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The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon

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The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon

By: Washington Irving
Narrated by: Brian Troxell
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About this listen

In The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon (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".

Public Domain (P)2011 Audible, Inc. Classics Literary History & Criticism United States World Literature

Editor reviews

Washington Irving created the quintessential dark American fable in The Headless Horseman. Irving thought deeply about history and the act of writing. He practiced writing in many styles. The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon is a collection of Irving’s various trial runs and musings. His career-defining works are framed here. Irving’s fictions can be romantic, funny, gothic, supernatural, or satirical. For present day audiences the stories have an antique quality; they are period pieces that invite you to travel back in time. Narrator Brian Troxell does something unusual: He reads Irving’s writing in a brisk and modern tone. Troxell’s quick and easy delivery makes Irving’s writing seem far less mannered and dated, although the fantastic and haunting images still come through without distortion.
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The chapters are all of historical interest, with some more engaging than others. Irving’s presentation of women can be compared to that of Dickens: he is sometimes downright offensive in his accounts of shrews and scolds, and sometimes sentimental, idealised and somehow both admiring and condescending at the same time. His various accounts of old English customs are based on a romantic view of the past, but can nevertheless be endearing. I found the performance to be efficient, but a bit staccato and unexpressive. There were also some glaring mispronunciations, eg. of the River Mersey.

A varied collection of descriptions, observations and narratives.

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