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    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
    Ebook68 pages51 minutes

    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

    By Washington Irving

    3.5/5

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    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow with a Book Club Supplement

    “There is nothing like the silence and loneliness of night to bring dark shadows over the brightest mind.” ― Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving is an American gothic novella that is perfect for Halloween reading.
    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a story that was popularized in cartoon If you haven't ever read it, or want to revisit this classic novel, now is a great time!

    This edition of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving has been professionally formatted for e-readers and contains a bonus book club leadership guide and discussion questions. We hope you’ll share this book with your friends, neighbors and colleagues and can’t wait to hear what you have to say about it.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherXist Publishing
    Release dateOct 2, 2015
    ISBN9781681958040
    Author

    Washington Irving

    Washington Irving fue un autor, ensayista, biógrafo, historiador y diplomático estadounidense. Realizó estudios de Derecho, pero su vocación se interesaba más por el periodismo y la escritura que por la abogacía. En 1802 comenzó a escribir artículos en periódicos de Nueva York. En 1815 se fue a vivir a Liverpool y allí trabó amistad con importantes hombres de letras: sir Walter Scott y Thomas Moore, entre otros. Escribió algunos ensayos y relatos bajo el seudónimo de Geoffrey Crayon. Considerado el mentor de autores como Nathaniel Hawthorne, el hispanista Henry Wadsworth Longfellow y Edgar Allan Poe, entre su obra destacan los siguientes títulos:  Cuentos de la Alhambra, Los buscadores de tesoros, La conquista de Granada, La leyenda de Sleepy Hollow o la biografía George Washington. En 1846, regresó a Sunnyside (EE. UU.), su casa de campo, y allí falleció en 1859.

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    Reviews for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

    3.5/5

    802 ratings55 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I hadn't read this story since high school, and got the Audible version just because it was narrated by Tom Mison. Irving's descriptions of the fall scenery, the food at the banquet, and most of all poor Ichabod are wonderfully and funny. I adore the voice of the 'historian' telling the story. For the most part, this isn't a scary story, but that night ride still gave me chills. Mison's narration is excellent!
    • 3/5
      Another nice re-read. Always loved The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow. Would love more stories like this.
    • 4/5
      Very grabbing plot
    • 5/5
      It’s a classic short read so worth the time to read again.
    • 5/5
      My favorite ghost story of all time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    • 5/5
      This is probably the best edition of Sleepy Hollow that I've read yet. The illustrations bring so much to the story and make it so much better. The story is one of my favorites and this is no exception. I would recommend this book. 5 out of 5 stars.
    • 4/5
      A lot funnier than I was anticipating.
    • 1/5
      I thought this would be a taut and short horror story, but two thirds of it was a dull recounting of Ichabod Crane's idiosyncrasies and his attempts to woo a local heiress. The actual encounter with the headless horseman is brief and, for me, totally lacking in any suspense. 1/5
    • 5/5
      It has been a long time since I have read this story, and I was delighted, once again, to read it.
    • 2/5
      The pictures are well drawn with many details added onto them. Flint Russ, the illustrator did a great job with that. The story was interesting, yet a bit sad.
    • 4/5
      Many times, I have viewed the animated Disney version of this classic short story. The setting inspires mystery and foreboding. Irving presents a well-written and very descriptive story concerning the Dutch settlers to New York. The story hinges a little on jealousy and greed. Two men battle for the lovely and rich young lady, Katrina Van Tassel. Which will win the prize? The description of the early settlers and their beliefs and their life displays a people still dominated by superstition. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing one of the first truly American writers emerge and develop his craft, but also leaving a legacy of early America.
    • 4/5
      The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle are classics, and pretty awesome! The rest of this collection is fairly uneven, and not so awesome. Still, it's hard to complain too much about a book that contains two "immortal classics"!
    • 4/5
      Irving is a master at setting a scene, with description, details and imagery. I loved this quote, "The revenue arising from his school was small, and would have been scarcely sufficient to furnish him with daily bread, for he was a huge feeder, and, though lank, had the dilating powers of an anaconda;..." There is this type of subtle wit throughout the story. Very enjoyable.
    • 4/5
      What marvelous descriptions that Washington Irving makes as he relates the tale of Ichabod Crane, a schoolmaster from Connecticut who is teaching in Tarry Town, New York, and his encounter with the infamous "headless horseman." Irving is a master at describing the setting. He did enjoy writing rather long sentences in places. I enjoyed this revisit to a book read many years ago, realizing that I now had a much greater appreciation for Irving's writing. This is a story that would make a great read-aloud to upper elementary and middle school students. I read this on my Kindle with the 1992 Public Domain Books edition. This version had some formatting issues when diacritics were introduced into the text.
    • 4/5
      The Legend of Sleepy Hollow]still has the power to connect readers with memories of the Revolutionary War era that lingered into the 19th century. Reduced to its essential elements, it's the story of a classic love triangle. Which suitor will the lovely Katrina Von Tussell choose – brawny bad boy Brom Bones or nerdy schoolmaster Ichabod Crane? It's what Washington Irving does with the story that makes it so much fun. His descriptions of Ichabod Crane's appearance*, the school room, food, Sleepy Hollow, and, of course, the Headless Horseman are so detailed that you can easily conjure up mental images. The undertone of sarcasm lets you know just how seriously to take the story. Other than some jarring racial stereotypes, the story holds up well almost 200 years later.*Speaking of Ichabod Crane's appearance, I wonder if Cooper might have borrowed from Irving in creating David Gamut's character in The Last of the Mohicans?
    • 2/5
      I was excited when my book club picked this because I am directing a play version right now. I have to say, I was rather disappointed. As there is no dialogue and Irving goes into such detail about everything, which is too much for a novella, the story drags and seems like nothing but exposition. The climax was lost in excess description.
    • 5/5
      Very short & extremely fun. Mr. Irving has a great way with words.
    • 4/5
      The book is the classic tale of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman. Set in Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod is the schoolmaster who is quite smitten with Katrina Van Tassel but so is Brom Bones who is his rival in every sense of the word. Superstitions plague the town including the one of the Headless Horseman who haunts the church yard and is seen nightly dashing from there to the battlefield in search of his head. A party ensues at the Van Tassel estate. Ichabod and Brom are both in attendance to woo Katrina. After the party Ichabod stays on but leaves looking rather downtrodden only to be pursued by the Headless Horseman and never to be heard from again. Brom in turn marries Kartrina and Ichabod is said to be seen in New York and whenever the story of Ichabod is told Brom Bones always laughs. The Disney cartoon movie version is a classic and pretty much sums up the entire story.
    • 5/5
      This classic is beautifully written with elegant descriptions. I grabbed it because it was free, but would have gladly paid for this remarkable piece of literature.
    • 4/5
      Beautifully written, vivid descriptions. A classic piece of literature.
    • 3/5
      This was my 3rd of the three Halloween 2010 reads.When pondering what three books to choose for Halloween this year and browsing through some online suggestions, I was almost surprised to realize that I hadn't read "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" yet. I saw an animated film adaption as a child, and I know the story, but I hadn't read the actual book.After requesting it at the library, I was surprised to find how tiny it was. It is actually a short story, and the edition I read just managed to be 71 pages, with the help of large font.It is the story of a well liked schoolteacher named Ichabod Crane, in a small 1700's New York town. The town is rumored to be haunted, and despite his scholarly outlook on life, Ichabod himself can feel an unnerving presence in Sleepy Hollow. Ichabod falls in love with a beautiful rich girl named Miss Katrina von Tussell, who seems to return his affections. It is all too good to be true, but Ichabod's luck takes an unfortunate turn when he is riding home one night...Though I am glad that I finally read this well known little short story, I can't say that I was overly impressed.The book is just too short for the reader to ever get very invested, and the headless horseman (the part that everyone remembers) is only featured on a page or two. The rest of the plot, which is meant to build up toward the scene of Ichabod fleeing from the horseman in the woods, does not have very much to do with the ending. I felt that the book was pretty pointless, all in all. There were three plot elements: a) Schoolteacher and pretty rich girl fall in love. b) Jealous fighting man decides to make an enemy of schoolteacher. c) Schoolteacher meets a ghost in the woods at night and is never seen again.If I hadn't already known the story going into this book, I would have been thinking at the last point: "wait - what?!"Really, it has nothing to do with the plot before that.The descriptions of the town were pretty at times, despite Irving's apparent aversion for periods (some sentances lasted an entire page - the first sentence in the book certainly did). A very quick read due to its small size, but not a book that I will be buying.
    • 5/5
      A nice story well told. The wording had me smiling throughout - especially trying to match the description of Ichabod Crane with Johnny Depp or the scene of various animals in pasture immediately followed by Ichabod's vision of the same animals as part of a sumptuous meal. Beyond the entertaining little tale weaving ghost stories with a rivalry about a young woman's heart, it gives a wonderful description of a rural small town community and it's protagonists. Too bad it is so short.
    • 3/5
      A classic ghost story that has been scaring children (and adults) for centuries. In the fertile valleys of the upper Hudson River lies a small port – Tarry Town. The villagers enjoy good health, fertile farms, and telling tales of ghosts, goblins, witches in their midst. Their schoolmaster is one Ichabod Crane, a tall, gangly fellow who also dabbles as the choir master. One of his musical pupils is the lovely Katrina Van Tassel, the only daughter of one of the wealthiest farmers. The schoolmaster feels he can win her over, but he has a formidable challenger in Brom Bones.

      When Ichabod disappears after a party at the Van Tassel mansion, the whole valley is left to wonder what happened? Did he simply move on to another community? Was he spirited off by the Headless Horseman? Only a few clues are found, including his trampled hat, and no one, especially Brom Bones, is talking.

      I remember being really scared by this story when I was a child. Reading it as an adult, I’m struck by the complexity of the language in this fairly simple story.

      NOTE - I had posted this review when I first read the book, but when I went to look at it today (Feb 21, 2014), I found that it was posted under the GRAPHIC Novel. I definitely read the original version, not the graphic novel. I can only guess that at some point in time the GN edition was divided from the main edition and somehow my review got migrated in that fashion ...
    • 4/5
      Well if I am honest about this, I felt predisposed to like Sleepy Hollow; it is wonderfully and genuinely of its time and place, with the era and location certainly having a romantic draw for me.
      The story also evokes a very definite atmosphere and I think I read this at the right time of year, just two days before Hallowe’en.
      But for such a slim text it takes a great deal of time to get to the crux of the story; around 80% of the book is taken up with introducing the characters and landscape where the action is to take place. This is all very important, but once the action has occurred the story simply ends. Now, it is a very strong ending but following such a great lead up to the ‘terrible events’ described I expected a great and slow finish rather than just a two-page epilogue.
      But I did still love it!
    • 5/5
      I've heard several tellings and re-tellings of this famous story, but reading the original was quite a treat. It's one of those books that I SWEAR I read at some point, but I'm never really sure because I've heard the story so many times, it's just ingrained in my brain. This is a great story! If you haven't read it, it's super short, you should definitely give it a try!
    • 1/5

      4/10.

      A short story about a schoolteacher and his encounter with a headless ghost rider. Pretty dull.

    • 5/5
      Tom Mison, who plays Ichabod Crane in the TV show I follow, reads the story of the unfortunate schoolmaster in the kind and tongue-in-cheek manner that Irving wrote it.
    • 5/5
      This is one of those stories that needs to be savored. The words have a beautiful cadence that make for great material to be read aloud. The story itself is fun, with vivid characters and a bit of mystery. But I go back to it every now and then just to experience the beauty of the language.
    • 4/5
      It had been many years since I had read this wonderful story. I had forgotten how absolutely hilarious it is. Example: “he was a huge feeder, and, though lank, had the dilating powers of an anaconda.” Do not read on an empty stomach as there are many tantalizing descriptions of various food stuffs.
    • 2/5
      Classic story of the legend of sleepy hollow as written by Irving. The story is not as exciting as all of the movies. However, it was an enjoyable listed on a weekend road trip during the month of October.

    Book preview

    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Washington Irving

    THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

    by Washington Irving

    Xist Publishing

    TUSTIN, CA

    ISBN: 978-1-68195-804-0

    This edition published in 2015 by Xist Publishing

    PO Box 61593

    Irvine, CA 92602

    www.xistpublishing.com

    Ordering Information:

    Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the Special Sales Department at the address above.

    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow/ Washington Irving

    ISBN 978-1-68195-804-0

    Xist Publishing is a digital-first publisher. Xist Publishing creates books for the touchscreen generation and is dedicated to helping everyone develop a lifetime love of reading, no matter what form it takes.

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    FOUND AMONG THE PAPERS

    OF THE LATE DIEDRICH KNICKERBOCKER.

    A pleasing land of drowsy head it was,

              Of dreams that wave before the half-shut eye;

            And of gay castles in the clouds that pass,

              Forever flushing round a summer sky.

    CASTLE OF INDOLENCE.

    In the bosom of one of those spacious coves which indent the eastern shore of the Hudson, at that broad expansion of the river denominated by the ancient Dutch navigators the Tappan Zee, and where they always prudently shortened sail and implored the protection of St. Nicholas when they crossed, there lies a small market town or rural port, which by some is called Greensburgh, but which is more generally and properly known by the name of Tarry Town. This name was given, we are told, in former days, by the good housewives of the adjacent country, from the inveterate propensity of their husbands to linger about the village tavern on market days. Be that as it may, I do not vouch for the fact, but merely advert to it, for the sake of being precise and authentic. Not far from this village, perhaps about two miles, there is a little valley or rather lap of land among high hills, which is one of the quietest places in the whole world. A small brook glides through it, with just murmur enough to lull one to repose; and the occasional whistle of a quail or tapping of a woodpecker is almost the only sound that ever breaks in upon the uniform tranquillity.

    I recollect that, when a stripling, my first exploit in squirrel-shooting was in a grove of tall walnut-trees that shades one side of the valley. I had wandered into it at noontime, when all nature is peculiarly quiet, and was startled by the roar of my own gun, as it broke the Sabbath stillness around and was prolonged and reverberated by the angry echoes. If ever I should wish for a retreat whither I might steal from the world and its distractions, and dream quietly away the remnant of a troubled life, I know of none more promising than this little valley.

    From the listless repose of the place, and the peculiar character of its inhabitants, who are descendants from the original Dutch settlers, this sequestered glen has long been known by the name of SLEEPY HOLLOW, and its rustic lads are called the Sleepy Hollow Boys throughout all the neighboring country. A drowsy, dreamy influence seems to hang over the land, and to pervade the very atmosphere. Some say that the place was bewitched by a High German doctor, during the early days of the settlement; others, that an old Indian chief, the prophet or wizard of his tribe, held his powwows there before the country was discovered by Master Hendrick Hudson. Certain it is, the place still continues under the sway of some witching power, that holds a spell over the minds of the good people, causing them to walk in a continual reverie. They are given to all kinds of marvellous beliefs, are subject to trances and visions, and frequently see strange sights, and hear music and voices in the air. The whole neighborhood abounds with local tales, haunted spots, and twilight superstitions; stars shoot and meteors glare oftener across the valley than in any other part of the country, and the nightmare, with her whole ninefold, seems to make it the favorite scene of her gambols.

    The dominant spirit, however, that haunts this enchanted region, and seems to be commander-in-chief of all the powers of the air, is the apparition of a figure on horseback, without a head. It is said by some to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper, whose head had been carried away by a cannon-ball, in some nameless battle during the Revolutionary War, and who is ever and anon seen by the country folk hurrying along in the gloom of night, as if on the wings of the wind. His haunts are not confined to the valley, but extend at times to the adjacent roads, and especially to the vicinity of a church at no great distance. Indeed, certain of the most authentic historians of those parts, who have been careful in collecting and collating

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