Paperback

Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow are still widely read today. This story of Rip Van Winkle has become a tradition. Rip is a rich example of the hen-pecked husband and likable good-for-nothing, and Dame Van Winkle an example of the termagant wife. The mountains are the traditional home of magic, and the magical sleep is found throughout folk and fairy tale. In spite of the conventionality of these elements in the story, Irving has, by the skillful use of the specific setting of the Hudson River valley and by such details as the rusted gun Rip finds when he wakes and the changes Rip meets when he returns to the village, made the story as real to us as if it were an everyday occurrence.