The Legend of Sleepy Hollow & Other Stories / Washington Irving

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow & Other Stories

(category: collection)
by

Washington Irving

published by Dover Publications in 2008
(stories were written between 1820 and 1824)
Nick read a library book, in March 2010

Nick's rating: 7 out of 10

Nick's opinion:

When I spotted this book in the library I thought, it's about time to read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The name and basic concept were familiar -- from the Disney cartoon. I had never seen more than excerpts from the cartoon but neither had I read anything of the original story. I prefer to read; here was my chance to catch up with a classic.

Sleepy Hollow is quite fun: a view into life in a particular part of early America, characters exaggerated but with some sympathy, humour that may have faded with age. Several of the other stories are written in a similar style (though mostly with less humour). Slow reading due to the somewhat convoluted writing style of the time. A nice appreciation of the beauties of Nature.

Some of the stories are, in fact, essays: descriptions and opinions rather than plot and character. The Mutability of Literature, written in 1820, is fascinating -- for its relevance to today.

In Mutability, Irving has a conversation with an old book. They discuss the way in which books -- ideas and literature -- fade with time, as people stop reading those older books. Why do these old books get forgotten? Because they are replaced -- in the reader's attention -- by new books. Irving points out that this process has sped up since the invention of the fast-printing, movable type, printing press. And what is happening today? Instant "publishing" via the Internet, causing yesterday's ideas to be overwritten, faster than ever. An interesting insight into today, from almost 200 years ago!

I enjoyed each story but could only read them slowly. The wordy style combined with the difference from my usual fare, slowed me down. There are still five stories unread but I have reached the limit of allowed library borrowing. It's disappointing -- I really would like to find out what is in the final stories -- but this good book will now return back to the library.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes & documents, email nick leth at gmail dot com.