Across the River and Into the Trees cover art

Across the River and Into the Trees

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About this listen

 Now a major motion picture starring Liev Schreiber and Josh Hutcherson!

A poignant post-WWII tale of a revitalizing love found too late that follows the fleeting connection between an Italian countess and an injured, aging American colonel in Italy—a love story that inspires light and hope, while only darkness lies ahead.

In the fall of 1948, Ernest Hemingway made his first extended visit to Italy in thirty years. His reacquaintance with Venice, a city he loved, provided the inspiration for Across the River and into the Trees, the story of Richard Cantwell, a war-ravaged American colonel stationed in Italy at the close of the Second World War, and his love for a young Italian countess.

A bittersweet homage to love that overpowers reason, to the resilience of the human spirit, and to the world-weary beauty and majesty of Venice, Across the River and into the Trees stands as Hemingway’s melanchoic yet resolute statement of defiance in response to the great dehumanizing atrocities of the Second World War.©1950 Ernest Hemingway, 1978 Mary Hemingway. All rights reserved; (P)2006 Simon and Schuster Inc. All rights reserved. Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Italy War Military
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So much about what is essential to this closely post war work has become common-place - ironically largely due to the enormous influence exerted over 1950?s and 60?s popular culture by Hemingway.
The landscape of Venice is now very familiar, Harry?s Bar being a central tourist destination, Valpolicella is on the shelf at every supermarket, there?s an Italian restaurant seemingly on every corner of every town, Generals David Petraeus, Stanley McChrystal and Nick Parker chase each other back and forth across the Six O?Clock News...and, whilst once there was a Hemingway on every bookshelf of every house, the link with the 1954 Nobel Laureate is broken.
Where there is talk these days, it is of the other major works - and so dipping into this secondary tier of the oeuvre is an interesting and well worth while excursion.
Lots to enjoy - and plenty to reflect on. Nothing more striking than the role of the Hero-Colonel and the siting of this mucho macho romance over the table top and across the counterpane of the 51 year old Hemingway?s liaison with the 19 year old Adriana Ivancich.

Gritti romance - Piazza San Marco to Harry?s Bar

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