Across the River and into the Trees

Name: Across the River and into the Trees
ISBN: 9787532747894

Ernest Miller HemingwayShanghai Translation Publishing House · ChinaAug 2016

3.9

Word count: 129K words
Chapters: 48
ISBN: 9787532747894

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Summary

Written after Hemingway's 1949 trip to Italy for travel and hunting, this novel features Colonel Cantwell, a protagonist who bears the author's own shadow. The book depicts the hero, a veteran of both world wars, revisiting the site in Fossalta, Italy, where he was wounded in battle, traveling to Venice, hunting ducks with friends, and focuses especially on his pure, utterly disinterested love for a beautiful young Italian woman, Renata. It reflects the author's aversion to war, his concern for humanity's future, and his reflections on the value of life, love, and death. The title is taken from the dying words of Confederate General Thomas Jackson during the American Civil War, expressing the fortitude of Hemingway's "code hero"—and of the author himself—in facing death without fear.

Editor's review

Across the River and into the Trees is a novel Hemingway published in 1950, often regarded as one of the more controversial works of his career. Unlike the spare concision and heroism of The Old Man and the Sea, this novel reveals a more complex, introspective, and even somewhat world-weary postwar Hemingway. Set in postwar Venice, it follows U.S. Army Colonel Cantwell as he returns to old battlegrounds, interweaving memories of war, regret for lost youth, a love affair across generations with a young countess, and a direct confrontation with aging and death. Many critics consider the novel loosely structured, its dialogue prolix, even tinged with self-pity; yet placed within the trajectory of Hemingway's own life—when he was struggling with creative block, physical pain, and fluctuations in public reputation—it reveals a precious candor. The book's explorations of war trauma, the passage of time, dignity, and the limits of love are in fact another interrogation of Hemingway's own credo. For readers familiar with Hemingway, this book is not the peak of his craft, but an indispensable link for understanding the depth and contradictions of his humanity. It is like a quiet river with turbulent undercurrents: readers must set aside the stereotyped expectation of the "tough guy" and dive in to feel its late-life bitterness and tenderness.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary enthusiasts seeking a deeper understanding of Hemingway's postwar state of mind and creative evolution
Readers interested in themes of individual trauma and memory in war literature
Readers who can appreciate essayistic narrative and do not require strongly plot-driven fiction
Readers seeking in literature a dialogue about aging, love, and the dignity of life

Not a good fit for

New Hemingway readers expecting tight plotting and uplifting themes like The Old Man and the Sea or A Farewell to Arms
Readers impatient with extensive interior monologue and interspersed recollection

Reading tips

Read it as a footnote to Hemingway's personal life rather than as a standalone masterpiece, preferably alongside his biographies or contemporaneous short stories
Pay attention to the contrasting descriptions of Venice and the battlefields, and consider how space carries memory and emotion
Try savoring the dialogue often criticized as "prolix," for it often conceals subtle tensions in relationships and unspoken wounds

About the publisher

Shanghai Translation Publishing House China · Founded in 1978

Shanghai Translation Publishing House is a Chinese publisher oriented mainly toward translation and publishing. Its publications cover foreign literature, world classics and classic works, as well as social culture, folk literature and classical poetry. The database contains 2,618 titles, including Never Let Me Go, Les Misérables (2 volumes), Don Quixote (illustrated collector's edition), The Complete Comedies of Molière (4 volumes), The Complete Novels of Kafka (3 volumes), The Collected Works of Dostoevsky (9-volume set), Reason and Persons, and Oedipus Rex (Translation Classics). Its author resources include foreign writers such as Kazuo Ishiguro, Victor Hugo, Cervantes and Molière, as well as translators such as Zheng Kelu, Sun Jiameng, Li Jianwu and Zhang Kun. The publisher has brands such as "Translation Classics Selections" and "Translation Documentary," and emphasizes translated works in foreign literature and the humanities and social sciences, while also publishing bilingual dictionaries and foreign-language educational books. Public information is limited; the above is based on the book information in the database.

版权信息
说明
第一章
第二章
第三章
第四章
第五章
第六章
第七章
第八章
第九章
第十章
第十一章
第十二章
第十三章
第十四章
第十五章
第十六章
第十七章
第十八章
第十九章
第二十章
第二十一章
第二十二章
第二十三章
第二十四章
第二十五章
第二十六章
第二十七章
第二十八章
第二十九章
第三十章
第三十一章
第三十二章
第三十三章
第三十四章
第三十五章
第三十六章
第三十七章
第三十八章
第三十九章
第四十章
第四十一章
第四十二章
第四十三章
第四十四章
第四十五章
译后记

FAQ

Why are reviews of this book generally lower than those of Hemingway's other major works?

Mainly because of the gap between expectations and the work itself. Published before Hemingway won the Nobel Prize, it departs stylistically from the early, concise, forceful "iceberg principle," with a looser, more introspective narrative, and a protagonist whose cynicism and self-pity differ from the classic "tough guy" image. In recent years, however, literary scholarship has increasingly valued it as an authentic record of the author's midlife crisis and artistic exploration.

What does the title Across the River and into the Trees signify?

The title comes from the lyrics of a soldier's song from the American Civil War and carries multiple symbolic meanings in the book. Literally, it refers to the protagonist's boat trip across the river from Venice to his hunting grounds; metaphorically, the "river" can be seen as the boundary of time or of life and death, while the "trees" symbolize memory, the battlefield, or an unknown destination. It outlines the novel's core vision of shuttling between present and past, peace and war, life and old age.

What are the features of this edition from Shanghai Translation Publishing House?

This edition is a relatively widely circulated Chinese translation, with a rendering that strives to convey Hemingway's distinctive language style. It usually includes a translator's preface or introduction to help readers understand the work's background and its place in Hemingway's oeuvre. For researchers or devoted enthusiasts, it is a reliable foundational text.

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About the author

Ernest Miller Hemingway Author · American · 1899–1961

Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) was an American novelist and journalist born in Oak Park, Illinois. After World War I he lived in Paris and became a leading writer of the Lost Generation. Known for his spare, concise "journalistic" style, he often wrote about war, adventure, and human endurance. His major works include The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and The Old Man and the Sea. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. This site lists 110 of his works under categories such as foreign literature, world classics, inspirational growth, and classic works. Among them The Old Man and the Sea appears in many editions, alongside an illustrated edition of The Snows of Kilimanjaro and a complete works set, and he remains widely read by Chinese readers.