Across the river and into the trees: A middle-aged American colonel, scarred by war and failing health, finds love with a young Italian countess at the very moment his life is becoming a physical hardship. Spanning only a matter of hours, this exquisite novel is tender, moving, and tragic. Set in Venice at the close of World War II this is Hemingway's poignant and bittersweet story.The old man and the sea: It is the story of an old Cuban fisherman and his supreme ordeal: a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. Using the simple, powerful language of a fable, Hemingway takes the timeless themes of courage in the face of defeat and personal triumph won from loss and transforms them into a magnificent twentieth-century classic.Islands in the stream: Published posthumously, this story follows the adventures of Thomas Hudson, who establishes himself as an artist in the tropics, until he is called to serve in World War II by destroying submarines off the coast of Cuba.