This post is sponsored by Grammarly. I use the plagiarism checker at Grammarly.com because the original is always better than the remake.
Hello there Minions, tonight we will be discussing The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. I was inspired to read the adventures of Ichabod Crane and that cranially-challenged Hessian because of recent features by Boys and Ghouls and Autodidact in the Attic on their blogs.
The Headless Horseman has always fascinated me and I’ve been familiar with the story since I was a very small boy. And because if this I had always assumed, somehow, that I had read the original story by Irving. After reading Victoria’s blog post, however, I realized that there was a possibility that I hadn’t. That, instead, I had simply let all the different TV and storybook versions become an amalgam of story that eventually coalesced in my mind.
Now, unfortunately, despite all my best intentions, reading actual pages in a book is a luxurious activity that I find rather difficult to do right now. As soon as I settle in to my chair one, or the other, or both of my mini-minions decides to sing me the song of her people and it’s back on my feet with a baby wipe or a bottle or something in my hand, off to yet another adventure in parenting.
I can, however, listen to audio books almost all day long because I spend my days driving around from place to place. Librivox has hundreds of public domain audio books you can download for free and listen on your mobile device. It’s a really good thing and I highly suggest you use it, especially if you have a commute. I have managed to take in many classics in this way. Or, if you want to read it, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was originally published in a collection called The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon and it’s free on Kindle.
Okay, so after reading the original, it is pretty much the same as I remember it. Meaning that most of the adaptations are pretty true to Irving’s story, with the biggest exception being the Tim Burton Film.
The story is of one small town schoolmaster named Ichabod Crane. Crane is attempting to court Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter of a very wealthy farmer. He has a rival in Bram “Bones” Van Brunt, the local bad boy and prankster. One night Ichabod attends a party at the Van Tassel home where the guests entertain themselves with stories of ghosts and spirits. One of the town’s most famous ghost stories is that of the Headless Horseman; a Hessian mercenary who had lost his head to a cannon in the revolution. On his way home from the party, Ichabod travels through the woods and is then chased by a rider with no head on his shoulders, but instead held in his hand at the pommel of his saddle. The rider throws the head at Ichabod, striking him down. The next day, there is no sign of Ichabod Crane but his hat and saddle and a smashed pumpkin.
My impression of the story is that it’s lush descriptions and powerful imagery caused me to be transported back in time to a tiny town in Fall. The sights and the smells and the sounds all come through wonderfully and I found myself longing for a caramel apple or a hot cider. The wealth of Van Tassel is defined by luxurious foods and the dishes Irving describes are fantastic. The man who wrote this story was either extremely well-fed or very hungry.
It was properly creepy too. That part holds up. You understand and empathize with a man who spends his days reading books about witchcraft and listening to scary stories told in the dark. Anyone who has ever spent any time in the woods at night knows there are plenty of eyes on you and not all of them are friendly. Imagine what it must have been like before predators were removed and our cynical sciences had not yet disproven everything interesting and fun in the world. I can imagine Ichabod’s ride home would have been pretty scary indeed, even without the spectral attack.
Finally, I believe the format I chose led me to enjoy the story a tiny bit more than had I read it. Parenthood chores notwithstanding, the Librivox version had a narrator with a smooth, deep voice. Hearing the story read by such as he added to the ambiance and I loved it all the more.
Scarydad review: ***** Five stars.
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