Across the river and into the woods

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Across the River and into the Woods is a novel by Ernest Hemingway that was published in 1950 under the English title Across the River and into the Trees . The transfer into German was done by Annemarie Horschitz-Horst .

We want to cross the river and rest in the shade of the woods is what the dying general of the Confederation Thomas J. Jackson said. The hero of the novel mentions this key phrase, which gave the novel its title, only at the very last when talking to his chauffeur, who is also called Jackson.

It tells of the death of the World War II veteran Richard Cantwell , infantry colonel. The dying person tells partly himself, namely his lover, the beautiful Venetian Contessa Renata or, if she is not present, her image, a painting. The novel, in parts the swan song of the embittered, war-weary soldier, is on the whole a homage to life, offered to the city of Venice and the love for the young woman. Love is understood as an opponent to death. The Colonel doesn't fear Hell, because he knows all its corners from two world wars.

Cantwell is stationed with the US occupation forces in Trieste after World War II . The 51-year-old, multiple wounded, sick professional soldier was involved in the landing of Allied troops in Normandy in 1944 , fought bitterly in the liberation of Paris and the battle in the Huertgen Forest and killed at least 122 enemies.

Now the Colonel is making a trip to neighboring Veneto from Trieste in winter . In that area he had fought as a very young lieutenant in 1918 with the Italians against the Austrians. Names of theaters of war from the First World War are mentioned: the Piave , the Monte Grappa , the Isonzo . In Venice, in particular, the colonel had a number of war comrades. He thinks of them now when a gondolier drives him on the Grand Canal to the Gritti Palace Hotel, where the action takes place. At the hotel, Cantwell meets a handful of surviving Italians from 1918. The avowed opponents of the war have created an order - The contentious, noble and generous association of the Brusadelli Knights . Ironically, the namesake is a Milanese war profiteer . The five order members are the real losers. Cantwell is sarcastic about his miserable life. Although the approaching death torments the Colonel from time to time with stabbing pain, the tormented man takes the impending doom with soldiery humor. The bartender, not a full member of the order, is addressed as Mr. State Councilor . The Grand Master of the Order, the Gran Maestro , is the head waiter at the Gritti. He has circulatory problems, soreness and debts. When Cantwell and the Gran Maestro fought together, they had over 140,000 dead in 1918. That is why they avoid hollow pathos. The hotel bar is declared a secret cabinet. The colonel is dubbed my supreme general .

Cantwell receives a visit to the hotel. Contessa Renata, Venetian beauty and dark nanny at the same time, appears and confesses her love to the sick colonel, battered by the war, in a deep, tender voice in cautious English. Cantwell says the 18-year-old is beautiful, adorable and he loves her. They no longer want to talk about the Colonel's cripples. That's how they look at the people in the hotel and talk about them. Renata, pliable and perfectly formed, knows that she loves an old man who will not live long. And she tells him that. Renata also says that his imminent death has the advantage that he cannot leave her. He doesn't hold it against her at all. It's the truth. Renata even wants to leave her Venice and go with him. He can't accept that. And they tell each other again and again that they love each other as lovers do. Renata wants him to hold her close, to hug her tightly. Cantwell does it. He wants to marry Renata. The thought of a wedding with him pains her pleasantly. Renata decides not to marry him. Cantwell does not agree with the decision, but has to admit that he made far more fatal mistakes in life than Renata. Cantwell lost three battalions and three women to his own stupidity. Renata stays with it, she wants to be his daughter and meet him as best as possible. Renata also loves Cantwell because he wants to be her father and lover. Lovers want to be happy and give each other something permanent to enjoy every day. While Cantwell and Renata dine at the Gritti, the two gourmets only try selected delicacies. The Gran Maestro serves a lobster that he wants to pay for himself because of its horrific price. A weekly salary is enough. The Colonel protests and wants to spend a daily wage. Renata thanks the Gran Maestro for the dinner in Venetian American. Cantwell was a general and Renata doesn't give up. It demands the characterization of such a thing. Cantwell replies that a general only allows himself a short night's sleep and must not allow a single mistake in thinking during the day. Renata huddles close to him. He admires her plump bosom. In the gondola and in the hotel room, the couple love each other so much that the Colonel can hardly stand it. Renata wants to hear about the war events in France when Cantwell was still a general. He should articulate everything so that they can bear the burden together. Cantwell thinks a civilian cannot understand the war; not even Renata. When he told the story, the desperate man about the loss of his battalions cursed. While he describes the horror of the battle in the Huertgen Forest, he does not say what his own dead looked like. Renata thanks Cantwell for being kind for so long in a row and hears him out about his last wife; she wants to know why it fell apart. Cantwell replied that he was gone too much. But the Colonel has his principles: losses are ignored. Cantwell is supposed to hold Renata and kiss her.

Before the Colonel leaves, the Gran Maestro appoints Renata as Extraordinary Honorary Secretary of the Order, and the Colonel reveals to her the main secret of the Order. It has it all. Saying goodbye to Renata is bad.

The plot is framed by two duck hunts at the beginning and the end of the novel. After the last hunt, Death approaches Cantwell so briskly that he feels that he can no longer live.

Hemingway completed the first draft in December 1949. He sold it to Cosmopolitan for $ 85,000.

The book received good reviews in the New York Times.

literature

German first edition

  • Ernest Hemingway: Across the River and into the Woods . Authorized transfer from Annemarie Horschitz-Horst. Rowohlt Hamburg 1951. 340 pages. Color illustrated cover by Adriana Ivančić.

German editions

  • Ernest Hemingway: Across the River and into the Woods . Rowohlt Taschenbuch 10458 (31st edition September 2003), ISBN 978-3-499-10458-9

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See also E. Hemingway, In Another Land
  2. ↑ Here you can tell that Hemingway himself took part in the battle and processed his own experiences.
  3. ^ Rodenberg, Hans-Peter: Ernest Hemingway. Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag, 2011 (5th edition), p. 119
  4. ^ Rodenberg, Hans-Peter: Ernest Hemingway. Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag, 2011 (5th edition), p. 119