Washington Irving and his Pseudonims

         One of the things you have to remember is that Washington Irving had a great sense of humor, which transcended into his writings. Rather than use a tired, old narrator to tell his stories, he creates personas and uses pseudonyms, or fake names, to publish his stories.

         One of his early pseudonyms was Diedrich Knickerbocker, which he used as the author of a book he wrote called A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty.This was a political satire, a piece of writing that uses irony and sarcasm to show flaws in something. Before he published this piece, Irving actually posted in the newspaper that a man named Diedrich Knickerbocker had gone missing from a hotel. This went on for a while before Irving then posted, as the landlord of the hotel, that Knickerbocker had left some papers behind that would be published as payment for rent that Knickerbocker had not paid. By the time the piece was actually published, people were already interested and Irving became a quick success.

           Another pseudonym Irving used was Geoffrey Crayon. Geoffrey Crayon is the supposed author of a collection of stories under the title The Sketch Book. These stories, which were greatly influenced by German folk tales, included 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' and 'Rip Van Winkle,' two of the stories he is best known for. He also published an additional set of stories using the Crayon pseudonym called Tales of a Traveler, which included the short story 'The Devil and Tom Walker' - another piece heavily influenced by the German legends.

Washington Irving and his major works

Washington Irving

         Washington Irving was born in New York City on April 3, 1783. Irving achieved international fame for his fictional works, including the stories Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, as well as for his biographies and historical writings. Irving served as the United States ambassador to Spain and helped to promote international copyright before his death in 1859.

Irving is best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle," 

Washington Irving was born on April 3, 1783 in New York City, New York, USA. He was one of eleven children born to Scottish-English immigrant parents, William Irving, Sr. and Sarah. He was named Washington after the hero of the American revolution (which had just ended),George Washington, and attended the first presidential inauguration of his namesake in 1789.

        He and his brother William Irving and James Kirke Paulding wrote the Salamagundi papers (1807–8), a collection of humorous essays. He first became more widely known for his comic work, A History of New York (1809), written under the name of "Diedrich Knickerbocker."

In 1815 Irving went to England to work for his brothers' business, and when that failed he composed a collection of stories and essays that became The Sketch Book, published under the name "Geoffrey Crayon" (1819–20), which included ‘Rip Van Winkle’ and ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’. In 1822 he went to the Continent, living in Germany and France for several years, and was then in Spain (1826) and became attache at the US embassy in Madrid. While in Spain he researched for his biography of Christopher Columbus(1828) and his works on Granada (1829) and the Alhambra (1832).

        He was secretary of the US legation in London (1829–32), and later returned to Spain as the US ambassador (1842–6), but he spent most of the rest of his life at his estate, ‘Sunnyside’, near Tarrytown, NY, turning out a succession of mainly historical and biographical works, including a five-volume life of George Washington. Although he became a best-selling author, he never really fully developed as a literary talent, he has retained his reputation as the first American man of letters. Irving also advocated for writing as a legitimate career, and argued for stronger laws to protect writers from copyright infringement.

        In 1999, director Tim Burton released his film Sleepy Hollow based on Washington Irving's story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." The film starred Johnny Depp as police constable Ichabod Crane, who is sent from New York City to investigate a series of murders by a mysterious Headless Horseman.

Washington Irving. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 01:25, май 10, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/washington-irving-9350087.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

    

              “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is a short story that is popular because of the mixture of mysterious and comical. Washington Irving tells of Ichabod Crane, who was a school teacher. The town was full of supernatural stories, tales and rumors. Ichabod enjoys hearing the tales and his job as a teacher allows him to spend a lot of time in the various households. Ichabod falls in love with Katrina Van Tassel, who happens to be the only daughter of one of the wealthier farmers in the town. Ichabod ends up in competition with Brom Van Brunt, who is also in love with Katrina. 

              Before reading the story, I had a pleasure to enjoy the movie by Tim Burton, featuring Johny Depp as Ichabod Crane. But the original story and the one, presented by Burton are absolutely different. 

               In the movie young policeman Ichabod Crane is sent to from New York to the fledgling settlement of Sleepy Hollow to investigate a series of ghoulish murders. On his arrival, the town council informs him that the three victims were killed in open ground, and the heads had disappeared - taken by a headless ghost that is supposedly responsible. Ichabod is unconvinced of this, but learns more about the ghostly horseman - it is the ghost of a Hessian sent by the British during the revolutionary war, and he was caught by redcoats and decapitated with his own sword. When Ichabod sees the ghost kill one of the town council members, his skepticism evaporates - and he soon discovers that the horseman's ghost has an unholy connection to Balthus Van Tassel, a wealthy farmer - and whose daughter Ichabod is falling in love with.

             Therefore, after reading the original story, I was surprised, because I did not have the feeling of horror, but was laughing, like insane. On the contrary, after I watched the movie, I was frightened a little bit =). But definitely I was satisfied with the story, even though it hadn’t met my expectations, what were set by the movie.

And for your attention, I would like to present the movie trailer of The Legend of  Sleepy Hollow: 

http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Washington_Irving/The_Legend_of_Sleepy_Hollow/The_Legend_Of_Sleepy_Hollow_p1.html Here you can read the full story! Enjoy =)