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chelseavk's review against another edition
relaxing
slow-paced
3.75
I really like the way Irving writes. Some of these stories are charming, some are gripping and some slow but interesting.
sarahcoller's review against another edition
3.0
I spent two weeks slowly reading through these and, for the most part, enjoyed this collection of stories. They're random and the collection is extremely disjointed, but its not an uncommon compilation for the time. My favorites were The Wife, The Mutability of Literature, and The Pride of the Village. I skipped the Christmas stories as I'd already read them in a Christmas compilation called Christmas in Merrie Old England. I'll probably go back and read them this winter.
This was my first time reading Washington Irving, besides that Christmas compilation, but it didn't take long for me to realize he was an obvious forerunner to some of my favorites like Nathaniel Hawthorne and Charles Dickens, both of whom claimed him to be a literary mentor. His compassion for the downtrodden and disadvantaged, he reminds me of Dickens. In his ability to weave a moral tale into a story of his home town or region, he reminds me of Hawthorne.
I did think he spent quite a bit more time on Shakespeare than he deserved---he seemed to have a bit of an obsession---but I'm not really a fan. I also found the parts about the Indians to be unfortunately prophetic. It was interesting in a sad/happy way to read about a time when many of them were still living in their own way on their own land.
The story of Rip van Winkle was NOT the same as the child's version---ha! I actually went back and read it a second time and it was actually quite demeaning toward his wife---meant to be humorous, though, I think. Also, he's legendary for sleeping 100 years but in the story he only sleeps 20.
Some of my favorite passages and quotes are as follows:
pg. 14: "To an American visiting Europe, the long voyage he has to make is an excellent preparative. The temporary absence of worldly scenes and employments produces a state of mind peculiarly fitted to receive new and vivid impressions. The vast space of waters that separates the hemispheres is like a blank page in existence. There is no gradual transition by which, as in Europe, the features and population of one country blend almost imperceptibly with those of another. From the moment you lose sight of the land you have left, all is vacancy, until you step on the opposite shore, and are launched at once into the bustle and novelties of another world." (The Voyage)
I love that picture because its exactly how I feel on my flights to England.
pg. 30: "There is in every true woman's heart a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity; but which kindles up, and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity." (The Wife)
This was my first time reading Washington Irving, besides that Christmas compilation, but it didn't take long for me to realize he was an obvious forerunner to some of my favorites like Nathaniel Hawthorne and Charles Dickens, both of whom claimed him to be a literary mentor. His compassion for the downtrodden and disadvantaged, he reminds me of Dickens. In his ability to weave a moral tale into a story of his home town or region, he reminds me of Hawthorne.
I did think he spent quite a bit more time on Shakespeare than he deserved---he seemed to have a bit of an obsession---but I'm not really a fan. I also found the parts about the Indians to be unfortunately prophetic. It was interesting in a sad/happy way to read about a time when many of them were still living in their own way on their own land.
The story of Rip van Winkle was NOT the same as the child's version---ha! I actually went back and read it a second time and it was actually quite demeaning toward his wife---meant to be humorous, though, I think. Also, he's legendary for sleeping 100 years but in the story he only sleeps 20.
Some of my favorite passages and quotes are as follows:
pg. 14: "To an American visiting Europe, the long voyage he has to make is an excellent preparative. The temporary absence of worldly scenes and employments produces a state of mind peculiarly fitted to receive new and vivid impressions. The vast space of waters that separates the hemispheres is like a blank page in existence. There is no gradual transition by which, as in Europe, the features and population of one country blend almost imperceptibly with those of another. From the moment you lose sight of the land you have left, all is vacancy, until you step on the opposite shore, and are launched at once into the bustle and novelties of another world." (The Voyage)
I love that picture because its exactly how I feel on my flights to England.
pg. 30: "There is in every true woman's heart a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity; but which kindles up, and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity." (The Wife)
emiann2023's review against another edition
3.0
I picked this up a few years ago in a thrift sale and have been meaning to get to it forever.
I only really found myself interested in three of the stories: Rip Van Winkle, Sleep Hollow, and Westminster Abbey, as I couldn't get invested in the others.
I only really found myself interested in three of the stories: Rip Van Winkle, Sleep Hollow, and Westminster Abbey, as I couldn't get invested in the others.
esther_habs's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
brookejessopx's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
drkshadow03's review against another edition
3.0
The Sketchbook by Washington Irving is aptly named in that it consists of sketches, essays, and travel writings designed for the amusement of the reader and to elicit good feelings towards humanity.
“What, after all, is the mite of wisdom that I could throw into the mass of knowledge! or how am I sure that my sagest deductions may be safe guides for the opinions of others? But in writing to amuse, if I fail the only evil is my own disappointment. If, however, I can by any lucky chance, in these days of evil, rub out a wrinkle from the brow of care or beguile the heavy heart of one moment of sorrow; if I can now and then penetrate through the gathering film of misanthropy, prompt a benevolent view of human nature, and make my reader more in good-humor with his fellow-beings and himself—surely, surely, I shall not then have written entirely in vain.”
Despite being an American writer, the essays mostly focus on England, displaying a nostalgia for its customs, and idealizing the simple charms of country life. The work straddles the line between sentimental and romantic, making the reader long to travel to England in all its natural splendor, visit the sights, and participate in the many time-honored traditions described. The writer identifies the natural beauty of English parks and the nation’s beautiful landscapes as the quintessential characteristic of English culture that unites both the upper and lower classes.
There is an equal delight taken in the portrayal of ancient English manors full of bustling servants, children rollicking through the halls, great feasts, ancestral portraits, and family coats of arms alongside the simplicity, quaintness, and charm of rural village life. In this vein, he dedicates multiple essays to Christmas, praising the holiday as a special time that unites all people in good will and unbridled merriment, and commends those lords and gentry who endeavor to keep forgotten Christmas traditions alive. Of course, no essay tour of England would be complete without a sojourn to Westminster Abbey and Shakespeare’s home in Stratford-Upon-Avon. During his trip to Westminster Abbey on a particularly gloomy day, he remarks on the futility of fame, fortune, and power.
“What, thought I, is the vast assemblage of sepulchres but a treaty of humiliation—a huge pile of reiterated homilies on the emptiness of renown and the certainty of oblivion? It is, indeed, the empire of death; his great shadowy palace where he sits in state mocking at the relics of human glory and spreading dust and forgetfulness on the monuments of princes. How idle a boast, after all, is the immortality.” - From Westminster Abbey
The many desecrated tombs of famous rulers shows how fleeting power and fortune is against the inevitability of death.
Not all the works are dedicated to praising the English countryside and rural habits. Some of his more sentimental pieces include “The Wife” in which a rich man sunk into poverty learns the true value of his wife when she stands by his side and comforts him despite his change of social status. “The Broken Heart” about a young Irish woman who falls in love with an Irish revolutionary who is executed and how she never recovers her spirits after his death. “The Widow and Her Son” deals with the powerful and enduring relationship between a mother and son as a widow must bury her dead son after he returns from being kidnapped at sea. While “Pride of the Village” deals with a young village girl who dies from a broken heart after falling in love with a higher-ranking soldier. After getting orders to depart, the soldier tries to convince her to go with him as his paramour, which she rejects, but still suffers from his betrayal until its leads to her untimely death.
A few of the essays discuss the current state of literature. In one work, he accidentally stumbles upon an assortment of hack writers in the great British Library who he initially mistakes for magi. They are there to plunder material from old and antiquated books. Of one such writer:
“I noticed one lean, bilious-looking wight, who sought none but the most worm-eaten volumes, printed in black letter. He was evidently constructing some work of profound erudition, that would be purchased by every man who wished to be thought learned, placed upon a conspicuous shelf of his library, or laid upon his table—but never read.” - From The Art of Book-Making.
These learned authors are not purchased for their wisdom, but only bought so a person can maintain the appearance of being learned and studious to his friends. It’s about appearing smart and wise rather than actually benefiting from reading.
In a different essay, he employs the amusing fantasy of stumbling upon an unread ancient book in a library and begins to converse with the book about the nature of literature. The book is shocked to hear that Shakespeare is regarded as one of the best writers of the English language and is still read in the present day. This leads to the author to observe that literature that lasts, such as Shakespeare, roots itself not in the fashions of the day or the perfection of language as it exists during a particular time period, but attempts to capture what is unchangeable in human nature. It is inevitable with the printing press and the creation of more books each year that some popular and celebrated literature will be forgotten and supplanted by other works. There is simply too many works! Although he accepts literary criticism can be useful in helping us discern what is worth reading, he also has plenty of antipathy for bad literary criticism such as the many commentaries on Shakespeare that seem only to further mystify and obscure rather than clarify the playwright.
The collection also includes a number of ghost stories and fairy lore. One of the best-known stories is “Rip Van Winkle,” which deals with the eponymous character who escapes from his overbearing and controlling wife by falling asleep on the mountaintop for twenty years only to wake up to a completely changed world he doesn’t recognize. “The Spectre Bridegroom” tells the story of a nobleman who pretends to be the ghost of a dead groom after falling in love with the bride to be. The original groom died during an attack by brigands in his way to his future bride and the friend must share the untimely news with the hostile family.
The other best-known work of the collection and another ghost story is “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Ichabod is a local school teacher who is both erudite and superstitious. He falls for a coquette named Katrina Van Tassel whose own physical charms are only outdone by her father’s copious stores of good food and stocked larder due to his success as a farmer. Ichabod fantasizes about a potential marriage to her, especially controlling the vast stores of delicious food and dainties.
“The pedagogue’s mouth watered as he looked upon this sumptuous promise of luxurious winter fare. In his devouring mind’s eye, he pictured to himself every roasting-pig running about with a pudding in his belly, and an apple in his mouth; the pigeons were snugly put to bed in a comfortable pie, and tucked in with a coverlet of crust; the geese were swimming in their own gravy; and the ducks pairing cosily in dishes, like snug married couples, with a decent competency of onion sauce. In the porkers he saw carved out the future sleek side of bacon, and juicy relishing ham; not a turkey but he beheld daintily trussed up, with its gizzard under its wing, and, peradventure, a necklace of savory sausages; and even bright chanticleer himself lay sprawling on his back, in a side dish, with uplifted claws, as if craving that quarter which his chivalrous spirit disdained to ask while living.”
Ichabod is a social climber who dreams of a more illustrious life than that of a poor school teacher. Unfortunately for Ichabod he has a rival for Katrina in the brawny Brom Bones. After riding home from a party where a number of ghost stories were recounted, Ichabod encounters the headless horsemen from one of the tales and tries to escape across a bridge only to be struck by the headless horseman’s head and disappear from the village forever. Was he killed by the ghost and now Ichabod’s spirit also haunts the town as some of the villagers suggest? Did he flee after the horrifying night and become a successful lawyer and politician elsewhere? Was it a real encounter with the supernatural or was it really Broms Bones pretending to be the headless horsemen to scare off a rival? The ending is ambiguous and open to interpretation.
“What, after all, is the mite of wisdom that I could throw into the mass of knowledge! or how am I sure that my sagest deductions may be safe guides for the opinions of others? But in writing to amuse, if I fail the only evil is my own disappointment. If, however, I can by any lucky chance, in these days of evil, rub out a wrinkle from the brow of care or beguile the heavy heart of one moment of sorrow; if I can now and then penetrate through the gathering film of misanthropy, prompt a benevolent view of human nature, and make my reader more in good-humor with his fellow-beings and himself—surely, surely, I shall not then have written entirely in vain.”
Despite being an American writer, the essays mostly focus on England, displaying a nostalgia for its customs, and idealizing the simple charms of country life. The work straddles the line between sentimental and romantic, making the reader long to travel to England in all its natural splendor, visit the sights, and participate in the many time-honored traditions described. The writer identifies the natural beauty of English parks and the nation’s beautiful landscapes as the quintessential characteristic of English culture that unites both the upper and lower classes.
There is an equal delight taken in the portrayal of ancient English manors full of bustling servants, children rollicking through the halls, great feasts, ancestral portraits, and family coats of arms alongside the simplicity, quaintness, and charm of rural village life. In this vein, he dedicates multiple essays to Christmas, praising the holiday as a special time that unites all people in good will and unbridled merriment, and commends those lords and gentry who endeavor to keep forgotten Christmas traditions alive. Of course, no essay tour of England would be complete without a sojourn to Westminster Abbey and Shakespeare’s home in Stratford-Upon-Avon. During his trip to Westminster Abbey on a particularly gloomy day, he remarks on the futility of fame, fortune, and power.
“What, thought I, is the vast assemblage of sepulchres but a treaty of humiliation—a huge pile of reiterated homilies on the emptiness of renown and the certainty of oblivion? It is, indeed, the empire of death; his great shadowy palace where he sits in state mocking at the relics of human glory and spreading dust and forgetfulness on the monuments of princes. How idle a boast, after all, is the immortality.” - From Westminster Abbey
The many desecrated tombs of famous rulers shows how fleeting power and fortune is against the inevitability of death.
Not all the works are dedicated to praising the English countryside and rural habits. Some of his more sentimental pieces include “The Wife” in which a rich man sunk into poverty learns the true value of his wife when she stands by his side and comforts him despite his change of social status. “The Broken Heart” about a young Irish woman who falls in love with an Irish revolutionary who is executed and how she never recovers her spirits after his death. “The Widow and Her Son” deals with the powerful and enduring relationship between a mother and son as a widow must bury her dead son after he returns from being kidnapped at sea. While “Pride of the Village” deals with a young village girl who dies from a broken heart after falling in love with a higher-ranking soldier. After getting orders to depart, the soldier tries to convince her to go with him as his paramour, which she rejects, but still suffers from his betrayal until its leads to her untimely death.
A few of the essays discuss the current state of literature. In one work, he accidentally stumbles upon an assortment of hack writers in the great British Library who he initially mistakes for magi. They are there to plunder material from old and antiquated books. Of one such writer:
“I noticed one lean, bilious-looking wight, who sought none but the most worm-eaten volumes, printed in black letter. He was evidently constructing some work of profound erudition, that would be purchased by every man who wished to be thought learned, placed upon a conspicuous shelf of his library, or laid upon his table—but never read.” - From The Art of Book-Making.
These learned authors are not purchased for their wisdom, but only bought so a person can maintain the appearance of being learned and studious to his friends. It’s about appearing smart and wise rather than actually benefiting from reading.
In a different essay, he employs the amusing fantasy of stumbling upon an unread ancient book in a library and begins to converse with the book about the nature of literature. The book is shocked to hear that Shakespeare is regarded as one of the best writers of the English language and is still read in the present day. This leads to the author to observe that literature that lasts, such as Shakespeare, roots itself not in the fashions of the day or the perfection of language as it exists during a particular time period, but attempts to capture what is unchangeable in human nature. It is inevitable with the printing press and the creation of more books each year that some popular and celebrated literature will be forgotten and supplanted by other works. There is simply too many works! Although he accepts literary criticism can be useful in helping us discern what is worth reading, he also has plenty of antipathy for bad literary criticism such as the many commentaries on Shakespeare that seem only to further mystify and obscure rather than clarify the playwright.
The collection also includes a number of ghost stories and fairy lore. One of the best-known stories is “Rip Van Winkle,” which deals with the eponymous character who escapes from his overbearing and controlling wife by falling asleep on the mountaintop for twenty years only to wake up to a completely changed world he doesn’t recognize. “The Spectre Bridegroom” tells the story of a nobleman who pretends to be the ghost of a dead groom after falling in love with the bride to be. The original groom died during an attack by brigands in his way to his future bride and the friend must share the untimely news with the hostile family.
The other best-known work of the collection and another ghost story is “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Ichabod is a local school teacher who is both erudite and superstitious. He falls for a coquette named Katrina Van Tassel whose own physical charms are only outdone by her father’s copious stores of good food and stocked larder due to his success as a farmer. Ichabod fantasizes about a potential marriage to her, especially controlling the vast stores of delicious food and dainties.
“The pedagogue’s mouth watered as he looked upon this sumptuous promise of luxurious winter fare. In his devouring mind’s eye, he pictured to himself every roasting-pig running about with a pudding in his belly, and an apple in his mouth; the pigeons were snugly put to bed in a comfortable pie, and tucked in with a coverlet of crust; the geese were swimming in their own gravy; and the ducks pairing cosily in dishes, like snug married couples, with a decent competency of onion sauce. In the porkers he saw carved out the future sleek side of bacon, and juicy relishing ham; not a turkey but he beheld daintily trussed up, with its gizzard under its wing, and, peradventure, a necklace of savory sausages; and even bright chanticleer himself lay sprawling on his back, in a side dish, with uplifted claws, as if craving that quarter which his chivalrous spirit disdained to ask while living.”
Ichabod is a social climber who dreams of a more illustrious life than that of a poor school teacher. Unfortunately for Ichabod he has a rival for Katrina in the brawny Brom Bones. After riding home from a party where a number of ghost stories were recounted, Ichabod encounters the headless horsemen from one of the tales and tries to escape across a bridge only to be struck by the headless horseman’s head and disappear from the village forever. Was he killed by the ghost and now Ichabod’s spirit also haunts the town as some of the villagers suggest? Did he flee after the horrifying night and become a successful lawyer and politician elsewhere? Was it a real encounter with the supernatural or was it really Broms Bones pretending to be the headless horsemen to scare off a rival? The ending is ambiguous and open to interpretation.
digitalmozart's review against another edition
3.0
Origally I was going to give this book 2 stars. The only two stories in this collection of any merit are the most famous ones, those being "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". The rest are a drab collection of essays and stories that fall into the following categories
-Daydreams that "Geoffrey" experiences (Talking books, authors coming out of paintings)
-C H R I S T M A S
-15 pages about a singular building, person, or person in a building
However. A sentence in the final part of the book, titled l'Envoy, caught me off guard, and I really respected it.
"[The author] ventures to serve up this second volume in the same heterogeneous way with his first; simply requesting the reader, if he should find here and there something to please him, to rest assured that it was written expressly for intelligent readers like himself; but entreating him, should he find anything to dislike, to tolerate it, as one of those articles which the author has been obliged to write for readers of a less refined taste."
-Daydreams that "Geoffrey" experiences (Talking books, authors coming out of paintings)
-C H R I S T M A S
-15 pages about a singular building, person, or person in a building
However. A sentence in the final part of the book, titled l'Envoy, caught me off guard, and I really respected it.
"[The author] ventures to serve up this second volume in the same heterogeneous way with his first; simply requesting the reader, if he should find here and there something to please him, to rest assured that it was written expressly for intelligent readers like himself; but entreating him, should he find anything to dislike, to tolerate it, as one of those articles which the author has been obliged to write for readers of a less refined taste."
avinsh10's review against another edition
3.0
Washington Irving's book is more about what makes the United States an immigrant nation. He explores what we can take from the old world and apply to improve life in the new world. Though some of his sketches are just sentimental reminisce, there are a few good ones I enjoyed among them.
I'll list my favorite stories:
Supernatural Tales:
Rip Van Winkle
The Spectre Bridegroom
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Sketches on English Life:
The Voyage
The Wife
The Widow and Her Son
The Mutability of Literature
Sketches on Native American:
Traits of Indian Character
Philip of Pokanoket
Regards,
Vinay
I'll list my favorite stories:
Supernatural Tales:
Rip Van Winkle
The Spectre Bridegroom
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Sketches on English Life:
The Voyage
The Wife
The Widow and Her Son
The Mutability of Literature
Sketches on Native American:
Traits of Indian Character
Philip of Pokanoket
Regards,
Vinay