To talk about any fairy tale story, you probably expect some unnatural or supernatural element with some fantasy storyline that you don't have to overthink. After reading your favorite fairy tale, it usually leaves you with a peaceful, happy face. Being one of the first American fairy tale stories, Rip Van Winkle is also not an exception in your fairy tale world.
However, this story's concept, social background, and presentation are not merely confined to the stereotypical concept of a fairy tale. Instead, it talks about different aspects, cultures, and behavior of society. So, before reading this book, you must go through some unusual and eye-opening insights into Rip Van Winkle with its book info, summary, review, etc.
Rip Van Winkle: Book Info
Title: Rip Van Winkle
Author: Washington Irving
Published In: 1819 by The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent
Genre: Short Stories, Children's Classic, Historical Fiction, American
Language: English
Length: 61 pages
Rip Van Winkle: Author
Washington Irving was a renowned short story writer, biographer, historian, essayist, and diplomat in the 19th century. In the 1840s, he served as the American ambassador to Spain. He started his writing career with an observational letter 1802 to the Morning Chronicle. He used the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle for his writing. He temporarily shifted to England and pursued his publication house, "The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent."
Being one of the first American writers who earned recognition in Europe as a writer, Irving encouraged many new upcoming American writers to pursue writing as a stable profession. He also took a strong stand to establish copyright law for American writers. He used to be popular with his nickname "Gotham" in New York. He is the inventor of the expression "the almighty dollar."
The village of Dearman, New York, was renamed "Irvington." Sunnyside was preserved as a museum to honor Washington Irving. A train station had been named "Irvington." In San Francisco, Irving Street has been renamed after him. Several other honors have been given to him. His impeccable contribution to American culture has been compared with how Americans celebrate Christmas.
Rip Van Winkle: Summary
This is a story of a Dutch American man named Rip Van Winkle who lives in a village with his nagging wife and two children; one son and one daughter. They lived in the Catskill Mountains in New York City when the American Revolution hadn't happened yet. One day, Rip Van Winkle went to hunt a squirrel in the mountains with his dog.
In the evening, while returning, he heard his name and came across a man wearing classic Dutch clothing and carrying a keg. Rip helped him carry the weight and reached a place where many bearded people were playing nine-pins. Without knowing anything about them, he joined them and got drunk with them.
Eventually, he fell asleep due to over-intoxication. After that, when Rip woke up one sunny morning, he found himself in a world where his surroundings had changed entirely. He found himself with a long white beard, his dog was missing, and nobody recognized him. He woke up after 20 long years of sleep after the American Revolution.
After a few days, he eventually met his son with his name and his married daughter, who recognized him and took him with her. Rip's wife and many of his friends were dead. At the end of the story, he started to tell his sleeping story to all the people he visited and most of the children, who started to believe that whenever there was thunder, the men in the mountain would be playing nine-pins.
Rip Van Winkle: Review
Even though this is a simple short fairy tale story best suited for children, this story gives you the most fundamental learning lesson of acceptance. No matter where you live, how you look, or where you come from, you have to accept the reality of your living situations and circumstances. Adaptability and acceptance is the key to living life on your terms.
When Rip Van Winkle tries to cope with his new life after 20 years of sleeping, his daughter accepts him as her lost father appears to her. It also shows the unconditional and eternal love between parents and children. Rip's telling the story of his past incidents to any visitors or children shows that it's tough to get over your past.
In this story, you will also come across the noble intention and helpful nature of Rip, and sometimes you may fall in trouble while helping others, but you must not give up on your good deeds. As the author said in this book, "The only way to fight the darkness around us is to light a fire within us." So, this story has different interpretations in its different layers.
Rip Van Winkle: E-book PDF
Even though it's a light weighted short story book, to enjoy repeat reading of this book, you must go for the Rip Van Winkle PDF book. Accessing ebooks in PDF format on any device anytime, anywhere makes your reading easy, flexible, and convenient. You can save the book on your kids' tablets so they don't depend on you to read it whenever they want.
If you have ever purchased or downloaded Rip Van Winkle from online ebook stores or any other sources, and are looking for a tool to convert the ebook formats in order to read on a selected device, you must download SwifDoo PDF to have a try.
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Rip Van Winkle: Why is this book famous?
One of the best reasons for this book's popularity is that it is listed in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. Another reason for its popularity lies in the fairy tale plot of the book. Fairy tales always draw kids' attention in the first place. The simple English and short length are other attractive aspects of this book. Along with this, the good characters and the helpful nature of the protagonist Rip Van Winkle make him adorable and lovable to his readers.
Last Word
Your one-time read of Rip Van Winkle could be a fun-loving relaxing experience. However, with its repeat watch, you can unfold the different layers of this book with your interpretation of understanding the different characters and their behaviors towards each other. This fairy tale story will give you a learning experience of relationships, circumstantial compulsion, and your good deeds, irrespective of your situation.
