Publisher's Synopsis
Rip Van Winkle is a classic short story written by Washington Irving that was originally published in 1819 as part of his collection of essays and short stories titled The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. The story is set in the Catskill Mountains of New York in the 1700s and follows the life of a man named Rip Van Winkle. Rip is a lazy man who spends his days idly wandering the countryside and avoiding work. He is married to a nagging wife and has a son who is just as lazy as he is. One day, Rip decides to take a walk in the mountains and comes across a group of strange men playing ninepins. He drinks some of their liquor and falls asleep. When he wakes up, he finds that everything has changed. The men are gone, his gun is rusty, and his dog is nowhere to be found. He returns to his village, but everything is different. The people he knew are gone, and the buildings have changed. He soon discovers that he has been asleep for twenty years and that the American Revolution has taken place. The story is a classic tale of the consequences of laziness and the passage of time. It is also a commentary on the changes that took place in America during the Revolutionary War. Irving's writing is witty and engaging, and the story has become a beloved classic of American literature.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.
