Classic Books Store
The Complete Tales Of Washington Irving
RRP: $32.95
Our Price: $21.75
You Save: $ 11.20 ( 34% )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Da Capo Press
Author: Charles Neider
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Average Customer Rating:
Our Price: $21.75
You Save: $ 11.20 ( 34% )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Da Capo Press
Author: Charles Neider
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Average Customer Rating:
Experimental feature: Order The Complete Tales Of Washington Irving from the UK, Canada, Germany or France by clicking an appropriate flag below.
Some items available at Amazon.com are not available in all countries.
Some items available at Amazon.com are not available in all countries.
The Complete Tales Of Washington Irving Description
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.2
EAN: 9780306808401
ISBN: 0306808404
Label: Da Capo Press
Manufacturer: Da Capo Press
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 840
Publication Date: 1998-03-21
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Studio: Da Capo Press
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.2
EAN: 9780306808401
ISBN: 0306808404
Label: Da Capo Press
Manufacturer: Da Capo Press
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 840
Publication Date: 1998-03-21
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Studio: Da Capo Press
Editorial Review of The Complete Tales Of Washington Irving
Washington Irving (1783–1859) was the first American literary artist to earn his living solely through his writings and the first to enjoy international acclaim. In addition to his long public service as a diplomat, Irving was amazingly prolific: His collected works fill forty volumes that encompass essays, history, travel writings, and multi-volume biographies of Columbus and Washington. But it is Irving’s mastery of suspense, characterization, tempo, and irony that transforms his fiction into virtuoso performances, earning him his reputation as the father of the American short story. Charles Neider has gathered all sixty-one of Irving's tales, originally scattered throughout his many collections of nonfiction essays and sketches, into one magnificent volume. Together, they reveal his wide range: besides the expected classics like "Rip Van Winkle," "The Spectre Bridegroom," "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," and "The Devil and Tom Walker," his fiction embraces realistic tales, ghost stories, parodies, legends, fables, and satires. For those familiar only with secondhand retellings of Irving's most famous tales, this collection offers the opportunity to step inside Washington Irving's imagination and partake of its innumerable and timeless pleasures.
Customer Reviews of The Complete Tales Of Washington Irving
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A Spicy Brew
Review: Some give the sheaf to Charles Brockden Brown but I far prefer the mellow stylings of Washington Irving, the sage of Tarrytown. When I was a boy I was introduced to this splendid body of work by one of my grade school teachers, a collateral relative of Washington Irving, a man who hailed from upstate New York and who carried in his bloodlines some of the authentically spooky platelets of colonial America. During the Napoleonic period the US was not necessarily a pretty place to live in, and Irving's famous story THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN shows us some of the dark underbelly of American life. You really weren't safe out of your own good, and at night travel was even more dangerous. Plus, as anyone who's read the story of Ichabod Crane knows, people were just as prone to jeer and mock the funny-looking as they are today. The story is heartbreaking on two levels, the naturalistic and the symbolic. We all know someone like Ichabod Crane, and many of us find ourselves mirrored in his lonely gaze and terrifying gallop through Hessian country. Irving, like Hawthorne, wrote out many of his tales swearing they were as "his grandfather told him," and thus they are set in a period before his own, a misty place of the past that he knew how to make terrifyingly real and relevant.
My teacher also reminded us that Washington Irving was a very cultured man who believed, like Johnny Appleseed, in planting America with the fruits of other, older lands, so that among his stories you will find some from Europe, re-told to make them apropos and socially relevant for the rawness of a new world.
For horror and fright Washington Irving has few rivals, and the bonus is an added richness as of old apples carpeting a winter meadow, and thus this book, edited by a Twain expert, smells like spicy cider on New Years Eve; lots of good cheer along with your ghosts.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Mystery and Romance in Rural Settings
Review: (This review refers to the PUFFIN Anthology.)
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Proof of the talent of an important American author
Review: This wonderful collection proves once and for all that there is more to Irving than "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". The stories contained within this volume are wonderfully told and sparkle with imagination. The pieces from "The Alahambra" were the most impressive.
Review Summary: A Spicy Brew
Review: Some give the sheaf to Charles Brockden Brown but I far prefer the mellow stylings of Washington Irving, the sage of Tarrytown. When I was a boy I was introduced to this splendid body of work by one of my grade school teachers, a collateral relative of Washington Irving, a man who hailed from upstate New York and who carried in his bloodlines some of the authentically spooky platelets of colonial America. During the Napoleonic period the US was not necessarily a pretty place to live in, and Irving's famous story THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN shows us some of the dark underbelly of American life. You really weren't safe out of your own good, and at night travel was even more dangerous. Plus, as anyone who's read the story of Ichabod Crane knows, people were just as prone to jeer and mock the funny-looking as they are today. The story is heartbreaking on two levels, the naturalistic and the symbolic. We all know someone like Ichabod Crane, and many of us find ourselves mirrored in his lonely gaze and terrifying gallop through Hessian country. Irving, like Hawthorne, wrote out many of his tales swearing they were as "his grandfather told him," and thus they are set in a period before his own, a misty place of the past that he knew how to make terrifyingly real and relevant.
My teacher also reminded us that Washington Irving was a very cultured man who believed, like Johnny Appleseed, in planting America with the fruits of other, older lands, so that among his stories you will find some from Europe, re-told to make them apropos and socially relevant for the rawness of a new world.
For horror and fright Washington Irving has few rivals, and the bonus is an added richness as of old apples carpeting a winter meadow, and thus this book, edited by a Twain expert, smells like spicy cider on New Years Eve; lots of good cheer along with your ghosts.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Mystery and Romance in Rural Settings
Review: (This review refers to the PUFFIN Anthology.)
This Puffin anthology presents five of Irving's short stories--tales of fantasy, legend and unrequited love--all set in rural New York and Europe, orignally published in 1820. His literary genius
was quickly evident; the elegant style contributed to his
accolade as "the father of American literature." Despite minimal dialogue the author captivates serious readers with his lush descriptions of scenery, bizarre twists of fate or
imagination, often interspersed with touches of wry humor.
Examining the follies of the human mind, as well as the foibles of the human heart, Irving has chosen the following subjects:
romance, ghosts, ambition, naivety, and pedantry. RIP VAN WINKLE and THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW are set in Dutch New York; THE SPECTRE BRIDEGROOM in the forests of Germany. THE PRIDE OF THE VILLAGE takes place in rural, Hardyesque England, while MOUNTJOY returns readers to Yankee New York state. This anthology provides delectable reading for an armchair by the hearth--especially in chilly, hobgoblin weather--by a premier raconteur
and US diplomat.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Proof of the talent of an important American author
Review: This wonderful collection proves once and for all that there is more to Irving than "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". The stories contained within this volume are wonderfully told and sparkle with imagination. The pieces from "The Alahambra" were the most impressive.