Rating: 
Summary: A Good Escape From Reality
Review: Washington Irving creates a whimsical, dreamy setting in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" that sends a reader into the same reverie in which his characters live. With rich and romantic language, a story of love, mystery, wonder is painted in the mind of the reader. The story is unpredictable and imaginative with a pleasant plot and a shocking ending. Irving adds many historical references to his legend which creates a heightened interest for the reader. Ichabod Crane is a creatively crafted main character. He is the one character that is made very familiar throughout the story. If the story has a flaw, it is the lack of dialouge amongst the characters(most likely because it is told as a legend by a narrator) that prevents the reader from feeling as though he is a part of the story's happenings and rather that he is looking upon them from above.
Rating: 
Summary: A classic treat for children of literature.
Review: 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 two stories in this collection (the "Dover Thrift" edition) are his two most famous stories and are an excellent sampling of his craft. It's not always easy reading - in fact these stories would be too dense even for most 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. 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.
Rating: 
Summary: THE LAGENDS OF SLEEPY HOLLOW
Review: Washington Irving's GREAT story of the timid school teacher Ichabod Crane and his fateful encounter with a backwoods ghost (The Headless Horseman!) is so greatly imprinted on the psyches of the American citizenry that one can't help believe this is an eyewitness account by Mr. Irving himself! Spooky, and full of great descriptions and as much a part of the American experience as Apple Pie, The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow is a true American classic that should be required reading in early highschool. A must read for Halloween time or if you ever plan a trip to upstate New York! So if you ever walk the backroads at night and you hear something unknown approaching, just take a guess as to what it is. It might just be the Headless Horseman!
Rating:
Summary: The One True American Fairy Tale
Review: Washington Irving's timeless tale of the timid school teacher Ichabod Crane and his fateful encounter with a backwoods ghost (The Headless Horseman!) is so indelibly imprinted on the psyches of the American citizenry that one can't help believe this is an eyewitness account by Mr. Irving himself! Spooky, and full of atmosphere and as much a part of the American experience as Apple Pie, The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow is a true American classic that should be required reading in early highschool. A must read for Halloween time or if you ever plan a trip to upstate New York! So if you ever walk the backroads at night and you hear something unknown approaching, just take a guess as to what it is. It might just be the Headless Horseman!
Rating:
Summary: Classic, but...
Review: While The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a timeless tale that has endured the ages and countless retellings from Disney to Tim Burton, the original work contains a rather large error in tone - a blatant one. The story is told in third person as though it's a journal - the sketch book of Diedrich Knickerbocker, in fact. This is fine, except for the climax scene in which Ichabod journeys home through the hollow from Van Tassel's house, and is confronted by the Headless Horseman. This scene is written with all the detailed minutia that characterizes Irving's style, but the obvious problem is that, of course, nobody was there to witness what happened to Ichabod Crane while he was alone in the wilderness, so therefore it could not possibly be communicated by means of somebody's journal - this person would never have known what actually happened in the Hollow since nobody was there to witness it, and apparently Ichabod never survived or stuck around to tell anyone. Irving never deals with this obvious problem in the text (a simple "This is what we think happened..." would've sufficed). The story probably would've worked much better with a traditional "God-perspective" narrator rather than a fictional character's journal. It is nonetheless, a classic work of American literature and should be read by everyone. This is a fine edition and also includes Rip Van Winkle, another story of paranormal experience and also of the Knickerbocker sketch book. It's a similar tone to Sleepy Hollow, but the characters aren't as memorable.
Rating:
Summary: A Folk Artist's Reconception Of America's Classic
Review: Will Moses' illustrated retelling of Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow rivals Arthur Rackham's near century-old version as the best edition of the book ever published. The Rackham version, with its moody, archetypal illustrations, has the slight edge, as it contains Irving's full original text in addition to Rackham's spectacular artwork. However, Moses's simplification of the narrative is masterfully executed, and the colorful, playful, and numerous paintings which adorn the book have a warm period charm of genuine Americana. Moses portrays the Hudson River Valley as a lush expansive valley not unlike the Garden of Eden on the first day of creation. Happy farmers, their wives and children, cows, geese, ducks and pigs frolic together amid fields of wheat and corn; galleons approach dramatically from the river; and the Catskill Mountains, sun, and sky suggested an infinite panorama and endless horizon full of promise. The story tells us that the Dutch colonists were a superstitious lot, and that the Sleepy Hollow region itself was or seemed to be under a spell of some kind. The farmers and their wives suspected witchcraft; strange music was heard in the air; visions were seen; and the inhabitants themselves lived their lives in a kind of continuous dreamy revery. These tales and superstitions give rise to the legend of the headless horseman, said to be the ghost of a Hessian soldier who lost his head to a canon ball in the war, and now nightly prowling the region in search of it. Moses' nocturnal landscapes of the swamps, hills and the Old Dutch Cemetery under a bright harvest moon are particularly effective. Significantly, these stark, haunted landscapes do not violate the spirit of the book, but enrich its sense of wonder. Moses' Ichabod is a cheerful but somewhat hapless fellow, confident and foolish in equal parts. His Katrina is a strong but innocent blond beauty, and a friend to children. Brom Bones is an appropriately square-shouldered, square-jawed hooligan, rowdy and full of mischief, if not absolute spite. Anyone familiar with the tale knows that it is not a horror story but a folktale, a fireside spook story, and a 'legend' as Irving, writing here as Diedrich Knickerbocker, himself called it. This edition of the book is appropriate for children but is equally suitable for adults. Highly recommended.
| 
