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How Many Miles to Babylon?
As a child Alec, heir to the big house and only son of a bitter marriage, formed a close friendship with Jerry, a village boy who shared his passion for horses. In 1914 both enlisted in the British Army - Alec goaded by his beautiful, cold mother to fight for King and Country, Jerry to learn his trade for the Irish Nationalist cause. But amid the mud of Flanders, their relationship is tested by an ordeal beyond the horror of the battlefield...
156 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
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1274 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Johnston
47 books99 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Jennifer Johnston was an Irish novelist. She won a number of awards, including the Whitbread Book Award for The Old Jest in 1979 and a Lifetime Achievement from the Irish Book Awards (2012). The Old Jest, a novel about the Irish War of Independence, was later made into a film called The Dawning, starring Anthony Hopkins, produced by Sarah Lawson and directed by Robert Knights.
Jennifer Johnston was an Irish novelist. She won a number of awards, including the Whitbread Book Award for The Old Jest in 1979 and a Lifetime Achievement from the Irish Book Awards (2012). The Old Jest, a novel about the Irish War of Independence, was later made into a film called The Dawning, starring Anthony Hopkins, produced by Sarah Lawson and directed by Robert Knights.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 183 reviews
December 15, 2021
This is my favorite by the author, and amazingly enough, it is free for Audible-UK-Plus members.
The novel focuses upon the relationship of two men, one an Anglo-Irish aristocrat named Alexander Moore and the second, Jerry, the son of a worker on Alexander’s property. With them we share experiences of the First World War.
A short novel that socks you in the gut.
The extraneous has been removed. That which is important remains. The relationship, their respective personalities and that which makes each who he is comes across with strength and force. It is as important for an author to know what to put in as what to leave out. Very good writing.
I need at this moment books that don’t shy away from the difficulties life throws at us.
Some people even in difficult situations remain morally strong. On closing the book, one is imbued with hope.
Arthur Blake narrates the audiobook extremely well. Don’t hesitate to listen rather than read. Five stars for both the written words and the audio narration.
************************
*How Many Miles to Babylon? 5 stars
*The Railway Station Man 4 stars
*The Captains and the Kings 4 stars
*Shadows on our Skin 4 stars
*The Old Jest 3 stars
*The Gingerbread Woman TBR
*Foolish Mortals TBR
*Fool's Sanctuary TBR
*Grace And Truth TBR
The novel focuses upon the relationship of two men, one an Anglo-Irish aristocrat named Alexander Moore and the second, Jerry, the son of a worker on Alexander’s property. With them we share experiences of the First World War.
A short novel that socks you in the gut.
The extraneous has been removed. That which is important remains. The relationship, their respective personalities and that which makes each who he is comes across with strength and force. It is as important for an author to know what to put in as what to leave out. Very good writing.
I need at this moment books that don’t shy away from the difficulties life throws at us.
Some people even in difficult situations remain morally strong. On closing the book, one is imbued with hope.
Arthur Blake narrates the audiobook extremely well. Don’t hesitate to listen rather than read. Five stars for both the written words and the audio narration.
************************
*How Many Miles to Babylon? 5 stars
*The Railway Station Man 4 stars
*The Captains and the Kings 4 stars
*Shadows on our Skin 4 stars
*The Old Jest 3 stars
*The Gingerbread Woman TBR
*Foolish Mortals TBR
*Fool's Sanctuary TBR
*Grace And Truth TBR
October 9, 2011
Well, good grief. How have I got to 48 and never read anything by this woman before. This book was really excellent. A poignant account of the trench warfare in Flanders and this would have ranked high just for that, added to it the story of friendship and loneliness and misunderstood compassion and it shoots ever upward.
It is written in the first person and as, in the opening paragraph, the narrator makes it clear he has only a few hours left to live and he is in custody there hangs over the whole narrative a truly sinister sword of Damocles. You read the story with the knowledge that something terrible has happened and you await its inevitable appearance with real sadness.
It comes, as it has to come, and it is truly tragic on so many levels.
Brilliant and sad and real.
It is written in the first person and as, in the opening paragraph, the narrator makes it clear he has only a few hours left to live and he is in custody there hangs over the whole narrative a truly sinister sword of Damocles. You read the story with the knowledge that something terrible has happened and you await its inevitable appearance with real sadness.
It comes, as it has to come, and it is truly tragic on so many levels.
Brilliant and sad and real.
July 30, 2012
A compelling, well-written little story - even though occasionally the word craftsmanship made itself a little too noticable.
As I read the book that bloody mother really got my goat big time - hideous, detestable crone that she was, even if she was disguised as a reasonably good-looking and well brought up one. My initial response was to want to consign her in my imagination to a different literary role, as Bill Sike's consort. However, by the time she had exerted her power and malice to force her son to join the army as a weapon with which to beat her husband, and also told her son that her husband was not his real father, I had changed my mind and transferred her to a long marriage to Heathcliff in his prime.
Now, having given my cool and objective critical view of his mother, I come to the 'hero' himself. Alec was a fascinating character. His family life, education and his general upbringing were both preparation for the sheer powerlessness of life in the trenches, and a kind of symbolic foreshadowing of it. At no point in his life can I recall any decision which was not either taken for him, or in the case of the very few decisions he appeared to take, they were simply reactive and made within the parameters of initiative already taken by others - even his final scene with Jerry.
It was a superb evocation of a young man restricted and controlled by the expectations of parents, social order & mores, political order and military events, and also the personality these did so much to create in him.
There were some beautifully evocative and lyrical moments in the story - particularly those involving the growing friendship of the two boys. There were also very touching moments between father and son, particularly as they made their final farewells. The climax of the story foreshadowed in that hideous moment when one of the men in Alec's company brings down so terribly casually one of the totemic pair of swans, was intensly moving.
All-in-all a powerful and compelling read - and probably at sometime a re-read.
As I read the book that bloody mother really got my goat big time - hideous, detestable crone that she was, even if she was disguised as a reasonably good-looking and well brought up one. My initial response was to want to consign her in my imagination to a different literary role, as Bill Sike's consort. However, by the time she had exerted her power and malice to force her son to join the army as a weapon with which to beat her husband, and also told her son that her husband was not his real father, I had changed my mind and transferred her to a long marriage to Heathcliff in his prime.
Now, having given my cool and objective critical view of his mother, I come to the 'hero' himself. Alec was a fascinating character. His family life, education and his general upbringing were both preparation for the sheer powerlessness of life in the trenches, and a kind of symbolic foreshadowing of it. At no point in his life can I recall any decision which was not either taken for him, or in the case of the very few decisions he appeared to take, they were simply reactive and made within the parameters of initiative already taken by others - even his final scene with Jerry.
It was a superb evocation of a young man restricted and controlled by the expectations of parents, social order & mores, political order and military events, and also the personality these did so much to create in him.
There were some beautifully evocative and lyrical moments in the story - particularly those involving the growing friendship of the two boys. There were also very touching moments between father and son, particularly as they made their final farewells. The climax of the story foreshadowed in that hideous moment when one of the men in Alec's company brings down so terribly casually one of the totemic pair of swans, was intensly moving.
All-in-all a powerful and compelling read - and probably at sometime a re-read.
June 14, 2007
This was apparently required reading for the leaving cert for some of my Irish friends. I wish I'd been made to read such wonderful(ly slashy) things in high school! The plot revolves around WWI and class consciousness and male friendship, and it's a painful but beautiful story that I'm glad I spent my last day in Ireland sitting outside in Merrion Square reading. Even in less fantastic locations, this book still shines.
June 1, 2020
"Quanto manca per Babilonia?" fa parte della categoria "libri piccoli ma micidiali", per la sua carica di pathos che mi ha veramente travolta - specialmente verso la fine.
Ambientato in Irlanda, in una tenuta nobiliare, racconta dell'amicizia contrastata tra due ragazzi. Alec e Jerry appartengono a classi sociali diverse ed è questo, inizialmente, a minacciare di dividerli. La loro amicizia si staglia nell'ambiente ombroso e selvaggio della campagna Irlandese di prima novecento. I due ragazzini fanno il bagno nel fiume e rincorrono il sogno di diventare importanti allevatori di cavalli. Ma tra le righe leggiamo tutta la difficoltà del loro futuro, una sorta di doloroso presagio. Allo scoppio della prima guerra mondiale, entrambi si arruolano, seppure con motivazioni diverse, e si troveranno nello stesso reggimento. Anche in questa ambientazioni leggiamo di intensi momenti di amicizia, unica cosa a lenire la brutalità della solitudine della guerra e della cecità che contagia gli uomini fino a farli diventare malvagi.
Nella storia la malvagità ci viene presentata la prima volta nelle vesti della madre di Alec, donna fredda e immobile ad abitare il suo spazio lontano. Simile ad una statua che si risveglia solo per manipolare figlio e marito. E poi nel maggiore del reggimento, in guerra, un uomo irrigidito dalla crudeltà e sordo a qualsiasi tipo di ragionamento umano. I due ragazzi saranno costretti a sperimentare questa crudeltà nel più duro dei modi.
Ho trovato bellissimo il modo in cui l'autrice ha illuminato il grigiore della vita di entrambi con improvvisi sprazzi di calore e luce; una passeggiata insieme, un bagno nel fiume, un dialogo, una corsa a cavallo, una notte a sentire il suono di un violino.
Tutto il romanzo è una corsa verso l'inevitabile e man mano che ci si avvicina alla fine tutto diventa doloroso, evidente. E' doloroso che gli altri non si sforzino di capire, ma che continuino nella loro marcia estenuante.
" Non capiranno mai. Così, non parlo. I cannoni vibrano costantemente, e sempre più forte, sulla linea del fronte. Gli edifici tremano. Non mi hanno tolto i lacci né la penna, perché sono un ufficiale e un gentiluomo. Così, sono seduto e aspetto, e scrivo. "
Ambientato in Irlanda, in una tenuta nobiliare, racconta dell'amicizia contrastata tra due ragazzi. Alec e Jerry appartengono a classi sociali diverse ed è questo, inizialmente, a minacciare di dividerli. La loro amicizia si staglia nell'ambiente ombroso e selvaggio della campagna Irlandese di prima novecento. I due ragazzini fanno il bagno nel fiume e rincorrono il sogno di diventare importanti allevatori di cavalli. Ma tra le righe leggiamo tutta la difficoltà del loro futuro, una sorta di doloroso presagio. Allo scoppio della prima guerra mondiale, entrambi si arruolano, seppure con motivazioni diverse, e si troveranno nello stesso reggimento. Anche in questa ambientazioni leggiamo di intensi momenti di amicizia, unica cosa a lenire la brutalità della solitudine della guerra e della cecità che contagia gli uomini fino a farli diventare malvagi.
Nella storia la malvagità ci viene presentata la prima volta nelle vesti della madre di Alec, donna fredda e immobile ad abitare il suo spazio lontano. Simile ad una statua che si risveglia solo per manipolare figlio e marito. E poi nel maggiore del reggimento, in guerra, un uomo irrigidito dalla crudeltà e sordo a qualsiasi tipo di ragionamento umano. I due ragazzi saranno costretti a sperimentare questa crudeltà nel più duro dei modi.
Ho trovato bellissimo il modo in cui l'autrice ha illuminato il grigiore della vita di entrambi con improvvisi sprazzi di calore e luce; una passeggiata insieme, un bagno nel fiume, un dialogo, una corsa a cavallo, una notte a sentire il suono di un violino.
Tutto il romanzo è una corsa verso l'inevitabile e man mano che ci si avvicina alla fine tutto diventa doloroso, evidente. E' doloroso che gli altri non si sforzino di capire, ma che continuino nella loro marcia estenuante.
" Non capiranno mai. Così, non parlo. I cannoni vibrano costantemente, e sempre più forte, sulla linea del fronte. Gli edifici tremano. Non mi hanno tolto i lacci né la penna, perché sono un ufficiale e un gentiluomo. Così, sono seduto e aspetto, e scrivo. "
December 6, 2016
Young Alec Moore lives in paradise. It is the early years of the 20th century, and Moore is the only child of wealthy Anglo-Irish parents, a member of the landowning aristocracy that has ruled the Emerald Isle for centuries. The family mansion is nestled away in a beautiful valley in County Wicklow south of Dublin, surrounded by parkland and mirror-like lakes and lowering green mountains – a sovereign Arcadia that defines the limits of Alec’s life.
But all is not well. Alec is the product of a poisoned marriage, his father a shrunken, drunken man whose sole comfort is the vast land he owns and cherishes, while his mother, good lord – his mother must be one of the most malevolent in all of fiction, like a horrid cross between Medea and Lady Macbeth gone awry. Thwarted from receiving a normal education, Alec is a lonely, introspective child, until the day he meets a boy from the village swimming (illegally) in their lake… a mouthy lad going by the name of Jerry.
*
“How Many Miles to Babylon?” is perhaps Jennifer Johnston’s best-known novel, and has a respected place in the literature of the First World War, one of several fictional works to appear in the 1970s and the 1980s that reflected the emerging consensus about that war – that the slaughter of a million British soldiers (out of a total of ten million dead) in the sodden trenches of Flanders was as cruel as it was needless. Similar contemporary novels include Susan Hill’s Strange Meeting and JL Carr’s transcendent A Month in the Country; this wave was followed in the 1990s by a further late flowering: Sebastian Faulks’ Birdsong, Pat Barker’s Regeneration Trilogy, etc.
But Johnston’s multi-layered work is much more than a straighforward Great War novel. It is just as much a sharp take on marriage and parenthood, an exploration of English colonialism in Ireland, a determined leap across the chasms of class and religion that separate the rich Protestant heir from the poor Catholic rascal, uniting the two as much in life as in death. Alec’s mother forbids him from indulging in such an unbecoming friendship, and when this fails, she contrives to physically remove him from Jerry’s presence. But this only embitters the boy and pushes him closer towards his feckless father, whom the mother holds in unadulterated contempt.
When war breaks out, naturally Alec and his father want nothing to do with it. They are happy in their hermetic idyll. But she has different ideas, her own marital battle to win. So she manipulates him mercilessly, until finally he gives in and makes up his mind to enlist. It helps, of course, that Jerry’s going too. The two dream of setting up their own horse-racing outfit once the war is over. But Jerry is his own man as well, a committed Republican who wants nothing more than to kick the English out of Ireland, violently if need be.
And so the two go together to Flanders, where the class divide pursues them doggedly. The British officer class in the Great War was composed almost exclusively of young men from the upper classes, while the ordinary soldiery came from the lower classes. Like his mother before the war, the sadistic Major Glendinning forbids Alec from fraternizing with the riffraff, but in vain. Amid scenes of muddy carnage (actually the writer is fairly restrained in her treatment of the trenches), the crisis will mount until both Alec and Jerry are faced with choices from which there will be no going back.
“How Many Miles” is full of a certain hopeless optimism and a stubborn independence of spirit, flipping by the end the neat categories of “hero” and “coward.” It would be interesting to see the 1982 BBC adaptation, starring none other than D-Day Lewis. Quite by coincidence, the day after I opened the book, I went to see a beautiful play on the life of the young poet Charles Hamilton Sorley (also killed in the trenches), so the experience strikes me rather more forcefully than usual, although when it comes to the timeless topic of the First World War, I generally need no second invitation...
PS Clever shout-out to Yeats' Wild Swans as well.
But all is not well. Alec is the product of a poisoned marriage, his father a shrunken, drunken man whose sole comfort is the vast land he owns and cherishes, while his mother, good lord – his mother must be one of the most malevolent in all of fiction, like a horrid cross between Medea and Lady Macbeth gone awry. Thwarted from receiving a normal education, Alec is a lonely, introspective child, until the day he meets a boy from the village swimming (illegally) in their lake… a mouthy lad going by the name of Jerry.
*
“How Many Miles to Babylon?” is perhaps Jennifer Johnston’s best-known novel, and has a respected place in the literature of the First World War, one of several fictional works to appear in the 1970s and the 1980s that reflected the emerging consensus about that war – that the slaughter of a million British soldiers (out of a total of ten million dead) in the sodden trenches of Flanders was as cruel as it was needless. Similar contemporary novels include Susan Hill’s Strange Meeting and JL Carr’s transcendent A Month in the Country; this wave was followed in the 1990s by a further late flowering: Sebastian Faulks’ Birdsong, Pat Barker’s Regeneration Trilogy, etc.
But Johnston’s multi-layered work is much more than a straighforward Great War novel. It is just as much a sharp take on marriage and parenthood, an exploration of English colonialism in Ireland, a determined leap across the chasms of class and religion that separate the rich Protestant heir from the poor Catholic rascal, uniting the two as much in life as in death. Alec’s mother forbids him from indulging in such an unbecoming friendship, and when this fails, she contrives to physically remove him from Jerry’s presence. But this only embitters the boy and pushes him closer towards his feckless father, whom the mother holds in unadulterated contempt.
When war breaks out, naturally Alec and his father want nothing to do with it. They are happy in their hermetic idyll. But she has different ideas, her own marital battle to win. So she manipulates him mercilessly, until finally he gives in and makes up his mind to enlist. It helps, of course, that Jerry’s going too. The two dream of setting up their own horse-racing outfit once the war is over. But Jerry is his own man as well, a committed Republican who wants nothing more than to kick the English out of Ireland, violently if need be.
And so the two go together to Flanders, where the class divide pursues them doggedly. The British officer class in the Great War was composed almost exclusively of young men from the upper classes, while the ordinary soldiery came from the lower classes. Like his mother before the war, the sadistic Major Glendinning forbids Alec from fraternizing with the riffraff, but in vain. Amid scenes of muddy carnage (actually the writer is fairly restrained in her treatment of the trenches), the crisis will mount until both Alec and Jerry are faced with choices from which there will be no going back.
“How Many Miles” is full of a certain hopeless optimism and a stubborn independence of spirit, flipping by the end the neat categories of “hero” and “coward.” It would be interesting to see the 1982 BBC adaptation, starring none other than D-Day Lewis. Quite by coincidence, the day after I opened the book, I went to see a beautiful play on the life of the young poet Charles Hamilton Sorley (also killed in the trenches), so the experience strikes me rather more forcefully than usual, although when it comes to the timeless topic of the First World War, I generally need no second invitation...
PS Clever shout-out to Yeats' Wild Swans as well.
March 6, 2014
BABTBlurb: As a child Alexander, heir to the big house and only son of a bitter marriage, formed a close friendship with Jerry, a village boy who shared his passion for horses. In 1914 both enlisted in the British Army - Alexander goaded by his beautiful, cold mother to fight for King and Country, Jerry to learn his trade for the Irish Nationalist cause. But amid the mud of Flanders, their relationship is tested by an ordeal beyond the horror of the battlefield...
How Many Miles to Babylon? by Jennifer Johnston has never been out of print since it was first published in 1974. Against the backdrop of the First World War, Jennifer Johnson masterfully takes you back in time to the depleted battlefields to tell the truly remarkable story of a friendship.
Jennifer Johnston remains one of Ireland's most prolific writers. Johnston established her reputation with a series of short prize-winning novels: The Captains and the Kings (1972), which won the Evening Standard Award for Best First Novel; The Gates (1973); How Many Miles to Babylon? (1974); Shadows on our Skin (1977), shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction; and The Old Jest (1979), winner of the Whitbread Novel Award. Later novels include: The Invisible Worm (1991) Grace and Truth (2005), This is not a Novel (2002) and Foolish Mortals (2007). Jennifer lives in Derry and has just written a new short story for Radio 4 which will broadcast as part of the Derry~Londonderry UK City of Culture 2013 Celebrations.
Read by Andrew Scott
Producer Gemma McMullan.
Very touching.
March 29, 2017
With a title referencing a traditional nursery-rhyme this novel retraces some familiar ground. How Many Miles to Babylon presents issues of friendship, family, class and war. What makes the novel worthwhile is the fine writing style of the author. Both the description of the desolation of Ireland as seen from the eyes of the impressionable youths and the experience on the fields of Flanders as it ends their innocence is well told.
The story begins, however, with the complex tale of a friendship between two boys in Ireland prior to and during World War I. Alec, the son of Anglo-Irish parents grows up lonely and friendless on his parents' estate in Wicklow during the early years of the 20th century. His parents have a difficult relationship and it is stated that "their only meeting place was the child." He meets a local boy, Jerry, who shares his passion for horses. Alec's mother, who believes strongly in the class system of early twentieth century Ireland, discovers the friendship and forbids him to spend any more time with Jerry. Their friendship is one that transcends their differences in class and character.
I found the psychology of the family triangle of Alec, his over-bearing mother and his deferential father to be the most interesting aspect of this slight novel. Their friendship is continued in private until the outbreak of the First World War. Jerry signs up as his father is already in the British Army and the King's Shilling would be of great benefit to his mother. Alec feels no compulsion to sign up until his mother tells Alec that his father Fredrick is not his biological father and in that moment he is so frustrated with his mother he impulsively signs up. In France the two friends are stationed together, but now divided by rank as well as class. They are commanded by Major Glendinning, a ruthless officer who shares Alec's mother's belief in the class system and divisions between rank, demanding that there be 'no flaw in the machinery'. When Jerry learns that his father is missing, he leaves to find out what happened to his father leading to a tragic ending.
While the end of the story is apparent from the opening pages, the complex and lyrical style of the author held my interest and kept me reading to discover the story behind the sad beginning. Another view of the tragic nature of the Great War, this short novel resonates with better and more substantial fictions and I would recommend readers turn, or return, to Erich Maria Remarque's magnificent All Quiet on the Western Front for the seminal version of this tragic turning point in World history.
The story begins, however, with the complex tale of a friendship between two boys in Ireland prior to and during World War I. Alec, the son of Anglo-Irish parents grows up lonely and friendless on his parents' estate in Wicklow during the early years of the 20th century. His parents have a difficult relationship and it is stated that "their only meeting place was the child." He meets a local boy, Jerry, who shares his passion for horses. Alec's mother, who believes strongly in the class system of early twentieth century Ireland, discovers the friendship and forbids him to spend any more time with Jerry. Their friendship is one that transcends their differences in class and character.
I found the psychology of the family triangle of Alec, his over-bearing mother and his deferential father to be the most interesting aspect of this slight novel. Their friendship is continued in private until the outbreak of the First World War. Jerry signs up as his father is already in the British Army and the King's Shilling would be of great benefit to his mother. Alec feels no compulsion to sign up until his mother tells Alec that his father Fredrick is not his biological father and in that moment he is so frustrated with his mother he impulsively signs up. In France the two friends are stationed together, but now divided by rank as well as class. They are commanded by Major Glendinning, a ruthless officer who shares Alec's mother's belief in the class system and divisions between rank, demanding that there be 'no flaw in the machinery'. When Jerry learns that his father is missing, he leaves to find out what happened to his father leading to a tragic ending.
While the end of the story is apparent from the opening pages, the complex and lyrical style of the author held my interest and kept me reading to discover the story behind the sad beginning. Another view of the tragic nature of the Great War, this short novel resonates with better and more substantial fictions and I would recommend readers turn, or return, to Erich Maria Remarque's magnificent All Quiet on the Western Front for the seminal version of this tragic turning point in World history.
April 13, 2013
From BBC Radio 4 - Book at the Bedtimre:
Jennifer Johnson tells the remarkable story of a friendship during the First World War
Jennifer Johnson tells the remarkable story of a friendship during the First World War
April 5, 2024
Not sure if this is subtextually queer or if I’m projecting…
April 2, 2019
This is not a story about life in the trenches of World War I. For that, read A Long Long Way by Sebastian Barry. This is a story about relationships that could not be. Friendships between people of widely separated classes. The young gentleman, Alexander and his groom, Jerry, who shared a love of horses, sent off together to the trenches of Flanders. They never felt a bombardment or saw a shot fired in anger. Alexander was a gentle upper class boy who never grew up; his mother thought that sending him to war would make a man of him. It did. Jerry was not a pacifist but he cared nothing for authority, or politics, or war; only for the horses. This, in the end got him the firing squad - to be led by his friend.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 20, 2023
non lo so sono impetrata
January 28, 2015
Read it for school, and I don't know I feel about it to be honest. I mean, it's the only one of my books that is on both my 'disappointing books' shelf and my 'enjoyed more than I expected' shelf. It should have been really good. The storyline was interesting. I know technically they aren't actually gay, but it was a heartbreaking story if you read it like that. These two young men are on the brink of realizing they are in love with each other while fighting in World War I.
The Irish nationalism themes throughout the novel added an extra dimension to the relationship, setting the relationship against the backdrop of an Ireland that is just about to realize it wants independence. The sense of waiting for both the background and the characters to realize important discoveries was incredibly strong throughout. This gave an extra layer to the novel that added to the heartbreak of it.
The characters were good too. Alec and Jerry were alright and Alicia was an absolute wagon, while Bennet was a bit strange but interesting. The romance between Alec and Jerry is basically heartwrenching, especially when you see how it all plays out.
So why does it only get two stars? I just didn't enjoy it as much as I should have. The writing was really good in places, but most of the time it was just too long-winded. It could have been a brilliant short story, but as a novel it just dragged on and on and on and on and on... It's a pity really, because if it was a short story, it would definitely get four stars. When I describe the story, I always think about how brilliant it sounds. I just can't deal with the crap in the middle. It really needed someone to cut most of the story out.
The Irish nationalism themes throughout the novel added an extra dimension to the relationship, setting the relationship against the backdrop of an Ireland that is just about to realize it wants independence. The sense of waiting for both the background and the characters to realize important discoveries was incredibly strong throughout. This gave an extra layer to the novel that added to the heartbreak of it.
The characters were good too. Alec and Jerry were alright and Alicia was an absolute wagon, while Bennet was a bit strange but interesting. The romance between Alec and Jerry is basically heartwrenching, especially when you see how it all plays out.
So why does it only get two stars? I just didn't enjoy it as much as I should have. The writing was really good in places, but most of the time it was just too long-winded. It could have been a brilliant short story, but as a novel it just dragged on and on and on and on and on... It's a pity really, because if it was a short story, it would definitely get four stars. When I describe the story, I always think about how brilliant it sounds. I just can't deal with the crap in the middle. It really needed someone to cut most of the story out.
November 5, 2023
Jennifer Johnston's novel appears as an easy read that hides acute worries, challenging to the Irish society of the early 20th century. Moreover, the question of familial morality is put into perspective, conquering both Anglo-Irish and Catholic representations, within the Irish sphere.
We look at disfunctionality from both ends and its impact upon developing individuals - with a focus on the male and their involvement in the society and war.
Simplicity does not always seek intelligibility, nor does it reject it. We can look at silence as a synonymous explanation to how Johnston approaches trauma, disaffection and violence, with a theatrical twist for managing drama.
As a novel published during the 70s, "How Many Miles to Babylon?", manages to break away with tradition by offering a subjective account, no matter how inaccurate it might be, of the disheartening society of the Irish land of the 50s.
We look at disfunctionality from both ends and its impact upon developing individuals - with a focus on the male and their involvement in the society and war.
Simplicity does not always seek intelligibility, nor does it reject it. We can look at silence as a synonymous explanation to how Johnston approaches trauma, disaffection and violence, with a theatrical twist for managing drama.
As a novel published during the 70s, "How Many Miles to Babylon?", manages to break away with tradition by offering a subjective account, no matter how inaccurate it might be, of the disheartening society of the Irish land of the 50s.
March 5, 2018
Heartbreaking but beautiful. A friendship (homoerotic?) between an upper-class young Irishman, Alexander, and one of the workers on his family's estate, Jerry. Frowned upon by Alexander's dysfunctional family. Then WWI starts and they both go off to war. This novella is beautifully written but be prepared for a gut-punch. I'll definitely read more by Jennifer Johnston, a prolific Irish writer I'd never heard of before a couple of years ago.
(Read this for Cathy's Reading Ireland Month blog event.)
(Read this for Cathy's Reading Ireland Month blog event.)
June 25, 2018
This is the book I've been longing to read even though I didn't know it existed. I really hope Evelyn Waugh rises from the grave, so I can discuss it with him. Why Evelyn Waugh do you ask? Well, because this book gave me 'Brideshead Revisited' vibes and I really wish to know what he thinks about that.
Anyhow, this book was great. It broke my heart, but it was so compelling! Jennifer Johnston describes things with a sense of poetry and sensibility. Sometimes the book reads like it is a poem. On other occassions it is more like a script for a play, because Jennifer Johnston puts dialogue on the page without much clues to who is saying what. I tended to get a little confused sometimes, but it was a nice sort of confusion.
The way the story developed reminded me of 'Post for Mrs. Bromley' by Stefan Brijs. Maybe that is why it broke my heart. I still haven't recovered from 'Post for Mrs. Bromley'.
I am giving this book three stars, because it blew my heart to smithereens and I am still aching because of it. I might give it the stars it deserves when I finally recover.
Anyhow, this book was great. It broke my heart, but it was so compelling! Jennifer Johnston describes things with a sense of poetry and sensibility. Sometimes the book reads like it is a poem. On other occassions it is more like a script for a play, because Jennifer Johnston puts dialogue on the page without much clues to who is saying what. I tended to get a little confused sometimes, but it was a nice sort of confusion.
The way the story developed reminded me of 'Post for Mrs. Bromley' by Stefan Brijs. Maybe that is why it broke my heart. I still haven't recovered from 'Post for Mrs. Bromley'.
I am giving this book three stars, because it blew my heart to smithereens and I am still aching because of it. I might give it the stars it deserves when I finally recover.
April 14, 2017
Indecisa entre as 4 e as 5 estrelas, por isso fico-me pelo 4,5.
Um pequeno livro que nos conta a história da 1ª Guerra Mundial vista essencialmente pelo lado irlandês. Ao contrário do que seria esperado não se foca muito nas rivalidades Reino Unido VS Irlanda, mas sim na vida de dois rapazes: Alec e Jerry, ambos irlandeses, mas muito diferentes entre si.
O livro é contado na primeira pessoa por Alec e foi, para mim, uma leitura dura, principalmente no fim. Aconselho terem conhecimentos básicos sobre a história da Irlanda (quem foi Parnell, Pearse, etc). Porém não é de todo essencial para a compreensão geral da história.
Gostei muito da forma como a amizade entre os dois foi relatada. Deu para entender as diferenças que vão separando aos poucos estes dois amigos, culminando num fim que me fez arrepiar. Recomendo também para qualquer um que queira ler um relato detalhado sobre a 1ª Guerra Mundial e as marcas que uma guerra deixam num jovem rapaz.
Um pequeno livro que nos conta a história da 1ª Guerra Mundial vista essencialmente pelo lado irlandês. Ao contrário do que seria esperado não se foca muito nas rivalidades Reino Unido VS Irlanda, mas sim na vida de dois rapazes: Alec e Jerry, ambos irlandeses, mas muito diferentes entre si.
O livro é contado na primeira pessoa por Alec e foi, para mim, uma leitura dura, principalmente no fim. Aconselho terem conhecimentos básicos sobre a história da Irlanda (quem foi Parnell, Pearse, etc). Porém não é de todo essencial para a compreensão geral da história.
Gostei muito da forma como a amizade entre os dois foi relatada. Deu para entender as diferenças que vão separando aos poucos estes dois amigos, culminando num fim que me fez arrepiar. Recomendo também para qualquer um que queira ler um relato detalhado sobre a 1ª Guerra Mundial e as marcas que uma guerra deixam num jovem rapaz.
December 7, 2020
Due cose negative: passaggi un po’ lenti e dialoghi confusionari; a volte non si capisce chi stia parlando.
Cosa che avrei preferito venisse raccontata con più enfasi: la guerra. Sembra di restare sempre ai margini, che il conflitto sia qualcosa di lontano, all’orizzonte. Minaccioso, imminente ma mai davvero in pieno svolgimento ed invece i protagonisti sono al fronte, sono soldati, sono sotto le bombe.
Per il resto si prende 4 stelline piene.
Un rapporto conflittuale con i genitori, soprattutto con la madre, spingono un ragazzo ad arruolarsi, contro la sua stessa volontà. Lui malgrado si offre in pasto ad una macchina infernale che può uccidere in mille modi diversi.
O forse si arruola per seguire l’unica persona con cui abbia qualcosa da condividere nella vita? Il suo migliore amico.
Cosa si è disposti a fare per amicizia?
Il finale è un punteruolo al cuore.
Duro. Spietato.
Cosa che avrei preferito venisse raccontata con più enfasi: la guerra. Sembra di restare sempre ai margini, che il conflitto sia qualcosa di lontano, all’orizzonte. Minaccioso, imminente ma mai davvero in pieno svolgimento ed invece i protagonisti sono al fronte, sono soldati, sono sotto le bombe.
Per il resto si prende 4 stelline piene.
Un rapporto conflittuale con i genitori, soprattutto con la madre, spingono un ragazzo ad arruolarsi, contro la sua stessa volontà. Lui malgrado si offre in pasto ad una macchina infernale che può uccidere in mille modi diversi.
O forse si arruola per seguire l’unica persona con cui abbia qualcosa da condividere nella vita? Il suo migliore amico.
Cosa si è disposti a fare per amicizia?
Il finale è un punteruolo al cuore.
Duro. Spietato.
March 6, 2025
Began reading this in Cork & completed in Montreal. What a gem of a story full of such beautiful descriptions of the friendship between Alec, a wealthy Anglo/ Irish boy and Jerry, a small working class Irish who lad destined to be a jockey. There are wonderful passages of their growing understanding of each other’s lives. Alec’s parents barely tolerate each other and his mother is a painfully snobbish person.I grew to appreciate his father especially the final letter Alec receives when at the front in WW1. The wartime descriptions are grim & you really feel the misery. No spoilers but the ending will break your heart.
April 7, 2019
An Irish author’s take on WWI, beautiful writing, dreadful and revealing, truly an inhuman story. Life before the war as heartbreaking as life in the trenches.
November 1, 2022
Best novel I've read on male friendship to date. Highly highly recommend!
August 22, 2024
"She had a contrived radiance which strangers took for reality, but which to me seemed to be a thin shall covering some black burning rage which constantly consumed her."
March 22, 2024
A beautiful tale of friendship and class in WW1. I loved it. I hated it, for what it made me feel.
November 15, 2018
AMAZING, I'M ASTONISHED.
June 21, 2020
“Non capiranno mai. Così, non parlo. I cannoni vibrano costantemente, e sempre più forte, sulla linea del fronte. Gli edifici tremano.
Non mi hanno tolto i lacci né la penna, perché sono un gentiluomo. Così, sono seduti e aspetto, e scrivo.”
Non mi hanno tolto i lacci né la penna, perché sono un gentiluomo. Così, sono seduti e aspetto, e scrivo.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 6, 2021
A short but powerful and harrowing novel: how a good friendship can prevail through the horrors of WW1. Reminded me of the film 1917 in the sense of how realistic and close everything seemed. A must read.
August 31, 2017
At only 160 pages long, this novel packs a punch.
I picked this book up on a whim- it was prescribed on the Leaving Cert course and while I didn't study it, I was intruiged By the promise of horses, and by the fact that it was written by an Irish Author.
First of all, I loved Johnston's writing style, it was lyrical and had a beauty to it, yet it never felt 'wordy' or unnecessary. It created a sense of loneliness which permeated throughout the novel, while also providing beautiful descriptions of rural Ireland, which contrasts to the haunting reality of the trenches we see later on.
Secondly, the plot, wassimple yet captivating. The focus of the story is the friendship,between Alec and Jerry, a friendship which is forbidden due to their different social standings. The young men, however, rekindle their friendship years later, when they are enlisted to fight in the trenches. Even so they are still separated, now by rank rather than class. The way Johnston executes this story is mesmerising. Unlike most war stories which focus on the graphic violence of conflict, Johnston focuses on the more humane consequences; the loneliness, pain and grief of battle.
Finally, what makes this novel stand-out most of all is the endearing and heartbreaking friendship that exists between Alec and Jerry, and later between Officer Bennett as well. Despite all the challenges that Alec and Jerry face, their friendship and simple dreams endure. Ultimately the bond between them proves stronger than that that exists between man, country and king.
Honestly, this book has left a long-lasting impression on me, and I would highly recommend that everyone reads it.
I picked this book up on a whim- it was prescribed on the Leaving Cert course and while I didn't study it, I was intruiged By the promise of horses, and by the fact that it was written by an Irish Author.
First of all, I loved Johnston's writing style, it was lyrical and had a beauty to it, yet it never felt 'wordy' or unnecessary. It created a sense of loneliness which permeated throughout the novel, while also providing beautiful descriptions of rural Ireland, which contrasts to the haunting reality of the trenches we see later on.
Secondly, the plot, wassimple yet captivating. The focus of the story is the friendship,between Alec and Jerry, a friendship which is forbidden due to their different social standings. The young men, however, rekindle their friendship years later, when they are enlisted to fight in the trenches. Even so they are still separated, now by rank rather than class. The way Johnston executes this story is mesmerising. Unlike most war stories which focus on the graphic violence of conflict, Johnston focuses on the more humane consequences; the loneliness, pain and grief of battle.
Finally, what makes this novel stand-out most of all is the endearing and heartbreaking friendship that exists between Alec and Jerry, and later between Officer Bennett as well. Despite all the challenges that Alec and Jerry face, their friendship and simple dreams endure. Ultimately the bond between them proves stronger than that that exists between man, country and king.
Honestly, this book has left a long-lasting impression on me, and I would highly recommend that everyone reads it.
July 3, 2010
Oh! What a surprisingly powerful novel! One of our Irish neighbors recommended it to me, saying of all the books he was forced to read for school, this was his very favorite one. And I must say, the book took me by surprise! Though truly more of a novella than novel, at only being a scant few pages over 150, it was beautifully written and so emotional! I just loved it! I do think, however, in order to truly appreciate it, you need to have some understanding of the historical and political context of the book's WWI setting. The style of the book even adds to that historical feel, because despite its 1980s publication, it definitely has the feel of a book written before WWII even. All in all, a surprisingly wonderful story and one that I am very glad that I read!
February 5, 2012
A love story, really, between boyhood friends, on either side of the Protestant/Catholic class divide, who end up in WWI. Each enlists for his own reasons, and if we know anything of the Irish experience of WWI, we know before we start to read that this will not be a happy story. The characters are solid, dense, and in the short space it takes to tell her story, Johnston creates a cast of perhaps ten characters who elicit powerful responses from a reader--love Alec, love Jerry, loathe Sergeant Barry, loathe Alec's mother. The swans and the horses are symbols that also provide the focus of some fine, lovely, moments. As with Sebastian Barry's A Long, Long Way, we want so much to be wrong, but we just know we aren't.
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