The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow

by Washington Irving

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

Find this review and others like it at The Literary Phoenix.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is an annual tradition for me in October. The audiobook is only an hour and a half long, so it’s a nice distraction for a day’s drive to and from the office. With the mornings dark and rainy, the atmosphere this year was perfect for Sleepy Hollow.

Unfortunately, the biggest things that stood out for me this year was the way the black characters were treated… they’re gross stereotypes. It’s not what I should be taking out of the book, but I have a difficult time setting it aside. I remember noticing it last year, but it seemed more defined this year for some reason. Definitely dampened the experience. I understand this book is old, published 45 years before emancipation in America, but yuck.

Tom Mison’s voice is velvety perfection, though… so I enjoyed that!

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Previous Review: 10/19/19: 4 Stars

Still love this one.

I did notice some problematic moments that could have been cut, but I'm also one of those people that believes: this was written in 1820 and while I don't think that the two racist sentences were okay, I also get that... it was 1820.

I do find that the language - while lyrical - can get a bit tedious. That's my only complaint, other than the racist stuff. Which, really, is only two sentences. Still a classic October book!
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2017 Review: 5 Stars

This book is an October tradition for me.

I love book traditions.  As a kid, I knew the story of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman, but I had never read the book until Audible gave it away to its subscribers in 2014.  It's about a scrawny school teacher who falls in love with the wealthy Katrina Von Tassel and begin to woo her - even though she is already being courted by Brom, one of the rowdy boys of the town.    Fortunately for Brom, Crane is run out of town by the apparition of the Headless Horseman.

Tom Mison's reading is brilliant.

As I was listening to it this year (the audiobook is very short), it occurred to me that even though the rich descriptions are lovely and I adore the character quirks of this classic folk tale, what I REALLY love is Tom Mison's voice.  He played Ichabod Crane in Fox's Sleepy Hollow which was sort of a hot mess (I watched all four seasons and loved it) and he read the whole thing so perfectly.  It was brilliant of Audible to bring him in to do it.

Sleepy Hollow is a must-read folktale classic.

I'm a New Englander, so this story really hits home for me.  The description of the little sleeping valleys between mountains and cities still holds true today, even though the story takes place in New York.  There's a rustic old world charm to the tale that makes it delightful.  It's not scary in the least, even though it is a ghost story.  It's just a fun little yarn about a superstitious man and the shadows under the moon.

I love it.
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First read: December 2014

The classic tale of Sleepy Hollow is one of the few notable American folk tales, and while it is in itself wonderful and quaint, the addition of Tom Mison's rich voice undoubtedly accentuates the story, making it resound in an even more eerie manner.

A ghost story is meant to be told, not read, and nobody is better for this, I think, than Mison.