• Across the River and Into the Trees

  • By: Ernest Hemingway
  • Narrated by: Boyd Gaines
  • Length: 6 hrs and 59 mins
  • 3.8 out of 5 stars (200 ratings)

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Across the River and Into the Trees  By  cover art

Across the River and Into the Trees

By: Ernest Hemingway
Narrated by: Boyd Gaines
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Publisher's summary

Set in Venice at the close of World War II, Across the River and into the Trees is the bittersweet story of a middle-aged American colonel, scarred by war and in failing health, who finds love with a young Italian countess at the very moment when his life is becoming a physical hardship to him.

It is a love so overpowering and spontaneous that it revitalizes the man's spirit and encourages him to dream of a future, even though he knows that there can be no hope for long. Spanning a matter of hours, Across the River and into the Trees is tender and moving, yet tragic in the inexorable shadow of what must come.

©1950 Ernest Hemingway, 1978 Mary Hemingway. All rights reserved (P)2006 Simon and Schuster Inc. All rights reserved.

What listeners say about Across the River and Into the Trees

Average customer ratings
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Extremely listenable

One of the things that I am most grateful to Audible for is introducing me to Hemingway. Like everything else of his this is sparsely written but magnificent and evocative. The economy of construction lends well to narration and the narrator is clear and interesing to listen to.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Better than expected

Contemporary critics did not care for Hemingway's "Across the River and Into the Trees." I enjoy Hemingway quite a bit and finally made my way to this novel. I found it to be a very touching story. The brief descriptions of leadership in war are both informative and heartbreaking. Highly recommended.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A good book.

The book is 40% the rambling thoughts of a war veteran, and 50% banter between him and his young girlfriend. With that alone, Hemingway is able to make the reader understand.
I wasn't sure I liked it until it was over. I didn't think there was much to it until I looked back and saw how much I had learned about a person.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

narrator lifts the novel

What about Boyd Gaines’s performance did you like?

Boyd Gaines gives an exquisite reading of one of Hemingway's more modest novels. In fact, it is read so well that in the audio version, the book exceeds its written impact. Boyd understands this novel so well, he gives me a newer insight into an old novel once only read.

This is the magic of audiobooks.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Disappointing!

I started this book years ago and never finished it. I spotted it on Audible and thought this time I will get to hear what happens. Unfortunately I didn’t. I am a huge fan of Hemingway but this book is awful. I have tried to listen to it 3 times and even though it is read really well and with passion, I have abandoned it once again. Get any of the other Hemingway books as they are brilliant, stay well clear of this one.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

across the river and into the trees

I have enjoyed all of Hemmingway" books to date,(I have read several),but I'm beginning to worry that I can relate to all of his primary characters; and that does not feel all that "great". I would hope that I can cultivate a more encouraging outlook/perspective to my second 50 years.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Good performance - weak story - dialog wanting

Very disappointing. Interesting focalization, novel conversation with a portrait, nice duck hunting but unconvincing relationship, tiresome bravado and creepy reference to his love interest as "daughter". Same as in the strange country. Equally creepy. Ending reference to Stonewall Jackson quote contrived.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Typical Hemingway and enjoyable

I enjoyed this book, and thought the narrator did an excellent job in reading this. Very similar ingredients compared to Hemingway’s other books in terms of the protagonist and a love affair and a war. Definitely a smaller scope than Hemingway’s other books but still enjoyable. I love the way Hemingway shares the stream of consciousness of his protagonist, and this book is no different.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

quite boring

not one of ernests bette r works.. i got hal fway and fell asleep.... deleated..

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Summary: He: "I love you." She: "I love you too!"

Hemingway once said that the "The Sun Also Rises" was arithmetic and "Across the River and Into the Trees" was calculus. True - from sheer boredom. There is some deep symbolic stuff going on: "Renata" the female lead, her name means "rebirth." Nothing happens except that an older man tells his 19 year old girlfriend he loves her 300 times and she repeats it 300 times back. To fill the rest of the book the main character tells boring stories about WW2 battles and why the commanders were not very good (each corresponding to a different level of Hell like Dante's Inferno). Hemingway is writing for depth but he needs a strong story to keep the readers' interest.
I will say the opening and closing chapters describing a duck hunt are among the best of his writing. As usual, this was a short story that he unwisely turned into a novel.

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