These two short stories have been on my "to-read" list for about 15 years. Finally, I read them yesterday while eating lunch - yes, they are that short. I knew the basic stories from childhood cartoons (that Headless Horseman Scooby-Doo episode was pretty scary!), and in actually reading the stories, I found that there really wasn't much more to them than the basic plot line. Irving's writing is filled with 50-cent words - if I bothered to look up words I didn't know in the dictionary, I probably would have learned a thing or two. Rip Van Winkle tells the story of an affable, but pretty useless guy, married to an absolute tyrant. One day he heads up into the Katskill Mountains and decides to take a nap. He wakes up with a foot-long beard and eventually realizes he's slept for 20 years. I was a little disappointed to find out there wasn't more to this one. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow tells the story of a school teacher named Ichabod Crane, who comes to the town of Sleepy Hollow - a place filled with superstitions and ghosts - the most famous of which is the Headless Horseman who roams around town looking for his missing head. One night, Crane is galloping home in the late hours and finds himself pursued by the Horseman. He disappears and there is much speculation around town over whether he has fled in embarassment after losing a woman to another man - or if indeed he was chased to his death by the spectre. This one had a little of the creepiness factor I was looking for - a good Halloween story - Irving deserves a lot of credit for being an early pioneer of the ghost story. Spooky tales have come a long long way since his time. I'm eager to get back to my Edgar Allan Poe short stories after these two.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Rip Van Winkle & The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Washington Irving
These two short stories have been on my "to-read" list for about 15 years. Finally, I read them yesterday while eating lunch - yes, they are that short. I knew the basic stories from childhood cartoons (that Headless Horseman Scooby-Doo episode was pretty scary!), and in actually reading the stories, I found that there really wasn't much more to them than the basic plot line. Irving's writing is filled with 50-cent words - if I bothered to look up words I didn't know in the dictionary, I probably would have learned a thing or two. Rip Van Winkle tells the story of an affable, but pretty useless guy, married to an absolute tyrant. One day he heads up into the Katskill Mountains and decides to take a nap. He wakes up with a foot-long beard and eventually realizes he's slept for 20 years. I was a little disappointed to find out there wasn't more to this one. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow tells the story of a school teacher named Ichabod Crane, who comes to the town of Sleepy Hollow - a place filled with superstitions and ghosts - the most famous of which is the Headless Horseman who roams around town looking for his missing head. One night, Crane is galloping home in the late hours and finds himself pursued by the Horseman. He disappears and there is much speculation around town over whether he has fled in embarassment after losing a woman to another man - or if indeed he was chased to his death by the spectre. This one had a little of the creepiness factor I was looking for - a good Halloween story - Irving deserves a lot of credit for being an early pioneer of the ghost story. Spooky tales have come a long long way since his time. I'm eager to get back to my Edgar Allan Poe short stories after these two.
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