Rip Van Winkle

by Washington Irving, Arthur Rackham (Illustrator)

These magnificent illustrations, created for a 1905 edition of Washington Irving's enchanting fairy tale, established Arthur Rackham as a leading illustrator of his time. The illustrations featured traits that soon were to characterize much of Rackham's flowing pen lines and muted watercolors, forests of looming trees, lovely fairy maidens, and quizzical troll-like figures. Today these images are recognized as among Rackham's very best works.
This edition features all 51 full-page color plates, as well as the full text of Irving's classic tale. And enduring foundation of Catskill lore, the captivating narrative recounts the fanciful adventures of an amiable ne'er-do-well colonial farmer who wanders into the highlands, falls asleep after drinking with a band of strange little mountain men, and wakes twenty years later in a world that has passed him by.
Effusing a gentle humor, Rackham's art is a constant reminder of a more innocent era. This edition — sure to enchant art lovers — will also delight Rackham devotees and fantasy fans alike.

Genres: Classics, Short Stories, Fiction, Fantasy, School, American, Literature

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1819

About the author

People remember American writer Washington Irving for the stories " Rip Van Winkle " and " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow ," contained in The Sketch Book (1820).

This author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century wrote newspaper articles under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle to begin his literary career at the age of nineteen years.

In 1809, he published The History of New York under his most popular public persona, Diedrich Knickerbocker.

Historical works of Irving include a five volume biography of George Washington (after whom he was named) as well as biographies of Oliver Goldsmith, Muhammad, and several histories, dealing with subjects, such as Christopher Columbus, the Moors, and the Alhambra, of 15th-century Spain. John Tyler, president, appointed Irving to serve as the first Spanish speaking United States minister to Spain from 1842 to 1846.

Reviews

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Rip Van Winkle" is considered by some critics to be one of the finest early American short stories. Almost everyone knows the basic story, but I'd guess not all that many people have actually read Washington Irving's original story. **Warning: if you're one of those vanishingly rare people who's not familiar with this story, there are major spoilers after the next picture below.**

It took a little digging to find the full original version of this old story online; it turns out that it's included in a collection of stories by Washington Irving called The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., available for free at Gutenberg here.

Rip van Winkle is a villager living in New York state, just before the American Revolution in the 1770s. He's also a layabout who likes hunting and hanging out at the tavern with friends, but not so much working on his farm. I had never realized how totally useless as a husband Rip Van Winkle was, and how extremely shrewish his wife was. Rip is willing to help anyone else but is a complete failure at providing for his own family; his wife spends every waking moment nagging and yelling at him. They make each other completely miserable.



So it's almost for the best when one day Rip goes walking in the mountains and meets up with a group of outlandish men playing nine-pins and drinking from a flagon. Rip helps himself to their liquor, and eventually falls into a drunken sleep. Twenty years later he wakes up and makes his way back to his village, to find that America is now independent from Britain, his children have grown, his wife has died, and he can now sit around and be lazy in peace, respected as a patriarch of the village and a symbol of the old times.



I've looked at some critics' analyses of "Rip Van Winkle," and there are some intriguing ideas about what this story means:

* A symbol of America's escape from British rule, with Britain playing the role of the mean, despotic wife.
* A commentary on how the more things change, the more they stay the same.
* A cautionary tale about people who live irresponsible lives and rely on other people to take care of them:

Rip's daughter took him home to live with her; she had a snug, well-furnished house, and a stout cheery farmer for a husband, whom Rip recollected for one of the urchins that used to climb upon his back. As to Rip's son and heir, who was the ditto of himself, seen leaning against the tree, he was employed to work on the farm; but evinced an hereditary disposition to attend to any thing else but his business.

It is interesting how Rip's passive personality doesn't really change over the course of the story. The news that his wife has died affects his life much more than the news of the American Revolution.

The character of the shrewish wife is one-dimensional, but the more I think about Rip Van Winkle and how he reacts (or fails to react) to life and the events around him, the more I'm intrigued with this story. In fact, the process of writing this review convinced me to up my rating from 3 stars to 4. There's more here than initially meets the eye. It's an interesting character analysis as well as a fun story.

[Bionic Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rip Van Winkle is one of those stories we seem to recollect from childhood but perhaps are not sure exactly how. It feels like a traditional folk tale; as though its origins have been lost in antiquity. Indeed the name “Rip Van Winkle” now seems synonymous with the idea of someone going to sleep, meeting up in his dreams with fairy folk, and waking to discover that many years had passed in the interim. Yet the idea of the story is present in many cultures.

The short story Rip Van Winkle was in fact first published in 1819, and written by the American author, essayist, biographer and historian, Washington Irving. This review is for a large edition of his story with beautiful reproductions by Arthur Rackham, now revered as a major artist of the “golden age” of children’s illustration. It was first printed in 1905, and these 34 illustrations he lovingly created for it, established his reputation as the leading decorative illustrator of his time.



It is sometimes said that Washington Irving was America’s first great author, and that Rip Van Winkle was the first successful American short story. Rip Van Winkle is similar in feel to the English literary works of the time, and was written while Washington Irving was actually living in England, in Birmingham, although the story is set in New York’s Catskill (or “Kaatskill”) Mountains.

The action takes place around the time of the American War of Independence, in a small, very old village which was founded by some of the earliest Dutch settlers, at the foot of the Catskill Mountains. It tells the story of a “simple good-natured fellow”, Rip Van Winkle. Although he is descended from gallant soldiers, he is a kind, peaceful man, well known for being popular with all his neighbours in the village. But he has one flaw:

“Rip Van Winkle … was one of those happy mortals, of foolish, well-oiled dispositions, who take the world easy, eat white bread or brown, whichever can be got with least thought or trouble, and would rather starve on a penny than work for a pound.”

He is not exactly lazy; in fact, he is perfectly willing to spend all day helping someone else with their jobs. But he seems to be completely unable to do any work which could help his own household, or make any money. He is continually berated by his wife, and Dame Van Winkle has no problem shouting insults after him, and tracking him down in the village to scold him in public. He is forced to suffer in “the fiery furnace of domestic tribulation”. Yet he maintains his gentle, carefree demeanour, and as a consequence all the women and children in the village love him, and side with him against his wife. Even the dogs do not bark at him.

Rip Van Winkle takes to avoiding his wife more and more, and escapes from her presence whenever he can. But to his chagrin, this does not improve matters but seems to make them worse:

“Times grew worse and worse with Rip Van Winkle as years of matrimony rolled on; a tart temper never mellows with age, and a sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use.”

Sometimes when he tries to console himself, he frequents a sort of club of other dreamers and layabouts, who meet on a bench outside a small inn. The landlord of the inn and the leader of this “philosophical or political” group is Nicholaus Vedder. He never speaks, but everyone understands his opinions by the manner of how he smokes his pipe. The group of men gossip, maybe discussing “current” events when they find an old newspaper, and tell each other stories to pass the time. But even here, Rip Van Winkle cannot escape from his wife’s scolding. What is he to do?

As time goes on, things continue to get worse. His wife is convinced that the farm’s bad luck is because of his indolence, so she nags him morning, noon, and night. Rip spends more and more time in the outdoors, with his one companion — his dog Wolf — who for some reason is just as badly treated by Dame Van Winkle.

On one of his trip to the woods, Rip Van Winkle finds he has wandered to one of the highest points in the Catskill Mountains. He knows he will not be able to get home before dark, and feels even more sorry for himself as he sits down to rest in a ravine. Then he hears a voice call out his name, and sees a shadowy figure in need of help. Willingly he approaches the strange-looking fellow:

“On nearer approach, he was still more surprised at the singularity of the stranger’s appearance. He was a short, square-built old fellow, with thick bushy hair, and a grizzled beard. His dress was of the antique Dutch fashion — a cloth jerkin strapped around the waist — several pair of breeches, the outer one of ample volume, decorated with rows of buttons down the sides, and bunches at the knees.”

Together they lug a heavy keg higher and higher, until they reach an amphitheatre in the woods. Here are gathered a collection of similarly quaint-looking men, all mutely playing nine-pins. Oddly, although it seems as though they should be enjoying themselves, they are silent and grim. Rip Van Winkle is very puzzled.



His strange companion starts to serve drinks from the keg they have carried, and eventually Rip Van Winkle has one for himself:



It tastes so delicious that he keeps going back for more, until he is quite drunk and falls into a stupor.

When he wakes up in the morning, he beings to worry about what Dame Van Winkle will say to him. He gets up and is surprised to find that he feels quite stiff. Reaching for his gun, he discovers another one which is rusty and worm-eaten. Perhaps the strange men have tricked him and swapped his gun? His dog Wolf mysteriously is nowhere to be seen, and does not respond to Rip Van Winkle’s calls. Worst of all, when he tries to retrace his steps, the amphitheatre seems to be an impenetrable wall of rock. Even some of the natural features and landmarks of the area seem to have changed. By now the reader, if they do not recognise Rip Van Winkle’s name, has a fair idea of what must have happened, from all the myths about fairy folk and their mischief common to so many cultures.

Rip Van Winkle makes his way back to his village:

“As he approached the village, he met a number of people, but none whom he knew, which somewhat surprised him, for he had thought himself acquainted with every one in the country round. Their dress, too, was of a different fashion from that to which he was accustomed. They all stared at him with equal marks of surprise, and whenever they cast their eyes upon him, invariably stroked their chins. The constant recurrence of this gesture induced Rip, involuntarily, to do the same, when, to his astonishment, he found his beard had grown a foot long!”

The children shout after him, and the dogs bark. He no longer recognises the village as it once was, as it seems to be far larger. Is he going crazy? The only thing he can recognise is the natural scenery. The wine must have made him lose his mind. Surely when he gets home it will be alright?

But his house is now in complete disrepair and abandoned. Where are his wife and children? The inn where he used to meet his friends has disappeared too. Rip Van Winkle is totally confused, but we have final proof of the passge of time, from his interesting description:

“A large rickety wooden building stood in its place, with great gaping windows, some of them broken, and mended with old hats and petticoats, and over the door was painted, “The Union Hotel, by Jonathan Doolittle.” Instead of the great tree which used to shelter the quiet little Dutch inn of yore, there now was reared a tall naked pole, with something on the top that looked like a red nightcap, and from it was fluttering a flag, on which was a singular assemblage of stars and stripes … he recognized on the sign, however, the ruby face of King George … but even this was singularly metamorphosed. The red coat was changed for one of blue and buff, a sword was stuck in the hand instead of a sceptre, the head was decorated with a cocked hat, and underneath was painted in large characters, GENERAL WASHINGTON.”

This “George Washington” sign hangs where there used to be a picture of George III. None of his old ruminating drinking companions are there either; the inn is full of completely different people, and they seem very argumentative rather than companionable:

“The very character of the people seemed changed. There was a busy, bustling, disputatious tone about it, instead of the accustomed phlegm and drowsy tranquility.”

The people crowd around him demanding to know what political party he belongs to. Worried, Rip Van Winkle protests that he is a loyal subject of the king. This of course is now the worst thing he could have said. The people declare him to be a traitor, and a Tory. When he asks about his friends, he is told that Nicholaus Vedder has been dead for eighteen years and Van Bummel is now in Congress.

In desperation, Rip Van Winkle asks if they know anyone called Rip Van Winkle, and the townspeople point out a different lazy-looking man - the image of himself:

“His son Rip, an urchin begotten in his own likeness, promised to inherit the habits, with the old clothes of his father”

When a vaguely familiar woman approaches, he questions her and realises that she must be his daughter, now also grown to an adult. She tells him that her father went out with his gun one day twenty years previously, and had never been heard of since. Yet Rip Van Winkle insists that for him it has only been one night, so all the townspeople think this tottering old man is crazy. The one piece of good news Rip Van Winkle decides, is that Dame Van Winkle has recently died.

Eventually the town’s oldest inhabitant, Peter Vanderdonk, vouches for Rip Van Winkle.



He says that he has heard tell of the ghosts of the explorer Hendrick Hudson, and the crew of the “Half Moon”, who all vanished without trace many years before, and now appear once every twenty years. They would play at ninepins, bowl and keep an eye on the Catskill Mountains. Rip Van Winkle is convinced that this is what happened, and he contentedly goes to live with his daughter, who is now married to a “cheery farmer”.

He is much happier than he ever was with Dame Van Winkle, and nobody minds him being lazy now, because he is so old. So he returns to the inn and again becomes well-loved, as a patriarch of the village chronicling the times “before the war”. With his dog Wolf he sits:

“in the shade through a long lazy summer’s day, talking listlessly over village gossip, or telling endless sleepy stories about nothing”.

Rip Van Winkle does eventually learn about the important events which had happened in America’s history, but he does not care about any oppressors, or about any Revolutionary War. The only government that he cares about having thrown off is the “yoke of matrimony … and the tyranny of Dame Van Winkle”.

Diedrich Knickerbocker adds a postscript to emphasise the truth of the story, and gives a brief history of the magic and fables associated with the Catskill Mountains.

This structure of a story within a story now feels as if it dates from an earlier time. It was a popular style in this early part of the 19th century, and a little later too. The “travel essays” of an American in England were deliberately written in a style which would appeal to English tastes. This meant that Washington Irving became the first American literary author to be widely read abroad, and his “sketches” remind one of the work of Charles Dickens, who also wrote travel essays in this style. An elaborate sort framing was common in American fiction up to about the middle of the nineteenth century; another author who used it was Nathaniel Hawthorne. Presumably it is designed to add an air of authenticity to the work.

Washington Irving chose a pseudonym for much of his early writing. At the age of nineteen he wrote newspaper articles under the pseudonym, “Jonathan Oldstyle”, and in 1809, he published “The History of New York”, purporting to be the work of “Geoffrey Crayon, Gentleman”. Rip Van Winkle is part of a collection entitled “The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent” which he published in 1819; another famous story from that collection is “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”. Even this is not straightforward as there is a headnote which claims that the story is a posthumously discovered work of “Diedrich Knickerbocker, an old gentleman of New York”.

This made me laugh, and at this point I suspected that Washington Irving might have his tongue firmly in his cheek. As an English reader I did not know that New Yorkers were referred to as “Knickerbockers”, but only that the name was used as a term for baggy female undergarments of the last century. “Knickers” to this day means female underwear to English people. It is of course additionally used to mean a very old Dutch garment, but in England those knee-length baggy trousers would be called breeches”, or a bit later plus fours”. It is of course this latter meaning which is now understood, as after Irving’s story Knickerbocker” became an accepted name for a descendant of the Dutch settlers of New York. Apparently Knickerbocker” literally means toy marble-baker”, and Irving borrowed this pen-name from his friend, Herman Knickerbocker. Still, it made me giggle.

The story is very droll and enjoyable, addressing timeless issues, although firmly set within a traditional rural family set-up within a Western society. These caricatures of a henpecked husband and a petticoat tyrant of a wife, or alternatively viewed, an overworked resentful drudge and a layabout husband, are still with us today. Shakespeare wrote his famous play “The Taming of the Shrew” about such a relationship, and it was common fare in music halls, and is still present in the repertoire of stand-up comedians today. Since modern relationships are now far more diverse, it is interesting that this seems to be such a recurring theme.

“But what courage can withstand the ever-during and all-besetting terrors of a woman’s tongue?”

Rip Van Winkle is an escapist fantasy. It has an ineffectual male protagonist who cannot support his farm or family, as is expected in the community where he lives. He just runs away and sleeps for twenty years. In the end he is so old that nobody cares any more about his laziness. Moreover, although he has slept through the defining moment of American history, he is not interested. This is at odds with American ideology, as he takes no part in the country’s founding or history. He does not embody the American dream, but quite the reverse. He has no ambition to better himself, and he does not work hard for himself and his family. All he wants to do is to chat inconsequentially with his friends. In a way, this is more fitting as an Old World story; one which the Dutch settlers would like to retell.

Washington Irving writes in a colloquial and familiar style, using simple and straightforward dialogue. It does not seem to be imparting any profound truths. This apparent simplicity is quite deceptive, because he does seem to suggest more than he seems to say. We see that great historical events are often less important to an individual than the daily happenings in their life. By the very act of passing over a significant event in American history, the story draws attention to it. On his return, Rip Van Winkle finds people talking of the heroes of the late war, including one of his friends. He hears of the new form of government, including in something called “Congress”, and discovers that there are new national political parties, immediately being challenged to declare whether he is a Federalist or a Democrat. Yet Rip Van Winkle does not care either about George III or about George Washington. The only oppressor he cares about having overcome, is his tyrannical wife.

Rip Van Winkle achieves universal significance because of its simplicity. For all our progress, and our increasingly complex society, people have a kernel of romantic nostalgia, and may yearn for pastoral contentment. The price Rip himself paid for this of course, was to never achieve full manhood and maturity. He lost any opportunity to participate in the great events of his lifetime, and slept away much of his adult life. George Washington was to become known as “the Father of his country”, but Rip Van Winkle has denied himself his own status as a father. He has become dependent on his daughter, and “overnight” turned into an elderly citizen with far fewer opportunities and no responsibilities.

It is tempting to wonder whether there was an element of the author himself in Rip Van Winkle. The reader is clearly amused by both the husband and the wife, who are drawn with a very light touch, yet perhaps more lassitude is given to Rip Van Winkle. We have little sympathy really for Dame Van Winkle, and the only viewpoint we see is that of Rip Van Winkle. He wins through in the end, simply by outlasting his wife. After all, on his return he is lauded and happy, whereas we are left to construe that his wife became increasingly poverty-stricken and embittered.

In fact Washington Irving, like Rip Van Winkle, was away from home for many years. He spent seventeen years in England, during which he wrote “The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent”. Washington Irving was a nostalgic, conservative man who enjoyed the old ways. He was happiest when he juxtaposed old and new; tradition and change. He was encouraged by his friend Sir Walter Scott to explore European folklore, and both these famous stories are based on German tales. Washington Irving admitted later:

“When I wrote the story, I had never been on the Catskills.”

But he realised that by adapting the stories, maintaining a romantic feel, focusing on the individual, including local traditions, and setting them in the natural environment of the Hudson River Valley, he could create a distinctively American fiction.

Although simply written and amusing, this fantasy is a salutory tale. Rip Van Winkle’s night in the woods is symbolic of escape through fantasy, or through one’s imagination, which is a form of storytelling. In the end Rip Van Winkle is freed from his duties to his family, and he becomes the town storyteller. He has lost a big part of his life. Ironically it is this story which has freed him from his domestic duties — he has both literally and figuratively dreamed them away. Dame Van Winkle too has lost what she most desired. She did not gain a hardworking husband or an efficient well-run farm, and suffered an early death.

It is strange, that such an entertaining slice of humour can be so bitter, when reflected upon. Such is the wisdom of Washington Irving.



Statue of Rip Van Winkle in New York

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Review
4 of 5 stars to Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving. In Washington Irving’s short story “Rip Van Winkle,” Rip’s wife Dame constantly nags her husband because all he ever does is sleep, put off his chores, and play with his dog Woof. The other women in the village are tolerable to him only because Rip doesn’t have to listen to their hassling all day long. He isn’t married to any of them but Dame. Irving's satire is a humorous attempt to display wives as barbaric slave-drivers who are better off being dead than being tyrannical women, who exist only to burden their husbands.

YIKES! It's a good thing this was written over a century ago... or Irving would be rightfully slaughtered in today's world. The next few paragraphs are considering when this was written, and not my personal opinion... just cutting an excerpt from a paper I wrote years ago on this story, reflecting on how men treated women in fiction during that time period.

Washington Irving’s story makes some women out to be horrible creatures who are always torturing their husbands. However, there are some women who are basically good-natured and acceptable creatures. In Irving’s short story, Rip Van Winkle is “a great favorite among all the good wives of the village” (Lauter 1296). These women, who are not made out to be the old hags, even go as far to blame Dame Van Winkle for all the fighting that goes on in the Van Winkle house. Irving tells his readers that men see their own wives as shrews who love to fight with their husbands. Other women are tolerable though. “The women of the village, too, used to employ him to run their errands, and to do such little odd jobs as their less obliging husbands would not do for them” (Lauter 1296). Rip would do any work that someone else asked him to do, but if it was his own work that his wife flogged him about all the time, he would shrug it off. Dame, his wife, was too shrill and bothersome to want to do work for and she showed no mercy on him.

Rip simply wants to be free to live his life in the way that suits him, not in the way that suits someone else. “If left to himself, [Rip] would have whistled life away in perfect contentment; but his wife kept dinning his ears about his idleness, his carelessness, and the ruin he was bringing on his family” ( Lauter 1297). He doesn’t want to have a meddlesome and annoying wife around to tell him what to do all the time. Dame Van Winkle is such a barbaric woman that she has the ability to frighten almost anyone, including Rip’s dog, whose name, coincidentally, is Wolf. “The moment Wolf entered the house his crest fell, his tail dropped to the ground, or curled between his legs, he sneaked about with a gallows air, casting many a sidelong glances at Dame Van Winkle, and at the least flourish of a broomstick or ladle he would fly to the door with yelping precipitation” (Lauter 1297). Dame Van Winkle expects too much out of her husband and Rip is too busy in his own world. Dame Van Winkle is being used as a symbol for the many women in real life who were feverishly nagging wives and annoying slave-drivers. Irving doesn’t say that all women are annoying slave-drivers though. He simply states that as wives, women are meddlesome and overbearing. When they are not married to them though, men, Rip in particular, find less problems with women.
When Rip returns and learns that his wife died during those twenty years when he fell asleep in the forest, Rip comments on how “he had got his neck out of the yoke of matrimony, and could go in and out whenever he pleased, without dreading the tyranny old Dame Van Winkle” (Lauter 1297). He is happy and free from the old nag now. The narrator also tells us that “whenever her name was mentioned, however, [Rip] shook his head, shrugged his shoulders, and cast up his eyes; which might pass either for an expression of resignation to his fate, or joy at his deliverance” (Lauter 1297). Once Rip’s wife is out of the picture, he becomes a care-free happy man again. “Having nothing to do at home . . . he took his place once more on the bench at the inn-door . . .” (Lauter 1297). In fact, Rip lived with his daughter, a woman other than his wife, and was at his happiest. He no longer had to contend with Dame’s nasty attitude and arrogance. Irving has shown that men are better off without wives since they are so rudely insolent.
Through “Rip Van Winkle,” Washington Irving is able to show how women in general were considered "tolerable creatures," who can even make you laugh and take care of you. However, once you are married to them, it is a different story. Wives, specifically Dame Van Winkle, are constantly demanding things from their husbands and treating them poorly. Perhaps, Irving is commenting more on matrimony, but the basic view he shows is that women become overbearing heathens once they marry a man. Wives exist only to torture men and the men are better off without them according to Irving’s story. I'm not sure how he got away with publishing this one... couldn't it just have been a story about a men who fell asleep for a very long time, and when he wok up, life was different!? YIKES!

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[Candi · Rating 5 out of 5]

An entertaining short story by Washington Irving, this was a pleasure to read! I am dating myself here, but as a child we had a record player in our living room, and I was the proud owner of an LP titled “Rip Van Winkle”. I would sit with my little sister and listen in pure bliss to this classic tale over and over again.



The narration and the sounds effects had something of a dream-like feel to it. Lazy, ‘hen-pecked’ Rip being constantly berated by his wife, the surreal echo of his name resounding through the valleys of the Catskill Mountains by some unknown entity, and the curious roll of thunder in the distance all brought this delightful legend to life for me. Now, ahem, decades later, I reacquainted myself with Rip in printed form. I am happy to say that the story still holds the same enchantment it did so many years ago! Perhaps this is partly due to my sense of nostalgia while reading; but nevertheless, there is a reason it remains a classic and one which merits revisiting from time to time. Irving’s writing is so vibrant, and I am always left with a satisfying, light-hearted feeling when I have finished.

[Cecily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew of Rip Van Winkle, but had never read it. The fact it is by a US author, and set in the US was a surprise, as was the fact Rip slept for only 20 years. It purports to have been found in the papers of an amateur historian, Diedrich Knickerbocker, who was especially interested in the legends of the Kaatskill [sic] mountains, along the Hudson. The story itself mentions the “magical hues” of “these fairy mountains” at the start.

But the mood switches to folklore, more than magic. Rip lives in a village of Dutch settlers and their descendants: everyone loves him - except his wife, who nags and complains (not without some justification, as he’s too busy helping others to support his family).
“Morning, noon, and night, her tongue was incessantly going, and everything he said or did was sure to produce a torrent of household eloquence.”


Image: “His children were as ragged and wild as if they belonged to nobody.” - illustration by Arthur Rackham (Source)


He goes to shoot squirrels, and sees a strange gathering:

Image: “A company of odd-looking persons playing at ninepins.” - illustration by Arthur Rackham (Source)


When he awakes from slumber and returns to the village, he doesn’t initially realise how long he slept. He’s puzzled and alarmed at how the village has changed and that he can’t recognise anyone. It turns out, he missed the whole American Revolution (against the British King), and he doesn’t understand people talking about things like citizen rights, elections, and Congress.


Image: “A troop of strange children ran at his heels, hooting after him and pointing at his grey beard..” - illustration by Arthur Rackham (Source)


Outwardly, this is quite funny, but it’s existential terror, too. Seeing his now adult son:
“He doubted his own identity… ‘I’m not myself - I’m somebody else.’”

But it then wraps up very neatly, happily, and far too quickly.

Plagiarism?

This is very similar to a German story, Peter Klaus published in 1800, nineteen years before Irving’s. Was it a conscious appropriation, and does it matter?

Short story club

I read this with The Short Story Club, which you can join here.

You can read this story HERE, with over 30 of Arthur Rackham’s ethereal illustrations.

[Connie G · Rating 4 out of 5]

12/2/25 I reread this humorous story with the Short Story Club. It's an enjoyable tall tale which had elements of superstition about the little men who lived in the forests of New York. The Dutch, Irish, and Native Americans all had stories about gnomes or little men in the woods.


11/23/16 Rip Van Winkle lived in a village of Dutch colonists at the foot of the Catskills, described as the fairy mountains, when New York was a colony of Great Britain. Rip was a kind neighbor, and a friend to all the villagers. But he was also a hen-pecked husband who avoided doing any work around his farm. One day he goes into the mountains for a walk with his dog. He encounters a strange looking man carrying a keg, and Rip helps him carry it into a ravine to a drinking party. After tipping back a few, Rip falls asleep. He awakens with a long gray beard, and finds that everything has changed when he returns to the village. His wife has died, his house is in ruins, and a picture of George Washington has replaced the painting of King George III at the tavern. He had been asleep for twenty years.

The short story of "Rip Van Winkle" has a lot of humor, as well as touches of the magic of Indian fables about the Catskills. Washington Irving's story was originally published with other stories and essays in "The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon" in 1819. This particular edition of the story is wonderful because it contains 51 full page illustrations by Arthur Rackham--the villagers, the troll-like mountain men, the magical creatures in the forest, and Rip Van Winkle with his dog. It's a beautiful book!

[Fernando · Rating 4 out of 5]

¿Qué puedo decir de Rip Van Winkle?
Creo que este cuento corto pero efectivo de Washington Irving es sencillamente una alegoría sobre la valoración del tiempo.
Creo que su mensaje fue claro: disfrutemos lo que tenemos, sea bueno o regular, no nos quejemos y aunque a veces la vida nos torne las cosas un tanto difíciles, tengamos en cuenta que es lo que nos tocó, más allá de que la vida misma es elección.
Rip tenía una esposa mandona, gritona y que lo tenía bajo el tormento, pero cuando se duerme bajo ese árbol luego del encuentro con esos duendes, despierta veinte años después para descubrir con tristeza que su familia y todos aquellos que conoció ya no están.
En esa siesta perdió toda su existencia previa, aunque al final del cuento, logra su redención.
Un grande, don Irving. De esos escritores que lo dejan pensando a uno. Valoremos las cosas más simples de la vida para ser un poquito más felices.

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This classic story is a classic for good reasons. Good on the surface, good in metaphor, and good in political discourse.

But of course, no one has to pick up on the political discourse bit. And we don't even need to look deep to figure out what it's about.

Nah. I'd rather just read this on the surface. It's easy to get by in life if you just ignore the shrews and fall asleep for 20 years and come back having wasted your entire life away. Because, let's face it, magical or not, you can still waste your entire life away. And isn't that the whole point?

Think not what you can do today. Think only of what you can put off till tomorrow.

Right, America?



(Full spoilery bit: Rip falls asleep for 20 years and completely misses out on the American Revolution. It doesn't bother him and he doesn't bother it. His wife hated his inability to provide for his family and hated how he always helped his neighbors and not her. In the end, it's a blessing he fell asleep because it was the only way to escape her. On the other level, his wife was England, he was the Colonies. But if that's the case, then the Colonies were layabouts and most of them got through the Revolution by doing nada. Seen that way, also through modern eyes, this is a story that glorifies the idea that other people will always do the heavy lifting. There's hardly a bit of shame in it.)

It's quite a fine story. Very tongue-in-cheek and I prefer to read it the wrong way because I'm a goofball. ;)

[Tamar...playing hooky for a few hours today · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought the descriptive prose captivating, the story not altogether dissimilar to the watered down version I remember reading/listening to as a child. If you want to read a really excellent review, read Margaret's review here.

Margaret got me thinking about the author and his MC's excessively derisive opinion of his wife, in particular, and with far more subtlety, toward the women in his town, in general. Most of my comments appear in our brief discussion in her review. It seems that the 24 year-old Irving fell in love with and became engaged to the fifteen year-old Matilda Hoffman who was the essence of purity (blablabla) and when she died of consumption at the age of 17, he was bereft (for close to 50 years!?!) and never married, dying in his bachelor solitude at the age of 77. This left me with some speculation regarding his general attitude toward women and whether they posed a subjective threat to his emotional equilibrium.... I'm such a cynic! No one will ever accuse me of being a hopeless romantic....lol

For the sake of good order, and in case there is a reader in the universe who is unfamiliar with at least a version of the story:

Rip is an amiable, lazy, self absorbed character who gets his kicks scorning and criticizing his wife, who he believes henpecks him (if that is an accurate definition of demanding that he shoulder some of the responsibility in providing for his family). I can only assume it to be spite that motivates him to spend time with everyone else's kids in the town, instead of his own (at least I hope it was only spite), help out all of his neighbors with their farm chores, instead of doing his own, or carry out the errands and duties shirked by the husbands of all the other wives in town (ahem!), instead of doing so for his own. He also enjoys a nip, imbibing every now and now....

As the story goes, Rip grabs his hunting rifle and together with his trusty dog heads for the mountains to escape his wife's sharp tongue. When he sees a funny man struggling to carry a large heavy keg, he (naturally) helps out and is rewarded with an evening of drink and camaraderie. He falls asleep and wakes two hundred years later. In the meantime revolution and wars have been fought, governments formed,.... Upon his return home, everything/everyone he knew has gone. He becomes the object of curiosity to the townsfolk, who most likely would have sent him off to the funny farm, if not for his daughter (who must have been at least 210-years-old (?!?)). She recognizes him and takes him in. End of Story.

In the public domain and available everywhere on the internet or here
Also, a pleasant audio available here


… A termagant wife may, therefore, in some respects, be considered a tolerable blessing; and if so, Rip Van Winkle was thrice blessed.


…the women of the village, too, used to employ him to run their errands, and to do such little odd jobs as their less obliging husbands would not do for them… (hmmm…odd jobs…less obliging husbands?...come on in....)

[Jason Koivu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh Magoo, you've done it again! I read Rip Van Winkle when I was a kid at some point in time, and yet I remembered it best from the Mr. Magoo animated version.

I couldn't find that old nearsighted thespian's take on the Irving classic, but here's his rendition on Frankenstein. Bloody masterpiece! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWlDZ...

Perhaps basing your knowledge of literature on a super-condensed, 20 minute version of a novel hundreds of pages long isn't a sound idea, but in the case of the quite short Rip Van Winkle it actually was just fine. Having reread it and matching it up with my recollection of the cartoon, which admittedly I haven't seen in about 30 years, I think it holds up well.

Hahaha...wouldn't Washington Irving be proud to be reading this review if he could? To have his enduring work reduced to its questioned quality in condensed cartoon form; "My god," I imagine him saying, "what an honor!"

This story of a wastrel (quite familiar to me in the form of folks I've known) gone off the reservation only to return bewildered to an unfamiliar home is a great piece of European folklore carried over to America. Bewitching beings beyond the fringe (yes, I'm stealing the phrase from Cook & Dudley) played a big role in the faerie stories of "the old country". It's nice to see them transplant so well to the wooded reaches of colonial (on the cusp of post) America.

[Louie the Mustache Matos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rip Van Winkle is a well-known fairytale told from an American perspective by Washington Irving, excerpted from his short story anthology called The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon. The story goes that Van Winkle lives in a village where he is married to a shrew of a wife. Probably she nags because he is a lazy man incapable of providing for his family, but he is also kind-hearted in his desire to make himself available to help out his fellow villagers. He goes into the woods hunting one day and falls asleep for twenty years. When he wakes, he has missed the American Revolution, the death of his wife, and the growth of his children. Clearly, there is an allegorical significance to the story, but I will not discuss that because it would be venturing into spoiler territory although the story is what I believe a fairly straight-forward tale. It's interesting to me that there is a moral attached to this story that for the longest time seemed to be little more than a Disney story.

[TheBookWarren · Rating 4 out of 5]

★★★★☆ — A joyous bit of American nostalgia that despite being Australian I can ably appreciate as if I was!

“Rip Van Winkle” is one of those hazy childhood reads—half-remembered from school anthologies or passed down like an old folktale around a flickering fire. Revisiting it now, with the weight of adulthood and the burdens of time more clearly felt, it reveals far more than I ever recalled.

Washington Irving’s prose possesses a deliberate, almost soporific grace. The story itself is deceptively simple: a man wanders into the mountains to escape the nagging of domestic life, falls asleep for twenty years, and wakes to find a world transformed. But beneath the quaintness lies a clever parable about stasis, change, and the eerie weight of time left unaccounted for.

There’s a subtle genius in how Irving uses Rip as a vessel. He is not a hero in any classical sense—more an amiable loafer whose disappearance causes barely a ripple. Yet that’s precisely the point: Rip Van Winkle becomes an allegory for passive disconnection from progress. He sleeps through revolution and upheaval and awakens into a society that has evolved without him. It’s both comical and curiously haunting.

The Hudson Valley setting is rendered with an idyllic, painterly touch evocative of the time, yes but there is an almost numinous quality to the Catskill mountains as Irving evokes them—half-myth, half-memory. The story treads the line between realism & folklore, never too grounded but never entirely untethered as much of the fantasy written today.

My youthful reading clearly missed the deeper thematic resonance—how change, when viewed from the outside, becomes something strange and a little bit mournful. Reapproaching it now, the tale feels more melancholic than magical, and yet retains that old-world charm that makes it endlessly teachable and strangely re-readable.

A fine, gently strange little classic that rewards a revisit, especially for those of us who’ve grown old enough to wonder what we might sleep through if we’re not paying attention.

⸻

📓Key Passages📚

“A tart temper never mellows with age, and a sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use.”

“He found the house gone to decay—the roof fallen in, the windows shattered, and the doors off the hinges.”

“Rip’s story was soon told, for the whole twenty years had been to him but as one night.”

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully vivid tale of a man who loses 20 years of his life overnight in the Catskill Mountains. Irving is a delightful narrator, who employs some irony and humor along with his powerful sense of place, to enthrall his reader.

I had, of course, read this long ago in my youth. I found it was a bit different than I had remembered and well worth taking the time to read again.

[Karlyflower *The Vampire Ninja, Luminescent Monster & Wendigo Nerd Goddess of Canada (according to The Hulk)* · Rating 3 out of 5]

i, is for Irving

3 Stars

When I was a child I always thought the story of Rip Van Winkle was harmless; some guy gets really tired and falls asleep on a mountain only to wake up 20 years later, the end.

That’s not entirely accurate. This is a story about a man who is so busy doing everything for everyone else that he doesn’t have time for repairing or maintaining his own home. He’s always busy …. Doing stuff. And he has an evil wife who is always nagging him to do bothersome things; like come home, get a job, be useful. How horrible!

So he ventures up a mountain one day, and falls asleep for those same 20 years. And after he awakes, all the world is better and he can go about being a now useless old man who no one expects anything from except stories and pipe-smoking... The end.

I don’t really have any definitive feelings about this short story. Although the writing is lovely, the description ranges from overly long to non-existent. Beyond that, I found the end of the story a bit rushed feeling and I wished it had carried on to explain a bit more of what exactly had happened to the town in those twenty- years.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

The feminist in me really hated this story. I wonder if everything I ever remembered about this short was from actually reading it, or because it's a New York folk-tale. I thought - oh yes, this is the very fun story about the guy who falls asleep and when he wakes up his beard is long! But really, it's the story of a lazy ass man named Rip who is unhappy because his wife is mean (because he's so freaking lazy the family has actually lost a considerable amount of wealth because he can't seem to bring himself to work his land). He gets lured away by the ghost of Henry Hudson and some other Dutch ghosts, drinks their Dutch wine, and falls asleep for 20 years. When he wakes up, the colonies are no longer under English control and everybody is free and American. Also, Rip's wife is dead. So, essentially, Rip's wife represents the domineering and oppressive Britain and Rip represents the kind American folk who long to be free. When he wakes up, that all comes about. Great. Awesome. Woo-hoo for symbols. But why does Rip get to live a lazy, carefree life both before and after the war, having done not a GD thing EVER, except fall asleep for a super long time. Poor Dame Van Winkle.

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

This, so I am told, is a classic of American literature. I have read one of Irving's signature stories as well as a collection of more obscure essays so far, but never this - until now.

Meet the titular Rip Van Winkle.
He's a nice guy living in a small town, having a farm he only curses and never works on. Supposedly, bad luck follows him around whenever he does want to work on it, which is why instead he helps out any neighbour with any chore they might have for him. He is introduced as kind and patient and diligent (so long as it has nothing to do with his own home).
His wive, then, is apparently a nag. At least that is what everybody says about her (from her husband who bears her lectures stoically to the neighbours).

And it would be easy to believe that Mr. Van Winkle doesn't have a nice home life and is a victim. But I think one can also see WHY his wife would be so desperate to get him to help around the house. If he can do it for everybody else, why not for her?

What made me dislike Mrs. Van Winkle was how she treated the dog, Wolf, though.

Make no mistake, as nice as Rip Van Winkle is, this IS an examination of idleness and the bad consequences deriving therefrom.

The tale gets especially interesting shortly afterwards when Rip wakes up after a night of gambling and it's actually 20 years later and everything is ... well ... topsy-turvy.

Interestingly, I had never heard of this story before last night - which is especially surprising the story has become such an integral part of American pop-culture that it has been adapted for stage, film, radio, and television. Ah well, I've caught up with it now. :)

A nice story about an old fool.

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rip Van Winkle, however, was one of those happy mortals, of foolish, well-oiled dispositions, who take the world easy, eat white bread or brown, whichever can be got with least thought or trouble, and would rather starve on a penny than work for a pound. If left to himself, he would have whistled life away, in perfect contentment . . .

It's good that ole Rip was a happy-go-lucky sort, because the knowledge that he passed out on a mountainside, and woke twenty years later might have killed a more cautious man.

This is a story told so many times it seems almost folklore, though it was published by Irving in 1819.

Rip is a man who is well liked by his fellow villagers, but doesn't do much to help out around the house. Is it because he can't stand his nagging wife, or is it his laziness that made her a scold? We're never quite sure, though since Irving himself never married, you may draw your own conclusions as to the author's intent. Irving based his tale in the Kaatskill Mountains, describing with loving detail how the mountains in the last rays of the setting sun, will glow and light up like a crown of glory. The old trickster admitted later that he had never been to the region when he wrote the story.

I'm sure you've heard some version of this tale - how Rip, to escape his wife's badgering, heads to the highest part of the mountains accompanied by his faithful dog, Wolf, intending to do a bit of squirrel-shooting. After partying heartily with some oddly dressed gentlemen, he wakes to find his dog gone, his gun rusty, and his whiskers nearly a foot long. He stumbles into the village, where he is unrecognized by the townsfolk. Even Wolf now snarls at him. (I've always been amazed at the longevity of this canine, and wished my beloved pets had such long lives.)

Though there are countless children's books available that tell Rip's bizarre story, I urge you to read Irving's original classic - a uniquely American fairy tale undoubtedly based on ancient legends.

Kaatskill Serenade by David Bromberg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72w13...


A life-size bronze statue of Rip Van Winkle, located in Irvington, NY.

[Marisol · Rating 4 out of 5]

La trama de este cuento hoy en día puede parecer simplista, ingenua y hasta plana, pero no se puede negar que aún en nuestros días se puede notar un halo de genialidad, un guiño a la sátira y porque no, una crítica a Estados Unidos.

Rip Van Winkle es un hombre que vive cerca de las montañas Catskill, con una mujer mandona y un espíritu libre, se la pasa ayudando a sus vecinos, haraganeando y teniendo interesantes platicas mientras anda con su perro, en uno de esos paseos se encuentra con unos extraños seres, bebe con ellos y sin saberlo duerme por 20 años, despierta y en algún momento se da cuenta del paso del tiempo, ya no tiene casa ni mujer ni niños pequeños, y se perdió ni más ni menos la guerra de independencia, aún así el vive feliz sus últimos años.

Publicado en 1819 dentro de una compilación llamada Sketch book, se considera precursor del cuento como género propio, aún cuando su escritor Washington Irving no se consideraba un escritor de renombre en el género de la ficción por haber abarcado otros géneros, su cuento traspasó las barreras del tiempo y se ha mantenido vigente simbolizando al hombre que no está al tanto de los grandes acontecimientos y ni le importa. Quedando intacto su lugar dentro de la literatura estadounidense.

El que exista elementos de folclore dentro del cuento le otorga identidad, ciertas creencias de colonos holandeses, las leyendas en torno a las montañas Catskill, lo hace todavía más representativo y por ende parte de la identidad cultural de una nación que cuenta con pocas raíces comunes, eso le concede una mayor relevancia en el imaginario colectivo de los estadounidenses, el beber de una misma fuente los hace sentirse parte de esa tierra, independientemente de donde vengan, es decir de alguna manera ayuda a forjar la identidad de un pueblo y darles algo en común.

[Kon R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual I read this story with no prior knowledge of it. After reading The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, I naturally assumed this was another work of horror. This was only further confirmed as Rip Van Winkle stumbled upon the man with the liquor and the strange group. I was on the edge of my seat waiting for the horror to begin. As soon as Rip started talking to the town folk and they claimed he was a British spy I was thinking "This is it! They're going to lynch him!" To my astonishment, that notion was quickly dismissed as the town and his children embraced him. I don't expect every reader to go on this emotional rollercoaster, but man was it fun.

[Krystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute but strange story that is probably more important to American readers than this ignorant Aussie.

I've heard the name Rip Van Winkle but knew nothing about the story, so this was an interesting experience for me. I loved the description of this old guy who is loved by everyone except his overbearing wife, and how he spends his idle days.

It must be said though: I'm not entirely sure this story would be nearly as entertaining without the illustrations. I read this version online and I'd be curious to see the pictures on the page. I'm pretty sure I'd be staring at them for a while. They're so detailed and, honestly, kinda creepy. But it really encourages the imagination, which I loved.

I don't understand the point/subtext of the story, that I'm certain has something to do with the independence of the USA, but on its own its an interesting, whimsical sort of story that's written well.

[عماد العتيلي · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poor Rip Van Winkle!
Is this the only way to escape your nagging wife? sleeping for twenty years?!! I know you didn't mean to, you just wanted to take one day off and it lasted for a very long time!!



I think Rip represents America, and his wife represents Britain! When he finally woke up, Britain (Dame Van Winkle) was defeated (dead!!) and America (Rip) was finally independent!
It's a very cool image, isn't it?! The representation of the idea of getting free is truly impressive!
But, you know, it just occurred to me that: did Rip really get free? He didn't do anything to earn his freedom! He just slept for 20 years and .. Voila -- his wife is dead and he's free! Does that kind of 'freedom' count?
In my opinion he didn't really get free! You know, after he learned what happened and after his grown daughter took him in, he resumed his usual idleness! He didn't even change! That's not freedom, right? Dame Van Winkle wasn't his true prisoner. His true prisoner was actually ..... himself! His own idleness and self worthlessness!



I really enjoyed reading this story. I recommend it.

[♥Milica♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everyone say thank you to Hallmark's "Rip in Time" for inspiring me to read this. I don't know if/when I would have otherwise.

It was an okay story, and I'm glad I can finally get the references now. And obviously I believe it, time travel is real!! I wish it was a bit longer though.

[P.E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Matching soundscape :
La Dryade - Gris

[Mario · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tart temper never mellows with age, and a sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use.


2.5

I read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow last year, and I quite disliked it, and now that I finally had to read Rip Van Winkle for university, I've got to say, even though I did like it a bit better than The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, I still couldn't get into this story. The writing style was quite dull, and the characters were forgettable. I liked the idea of this story, but I didn't like the execution. I did enjoy second half of the story (after he woke up), a lot more than the first half, so that's why I have it 2.5 stars. All in all, even though I do respect Washington Irving and what he had done for American literature, his work are just not my type of literature.

[Injamamul Haque Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

বইটা ক্লাস সিক্সে থাকতে বিশ্বসাহিত্য কেন্দ্র থেকে নিয়ে এই বইটা পড়েছিলাম। এটা পড়ার পর মনে হয়েছিলো যে এই বইয়ের চেয়ে বেশী আচ্ছন্ন বোধহয় আর কোনো বই করতে পারবে না। উইঙ্কলের ঘুম, চারপাশের মানুষের বদলে যাওয়া, ফেমিলি অ্যাফেয়ারের বিষয়গুলো তখনও বেশ নাড়া দিয়েছিলো। মাঝে মাঝে মনে চায় রিপ ভ্যানের মত বিশালাকৃতির একটা ঘুম দেই। চলে যাই এই গৎবাঁধা দূষিত সমাজ থেকে বহুদূরে। লেখক ওয়াশিংটন আরভিন স্যারকে ধন্যবাদ এরকম একটা মর্মস্পর্শী বই লেখার জন্য।

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun little story with hints of magic and history of the Catskill Mountains. I have to say I like the legend more than the writing. Or maybe I just remember the way my dad told it, and will always like that best.

[Anisha Inkspill · Rating 3 out of 5]

{3.5 stars}

What a fun read, I enjoyed the little turns in this story, but the political message catches always me out. I tend to remember this about Rip falling asleep for a really long time; of which I thought it was hundreds of years, not the twenty.

Maybe I don’t remember it correctly as it’s been retold so many times that this original has got lost.

Anyway, when he wakes up the world has changed so much that he no longer fits in. The funny, happy ending comes too soon for me, I wanted more time for Rip to climatise to his world and work out how he fits in. For me, this is the heart of the story but I’m guessing this may have been written for younger people.

But it was still good to read and amend my own remembrance of this story.

[Cole W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Do you mean to tell me this book wasn’t about bourbon?? Instead, we get what might be the most epic blackout/hangover in literary history. If nothing else, it’s a perfect cautionary tale about why you shouldn’t accept drinks from strangers.

As a short story, Rip Van Winkle is fun, concise, and carries that classic folklore charm. The premise is intriguing—fall asleep for years, wake up to a world that’s completely changed—but while it’s an entertaining read, it’s not exactly groundbreaking. The story moves at a decent pace, has a touch of humor, and captures that eerie, time-slip feeling well, but it doesn’t leave a lasting impact.

That said, it’s a worthwhile read for its cultural significance and the sheer absurdity of Rip’s situation—a solid classic but not a game-changer.

[Mientras Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Qué divertido y qué edición más curiosa y bonita.
Un cuento que merece la pena ser leído, entre las nuevas oportunidades y los cambios en la vida
http://entremontonesdelibros.blogspot...

[A.B. Neilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the story funny because of the characters but somehow I remembered his adventure in the mountains better that it really was, so that part was a bit of disappointing. The tone in general is very witty, and that saved the story.