Across the river and into the trees Book

When Hemingway wrote this novel, he may have known that his masterpieces were behind him. Although this novel is a lesser work, there are moments of tenderness, poignancy and power crafted in his trademark miminalist style that linger. The novel concerns a retired Army Colonel, who has fought in brutal combat, near the end of his life and is desperately in love with a much younger woman. To me the woman signified the Colonel's lost youth and the relationship may take on new meaning if one views it as such. The Colonel looks backward in the novel to the horror and futility of war, which serves as a contrast to the extreme tenderness of his last love affair in Venice. Hemingway's experiences during the Spanish Civil War and in Paris during World War II give him much to draw upon in this literary "moveable feast," which soubriquet first appears here. Against the harshness of his existence the Colonel has retreated to Italian duck blinds, Venice in winter and the adoring young beauty of his life. One senses that at this time in his life, so near the end, that Hemingway sees his own life's lapse into finality in lines from Stonewall Jackson's dying moments to cross peacefully over the river and into the trees. Hemingway is a master of dialogue and there is much between the Colonel and his young mistress to savor. I recommend that you read Old Man and the Sea, A Farewell to Arms and/or For Whom the Bell Tolls before taking on this novel. If you admire and have widely read Hemingway already, then this is a very fine but not great novel relative to his masterpieces. This is a compelling, accessible novel which subtleties will linger and perhaps the greatest aspect of the genius of his craft is that he never fails to have this same powerful impact.