Four stars to the two major works included in this book. Four to some other essays. And three to some others. I enjoyed the biographical material concerning Irving at the beginning. Unexpected plus. ( )

I was looking for something slightly spooky for Halloween and remembered the film of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. There are some slight touches of the supernatural but on the whole these are not spooky stories but more a glimpse of a former way of life. I didn't always get the humour but am pleased to have read this collection. ( )

4928. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow & Other Stories, by Washington Irving (read 2 Jun 2012) This book contains 18 short stories or essays. The first two stories are the title story and Rip Van Winkle, which I read in grade school and remembered well. But I had no book by Washington Irving in my list of books read since I only put in that list books which I read cover-to-cover, and I read those two stories in a school reader. So I read all of this book so I would have something by Irving in my list. Most of the stories or essays are not too bad, and some are quite good. All are written very starchily, with no hint of dialect or the like. Rip Van Winkle is obviously the best of the bunch, but there is other good stuff in the book, including a thoughtful account of a buffalo hunt in which the hunter has remorse for killing the buffalo he shot--something which far too many buffalo hunters did not have the good sense to feel. ( )

This is a great collection of stories. Washington Irving paints a vivid picture with his words, every story is a window into a time and place. ( )

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