I picked this up and dipped into it and thought....Wow, not just a headless horseman, but some really interesting essays. I hope to read more of this later.

classic ( )

Washington Irving’s ghost stories are just my type of ghost story: they’re tricky and creepy, but full of twists. Irving’s twists are rather predictable, but I found that Irving’s long-winded, wordy, early-1800s prose made his stories delightful to read.

More detailed review on my blog

Sleepy Hollow is definitely a classic! Rip Van Winkle is another, but the rest were all new to me. The Adventures of a German Student was VERY creepy, The Devil and Tom Walker had a Blair Witch kinda feel to it...there were a few others that I enjoyed, but I hafta' admit I ended up skipping a couple which seemed more like observations than short stories... ( )

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is my favorite in this book, but all the stories are fun to read as a picture of life in early America. ( )

I'm not a huge fan of Irving. I've got no beef with the collection. ( )

Wonderful ( )

This might be the oldest book I have, but the style of much of the writing is equally archaic, and not really to my taste. Much of the book is Irving's accounts of what he loves about rural England as an American, and after a while his florid rhapsodizing about the joys of the English countryside and her denizens makes my eyes glaze over. There are some nice bits, though. Irving's classics "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" are here, and nice bits of whimsy and suspense they are. I was intrigued by Irving's essay warning England against fostering a resentment of America, because this was a young and growing giant of a country, and someday England might need America to come to her aid (nice bit of foreshadowing there, 150 years before World War II). Irving's essays about the plight of the native Americans (Indians) was surprisingly and refreshingly enlightened for the times, when the Indians were being systematically herded and persecuted from their lands. A mixed bag, but in general worth the read. You can skip the pastoral stuff. ( )

While most readers will be familiar with "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", the various less known works collected here are fascinating in the portraits they produce of life in England (Irving's residence at the time of writing and publication). In particular, the Christmas sketches clearly influenced Dickens's own Christmas tales. One of my favorites, which should also be of interest to other members of LibraryThing, is "The Mutability of Literature" in which Mr. Irving visits the library at Westminster Abbey, is dismayed the books seem to be solely collected but not read and is then startled when he takes on old tome off the shelf, opens it, and it coughs and begins talking to him. The book seems unwilling to believe that it is no longer popular, as it was well-liked in its time (hundreds of years ago). It's a very interesting way of making the point that tastes in literature change as the years, and centuries, go by. All in all, there are very few sketches that disappointed me, most provided at least some entertainment or interesting ideas, which, according to the appendixes Irving added to his editions, was his intent. ( )

Irving's masterpiece. ( )

I loved the tales of Washington Irving as a chld. I had no idea that he was also a funny and witty essayist as well. ( )

Collection of short stories by Irving. Includes:

Rip Van Winkle: Very short story. Based on German stories, so not really original, but it is set in America and was one of the first popular stories by an American author. Some interesting insights on pre and post Revolutionary War viewpoints.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: By far the best story he wrote. Very enjoyable, good paceing, good mixture of humour and suspense. The movies (Disney 1949 and Tim Burton 2005) don't do it justice. Disney is better than the Burton, which translated it into a cheesy teen-horror flick with the latest CGI and an evil step-mother (although Burtons magical style is worth seeing alone, looks like "Adams Family").

The Mutability of Literature: Interesting story about an old library in which old books speak lamenting how they are never read. Touches on issues very relevant today about "information overload" and ideas versus objects. Fascinating given its age how relevant it is today.
The Spectre Bridegroom: Great story with a really good twist. Didn't see it coming, really makes your flesh crawl. I won't forget this story.

Wolfert Webber: A pirate story. The description of the Inn and the mysterious pirate with his chest are classic, certainly known by Robert Louis Stevenson in Treasure Island it is very similar. ( )