The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

About the book

Ichabod Crane teaches in a quiet Hudson Valley settlement whose local traditions give the landscape a reputation for enchantment. His interests include plentiful meals, ghost stories, and the attractive prospects associated with Katrina Van Tassel. A rival suitor and the neighbourhood's taste for supernatural tales make his ambitions increasingly precarious. Irving takes time over the social world around the schoolmaster, giving food, farms, gatherings, and storytelling as much importance as the anticipated fright. The tale's humour depends on the relationship between desire and credulity: Ichabod readily imagines what he wants and what he fears. As daylight sociability gives way to a lonely journey, readers must consider how a place's legends can shape an experience before anything unusual has actually happened.

• Folklore
• Desire and rivalry
• Belief and imagination

Why read it

For a richly comic setting that makes the ghost story grow naturally from local habits of storytelling.

English text