In The Sketch-Book (1820-21), Irving explores the uneasy relationship of an American writer to English literary traditions. In two sketches, he experiments with tales transplanted from Europe, thereby creating the first classic American short stories, Rip Van Winkle, and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Based on Irving's final revision of his most popular work, this new edition includes comprehensive explanatory notes of The Sketch-Book's sources for the modern reader.
Customer Review: An Engaging Read
I've heard so much of Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow over the years that this is the reason I purchased the book. I'm working up in the Catsilll Mountains at the moment and wanted to read something that related to the area. This book is far more than the Catskill Mountains as it discusses many of his ventures in England. I found this book to be engaging and heartfelt. I'm happy to finally know more about Washington Irving and his experiences.
Customer Review: "Warm and cheerful pictures of English life"
Washington Irving's "Sketch Book" is an eccentric mongrel of literary types that mingles travel writing, literary reflections, and tales (fiction and historical); it is most famous for "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." In 1931, the literary critic Henry Seidel Canby remarked that "without the two Dutch stories, however, 'The Sketch Book' would not have worn so well. They are perfect examples of what Irving loved to do, and naturally he did them well."
Indeed, few readers ever encounter any of the other selections, except perhaps "The Spectre Bridegroom"--a comic tale of mystery and suspense. What may surprise many readers, however, is that nearly all of the book's remaining entries are about England--mostly about rural life and the landed gentry outside London, or (as described by William Cullen Bryant) "warm and cheerful pictures of English life."
Under the pen name of Geoffrey Crayon, Irving details his sea voyage to England, a comical fishing trip inspired by "The Compleat Angler," a walking excursion through Little Britain (a London neighborhood), and a visit to the library at the British Museum, where he "soon found that the library was a kind of literary 'preserve,' subject to game laws, and that no one must presume to hunt there without special license and permission." He attends a rural church service (during which he pays more attention to the congregants than the rites) and even crashes a funeral party. There are two essays on Shakespeare, a sequence of articles describing English Christmas customs, a biographical account of King James I of Scotland, and a tour of the tombs in Westminster Abbey.
From the safe distance of his exile in England, Irving hurls two essays describing sympathetically "the characters and habits of the North American savage." The phrase is jarring to 21st-century ears, but, while Irving repeatedly uses the unfortunate term, he simultaneously condemns that the "the appellations of savage and pagan were deemed sufficient to sanction the hostilities of both [colonists and writers]." Regardless of its bipolar sensitivity to language, the first essay is a rousing defense of Native Americans: "They cannot but be sensible that the white men are the usurpers of their ancient dominion, the cause of their degradation, and the gradual destroyers of their race." The second essay is a portrait of King Philip, or Metamocet of Pokanoket, the 17th-century chief of the Wampanoag tribe whose conflict with the New England settlers resulted in the near-eradication of his people.
Irving has a tendency to dilute his delight with an abundance of detail, but his mastery of the quip and his sarcasm--so abundant in his "History of New York"--is still on display throughout "The Sketch Book." Its unevenness, ponderousness, and lack of thematic coherence can be challenging, however, and those looking for fiction rather than "sketches" may prefer (as I did) Irving's "Tales of a Traveller," which is comprised entirely of ghost stories, pirate adventures, and tall tales.
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