Audiobook · read by volunteers
Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Washington Irving (1783–1859)
Read by Chip · 1 chapter · 1 h 23
About the book
In a sleepy glen on the Hudson, where the people are dreamy and the air is full of old stories, a lanky schoolmaster named Ichabod Crane teaches the village children and dreams of marrying the plump, rich Katrina Van Tassel. He has a rival, the boisterous Brom Bones, and a head full of tales about ghosts, witches and a headless horseman who rides the road at night. Washington Irving's classic is one part comedy, one part ghost story, and wholly a joy to hear. Its sly humour, its richly described countryside and its uneasy autumn nights have become part of American folklore. One volunteer reads the original text in about an hour and twenty minutes. Listen after dark, and keep an ear on the road.
Introduction
Washington Irving, who lived from 1783 to 1859, was among the first American authors to win a wide readership in Europe. He was a humorist, essayist and historian, and he made his reputation with comic and sentimental pieces in a style that borrowed from English essay writing but took its subjects from the New World. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was published in 1820, and is one of the two stories, along with Rip Van Winkle, that remain most closely tied to his name.
The tale is set in a Dutch settlement in colonial New York, and it makes the most of the region's folklore. Irving presents it as a story found among the papers of an old gentleman, a device that lets him tease and deceive the reader in a pleasant way. The atmosphere is carefully built, from the drowsy afternoon landscapes to the shadowy road at night, and he mixes humour with a growing sense of unease. The schoolmaster's vanity, his greed and his superstition are all treated with an affectionate mockery, and it is never quite clear how much of the supernatural to believe.
The story has been retold many times in books, films, cartoons and festivals, and its images, especially the headless horseman, have become part of the American autumn. Here you can hear it in the form Irving gave it. The recording is one chapter and runs about an hour and twenty minutes, read by a LibriVox volunteer.
It is a perfect companion for a long October evening, and a good way to enjoy a classic that rewards close listening.
Public domain
Washington Irving died in 1859: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text