "solitary" fairies of Ireland and Scotland, who were brusque of manner at best and never seen in groups (as were the far more gregarious "trooping" fairies), the little men Rip holds audience with "maintain the gravest faces, the most mysterious silence," and thus represent "the most melancholy party of pleasure he had ever witnessed."

But Irving, who deftly places his story in the historical setting of pre-Revolutionary America, also shrewdly offers his audience other interpretations for Van Winkle's strange mountain encounter.

Though narrator Diedrich Knickerbocker acknowledges early that the Catskills are "fairy mountains," one character, sage Peter Vanderdonk, explains that it was the dead "Hendrick Hudson" himself, who returns with his crew every twenty years "to keep a guardian eye on the river," whom Rip encountered, while the postscript indeterminably discusses a variety of Indian spirits, including the Manitou, who haunt the region.

One fact entirely overlooked by scholars everywhere is that American literature was born in the daimonic, a tradition begun by Irving but enthusiastically continued by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allen Poe.

Like most of Irving's work, at present 'Rip Van Winkle' is a grossly underappreciated piece of pure Americana; certainly American literature could have gotten off to a much worst beginning than it did than with its gallant, optimistic, and uncynical founder. For Rip, despite the precariousness of his experience, learns to accept his fate and settles into a comfortable old age as a venerated member of his community.

Not that very long ago, there was a time in America when, taking a direct cue from the story itself, some of America's young schoolchildren were fancifully taught that thunder was not the result of lightning, but merely the echo of the elves' occasional game of mountain bowling.

This definitive edition, first published in 1905, features over fifty genuinely "mesmerizing" though somber watercolor illustrations by British master Arthur Rackham, which perfectly suit Irving's text and will captivate both adults and children alike.

Washington Irving's (1783-1859) claim to fame is as a pioneer of American fiction, and he is widely recognized as the "father of American literature." The book that especially propelled him to fame was "The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent." which contained his two most famous fantasy stories - "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" - both of which are contained in this collection.

But it is not merely his ground-breaking efforts that garnered him literary recognition, because Irving's stories are at the same time characterized by charming and colourful prose befitting a skilled writer. The stories in this collection (the "Puffin Classics" series) are an excellent sampling of his craft. It's not always easy reading - in fact many of these stories would be too dense even for older children. His vocabulary is extensive, and sentences structure verbose and lengthy - a style rather unlike that employed by contemporary writers. But despite this, Irving demonstrates a wonderful command of the English language, and has the ability to create a vivid picture of his setting, characters and events. Particularly delightful is the attention he devotes to describing his characters. And yet his stories are far from mere character portraits - they are exciting and enchanting tales that make the reader eager to find out the outcome.

"Rip Van Winkle" has gained the status of a classic, and is familiar to most children, but likely few have read Irving's original. It breathes an authenticity and air not found in the contemporary abridged versions of the story. Irving presents his tale as the alleged discovered manuscript (complete with postscript) of the late Diedrich Knickerbocker. The delightful story of Rip Van Winkle - who fell asleep in the Catskill mountains after drinking a mysterious brew acquired from some strange little men, and then awoke 20 years later - will continue to please readers old and new. In the course of the story, Irving makes a profound social comment about the changes happening in his America. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is renowned for its chilling tale of the Headless Horseman, and is a Halloween favorite. Actually, however, it is much more than that. It is not so much a spooky tale of a legendary village ghost as it is a colourful tale about two rival suitors. Ichabod Crane is a simple school teacher who is in love with Katrina Van Tassel, and equally in love with the estates of her father, a wealthy Dutch farmer. His counter-part is the powerful local hero Bram Bones, whose affections for Katrina mirror those of Ichabod Crane, and who is determined to put an end to the affections of underdog Crane by a mysterious and elaborate trickery. As is evident also in his other stories, it is particularly fascinating how Irving exploits the supernatural superstitions of the popular mind to create a sense of mystery and fear, but himself gives a naturalist explanation that rises above such popular notions by explaining the supernatural with natural events.

Though lesser known, the other three stories in the "Puffin Classics" collection are equally enjoyable. "The Spectre Bridegroom" is one of the most fascinating tales in the collection. A young man is mistaken for a bridegroom and received into the castle of a wealthy baron as the husband of the baron's daughter. But before the marriage can be consummated, the bridegroom dashes off, and the baron's family hears shortly afterwards that he's been killed. But then who appears again except the bridegroom - or is it his ghost? - to steal his bride and vanish once more! In the end, it is a satisfying tale more of brilliant scheming than of ghosts - although the fearful superstitions of the general public about the supernatural play an important role in the effective execution of these schemes. "The Pride of the Village" is the tragic tale of a young lady whose heart pines in love for an army officer who has deserted her, only to die at his feet when he returns. "Mountjoy" is a wonderful study of an apparently incurable romantic, described by Irving as a "Castle-Builder". When Mr. Mountjoy discovers a delicate footprint on a sandy shore, his passion for metaphysics, creativity and romance leads him to dream up an imaginary beautiful young maiden, and he promptly fall passionately in love with the nymph of his dreams. The air castle he builds and its accompanying romanticism is crushed numerous times, even drowned, but each time is renewed and revived, just when it seems that "the cobweb romance I had been spinning" would be demolished completely. In the end Mr. Mountjoy meets the girl of his dreams, only to discover that his air castles need to be reshaped once more, and in the end, destroyed completely.

Readers used to the easy diet of modern fiction will find the pioneering work of Washington Irving rather tough to chew on. But those who delight in tasting words, biting on imaginative characters and settings, with a few sips of suspense and supernatural in the process, will discover that Washington Irving's stories are just the literary serving they are renowned to be: a classic. Irving won't please all children of the modern era. But children of literature who have acquired a fine literary taste will find that despite the heightened language of his time, Irving is still digestible and enjoyable. - GODLY GADFLY

It's remarkable that Washington Irving's 19th-century tale still seems fresh - maybe because his writing is so whimsical. His descriptions of characters and scenery are fluid and colorful, and he has a keen eye as a storyteller for the peccadilloes of his everyman characters: "for he was a huge feeder, and, though lank, had the dilating powers of an anaconda."

If you're like me, you basically know these stories from the many retellings of them in various media, but never actually got around to reading the originals written by Washington Irving. I finally did, and found it well worth doing. Irving is a fine writer, and puts in many details that make these stories much more vivid than in any other version I've heard and bring them to life. They also give fascinating glimpses into early American life, as when Rip Van Winkle declares his allegiance to King George and is nearly strung up by an angry mob. There is a reason these stories have become iconic, and that is because the originals drew these characters and their tales so brilliantly, much more so than any of the second-hand (and usually second-rate) versions.

These works are enduring and part of the American back-story because of the genius of Washington Irving. When you read about Ichabod Crane and Rip Van Winkle you are reading about characters that, for the first time, aren't just victims of circumstance, but inhabit and interact with their world and effect their destinies. It was an astonishing break-through. So you can't compare these stories in style to the ones we have today. And you shouldn't judge them out of context. Washington Irving was on the cutting edge of the art of the modern novel. He became an internationally famous writer. The best way to appreciate Washington Irving is the same way they did in his own time. Without a TV and by candlelight, reading aloud (and making sound effects as you go,) to your friends and family.

I've read these stories to my kids, of course. But I remember one memorable day, I sat in my mother's kitchen while she baked pies and I read her "Rip Van Winkle." I was working on my post-graduate degree, you see, and I had all this reading to do of the works of Washington Irving...and I've loved them ever since.

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle" brings together these two classic stories by Washington Irving. The text of this Dover Children's Thrift Classic is accompanied by the whimsical illustrations of Thea Kliros. Both tales are set in the Dutch-American communities of rural New York State.
"Legend" tells the story of Ichabod Crane, a schoolteacher who lives in an area purportedly haunted by a terrifying spectre: a headless horseman. "Rip" tells the story of a farmer who has a remarkable paranormal experience while wandering in the mountains.
Each story explores the intersection of the supernatural with everyday life. The stories are full of vividly drawn characters and are rich with the local color of rural Dutch American communities. Issues such as folk beliefs, geography, history and oral tradition are well handled by Irving.
Irving's playful, earthy prose style is a delight to read. Passages such as a description of a Dutch-American feast are memorable. Funny, ironic, and poignant, these tales are true classics by one of the most enduring figures in American literature.

A lost classic in how this story is colorfully illustrated in such detail as the long beards of the men bowling or the Dutch outfits of the little girls. The "before" and "after" periods are well done with the young and old Rip respectively. The only things left out of the original tale were how in the before period it was Colonial America and the after was postwar United States, but that is a side note. Also in the original it said that Rip fell asleep after drinking several mugfuls of "delicious purple liquor" that Henry Hudson's crew were drinking, but I think for a kids' book that can be omitted!

These works are enduring and part of the American back-story because of the genius of Washington Irving. When you read about Ichabod Crane and Rip Van Winkle you are reading about characters that, for the first time, aren't just victims of circumstance, but inhabit and interact with their world and effect their destinies. It was an astonishing break-through. So you can't compare these stories in style to the ones we have today. And you shouldn't judge them out of context. Washington Irving was on the cutting edge of the art of the modern novel. He became an internationally famous writer. The best way to appreciate Washington Irving is the same way they did in his own time. Without a TV and by candlelight, reading aloud (and making sound effects as you go,) to your friends and family.

I've read these stories to my kids, of course. But I remember one memorable day, I sat in my mother's kitchen while she baked pies and I read her "Rip Van Winkle." I was working on my post-graduate degree, you see, and I had all this reading to do of the works of Washington Irving...and I've loved them ever since.

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle" brings together these two classic stories by Washington Irving. The text of this Dover Children's Thrift Classic is accompanied by the whimsical illustrations of Thea Kliros. Both tales are set in the Dutch-American communities of rural New York State.
"Legend" tells the story of Ichabod Crane, a schoolteacher who lives in an area purportedly haunted by a terrifying spectre: a headless horseman. "Rip" tells the story of a farmer who has a remarkable paranormal experience while wandering in the mountains.
Each story explores the intersection of the supernatural with everyday life. The stories are full of vividly drawn characters and are rich with the local color of rural Dutch American communities. Issues such as folk beliefs, geography, history and oral tradition are well handled by Irving.
Irving's playful, earthy prose style is a delight to read. Passages such as a description of a Dutch-American feast are memorable. Funny, ironic, and poignant, these tales are true classics by one of the most enduring figures in American literature.

A lost classic in how this story is colorfully illustrated in such detail as the long beards of the men bowling or the Dutch outfits of the little girls. The "before" and "after" periods are well done with the young and old Rip respectively. The only things left out of the original tale were how in the before period it was Colonial America and the after was postwar United States, but that is a side note. Also in the original it said that Rip fell asleep after drinking several mugfuls of "delicious purple liquor" that Henry Hudson's crew were drinking, but I think for a kids' book that can be omitted!

Can a scary story be lots of fun too? Washington Irving tell the tale of Ichabod Crane, a mild mannered and bumbling New England school teacher caught in a wild adventure set in the time of the American Revolution. Will Ichabod be able to outrun the Headless Horseman, overcome his rivals who think he is crazy, and in the end live the simple life he has always hoped for in the specter riddled town of Sleepy Hollow? Listeners will find themselves rooting for this unlikely hero in this great American classic.

Audiobook can be used for your car and home personal player. Take it on the road for a story to scare you on the way.

First off, this review is of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle" published by Dover Children's Thrift Classics (dollar amount). While most reviews might concentrate on the merits of the stories themselves, this review is meant to support the benefits of purchasing this particular edition over others. (...)
Secondly, I would like to mention that this book contains BOTH "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" AND "Rip Van Winkle" in their respective unabridged entirety. Both are relatively short, entertaining, and easy-to-read stories that supply a great introduction to period literature, beliefs, and storytelling for children and adults alike. While these are not Washington Irving's only writings, they are perhaps the most well-known.
(...)
ENJOY!

sleepy hollow has been a favorite story of mine for years and when i herd tom mison was narrating this book i just had to get it. he narrates the story wonderfully and turns it into a wonderful listening experience

Full review originally posted on The Book Addict's Guide 9/30/14:

I’ve been a big fan of the Sleepy Hollow TV show ever since it originally aired (one of the few shows I’ve actually watched from the beginning) so when I heard that one of the stars of the TV show Tom Mison narrated The Legend of Sleepy Hollow for a free Audible audiobooks, I immediately went to download it. (I mean, have we heard his voice, friends?)

Obviously I have a basic understand of what THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW is about but I’ve never actually read the original book. For whatever reason, we always used to watch the cartoon around Halloween-time when I was in elementary school so I was pretty well-versed on how it went, but since I was getting a free audiobook, I figured now would be a good time to listen to this classic and actually get the original story written by Irving.

As excited as I was to listen to Tom Mison narrate the book, I have to say I was less than impressed. True, Washington Irving had a fantastic way at describing things but I felt like that was about 75% of the book. I had great visuals on what the characters looked like, what the setting looked like, and how food tasted/smelled/looked, but there was very little plot to the book and that was a bit frustrating. I was honestly over halfway done before any real plot even began to take shape and the ending was a bit of a let down. (Not like I didn’t know how it ended but there have been so many adaptations that I didn’t know which ones were the most accurate.) Overall, it was just a very dull story and the action didn’t really happen until the very end and it really wasn’t much.

Actually, the thing that I enjoyed the most was my personal connections to the legend. I really enjoyed remembering watching the cartoon as a kid and the feelings connected to it as well as pinpointing spots in the original story to plot lines in the Sleepy Hollow TV show. I love what the writers are doing with the TV show and expanding the legend into what I really hoped it would be when I picked up the audiobook.

The narration was quite good too. I just love British male narrators and Tom Mison has an excellent voice. I felt like his diction was a tiny bit overdone at times, but it was very pleasant to listen to for an hour and a half. If I’m listening to a slightly dull story, at least it was from a good narrator.

Tom Misson's narration of Washingon Irving's classic piece is captivating, but don't put it on while driving your car. It is so sonorous and mesmerizing it will hold you in a spell and interfere with your driving. Way better to get out a glass of wine and a cosy chair and vanish into it. Storytelling at its best!

While I enjoyed re-reading classics like "Rip Van Winkle" and "Legend of Sleepy Hollow", the new stories were difficult to get a grasp for. The language in all of Irving's stories is rich and very heavy in description. Like any other classics writer, he lives up to his name of being a wonderful writer. The difference being is that Irving decided to write short stories where the reader does not have nearly as much time to dive into the book as other authors allow. Maybe I'm not a short stories reader. I am by no means saying that this book is not a wonderful piece of literature; but what I am trying to get across is though great, was difficult for me to get through.

The title is Rip Van Winkle. The author is Washington Irving. The protagonist was being lazy at the beginning. I didnt really liked the way the protagonist act in the story. I didn't really like how the story ended. A lazy person would like to read this.
By: Mirka S

The title of the story I like is Rip Van Winkle. The author is Washington Irving. The protagonist didn’t want to do anything in the beginning. I didn’t like how the story started but i liked how it ended. My friend Max would like read this story.
By: Santiago g.

The legend of sleepy hollow was not actually as good as I expected it to be. The movie with Johnny Depp was actually better than the book. However, Rip Van Winkle was phenomenal. Very charming, concise and gripping. It was certainly worth listening to Ichabod's problems to get to Rip's.

Tom Misson's narration of Washingon Irving's classic piece is captivating, but don't put it on while driving your car. It is so sonorous and mesmerizing it will hold you in a spell and interfere with your driving. Way better to get out a glass of wine and a cosy chair and vanish into it. Storytelling at its best!

sleepy hollow has been a favorite story of mine for years and when i herd tom mison was narrating this book i just had to get it. he narrates the story wonderfully and turns it into a wonderful listening experience

When reading the print version of this story, my mind could never have created the brilliant scenes brought forth by listening to Mison's spirited voice describing everything from the headless Hessian to pigeon pie. Stunning.