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A review by sarahcoller
The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. by Washington Irving
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)