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Over the River and Into the Woods (1950) is a novel by the American writer Ernest Hemingway. The title is derived from the last words of American Civil War Confederate General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson.
Across the River and Into the Woods is a novel by Ernest Hemingway, considered one of his most personal and controversial works. The story takes place in and around post-war Venice, where fifty-year-old Colonel Richard Cantwell, a veteran of World War I and II, arrives for his last duck hunt and meets the young Countess Renata, who is more than thirty years his junior.
The novel is told through memories and conversations. Cantwell recalls the traumas of war, his military career, his ups and downs, while sharing moments of love, elegance, and deep understanding with Renata. Hemingway masterfully paints the Venetian canals, hotels, restaurants, and lagoons, with rich descriptions of the city's food, drink, and atmosphere.
The work is an intense meditation on old age, illness, death, male honor, and impossible love. Cantwell is a typical Hemingway hero – rough, proud, wounded, and stoically facing the end. The novel is autobiographical (Hemingway was suffering from similar health problems and a love of Venice at the time).
Although it received mixed reviews upon publication, Across the River and Into the Woods is now appreciated as a mature, melancholic work that heralds the style of The Old Man and the Sea. It is recommended for fans of Hemingway, war prose, and stories of love, loss, and the dignified face of death.
One copy is available
