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blewballoon's review against another edition
dark
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Excellent prose, Washington Irving creates some really great imagery which often times felt like visual gags in writing. The exaggerated tone of the descriptions made me want to watch the animated adaptation, I could so easily picture the scene in a Looney Tunes or Donald Duck cartoon. For my attention span, these descriptions sometimes caused me to lose focus and I had to backtrack to remember the actual bones of the story.
Similarly to Dracula, this reads to me as more of a comedy than a scary story. Unlike with Dracula, the narrative voice came off as cynical and the characters are a not likable. Any adaptation that presents Ichabod as a good and sincere man is taking liberties. None of the other characters are better, they are just different caricatures.
Overall, somehow both a better and worse experience than I expected. The prose was fun to listen to on audiobook, but if it had been longer it probably would have worn out its welcome due to lack of captivating characters and plot.
Similarly to Dracula, this reads to me as more of a comedy than a scary story. Unlike with Dracula, the narrative voice came off as cynical and the characters are a not likable. Any adaptation that presents Ichabod as a good and sincere man is taking liberties. None of the other characters are better, they are just different caricatures.
Overall, somehow both a better and worse experience than I expected. The prose was fun to listen to on audiobook, but if it had been longer it probably would have worn out its welcome due to lack of captivating characters and plot.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Classism
Minor: Animal cruelty, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and Colonisation
maeverose's review against another edition
medium-paced
1.75
The last 12 pages was the only part I really liked. The rest was pretty boring to me.
Lots of very long sentences with lots of commas. The language (combined with the long sentences) made it hard for me to understand certain parts. Not so much that I didn’t know what was going on in the story, but it was a bit tedious to read. I haven’t read many classics yet, this is the oldest one I’ve read so far, the next being Dracula (which I gave 4 stars).
Lots of very long sentences with lots of commas. The language (combined with the long sentences) made it hard for me to understand certain parts. Not so much that I didn’t know what was going on in the story, but it was a bit tedious to read. I haven’t read many classics yet, this is the oldest one I’ve read so far, the next being Dracula (which I gave 4 stars).
As you might expect from any classic written by a white man, there’s racism and misogyny in this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Colonisation, and War
Minor: Pedophilia and Religious bigotry
guns/hunting, lots of mentions of food (including seeing animals only as future food), and as you might assume, there’s mentions of headlessness
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