When was how many miles to babylon set

The whole part of the friendship between Alec and Jerry does obviously touch on the class system a lot. I just think, Jennifer Johnston went much farther than that. A lot of the problems between the Irish and the British did result in this too. What I really appreciated it is how she managed to prepare for her later novels which did then explicitly handle the Troubles and as such, I think, if you are at all interested in Jennifer Johnston, this is a great book to start.

I cannot think of any other book from an Irish writer on WWI. There certianly must be others though. Thank you for a great review. Having just read another novel about WW1 and wanting to read more I am adding this one to my list. You are very welcome.

I will check if you have reviewed the one that you just finished. I am very intersted. You write about it very well—I had a hard time also writing about it when I first read it not wantintg to give much away. Maybe it is a class thing?

The need to stand back and be unemotional? I have always been more fascinated by atmosphere, imagery and symbols in books. I read some W. Yeats and Irish fairytales, maybe that is why I picked up on that immediately. The mothers are not very positive in both books but this one is by far worse.

I think his mother wanted him to join because of the appearances but also because she knew how much her husband relied on him. A realy mean woman. I saw on wikipedia that there are at least 15 books that reference to this nursery rhyme. Is it not a bit nosensical? Maybe she wanted to hint at the futility? I am not sure. I could understand all her other allusions but not this one. Thank you for sharing this Caroline! I am still keeping my eyes open for At Swim Two Birds.

Thanks Novroz. I would never find her in any English bookshop in Switzerland. Jennifer Johnston has written a lot of books. I think they are all very good, you could try to find anyone of them. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I just finished the book about an hour ago and am still stunned. Then again, I was too busy crying to really process it all. But that ending sure packed a punch and turned it all around for me. You are welcome. I really knew from the start how Jerry was going to die. It is a very rich book and I think she did it very well, the different themes blend in nicely.

Those different killings are so heartbreaking. That agonizing man got to me as well but the swan really stressed me. That is just something someone could do. Being in all that mess, surrounded by death and dying, not even think that another being might want to live as well.

I think there is a profound statement in this part. How it does ultimately not alter people. I will include the link and go to you post right now. It was almost spooky how I related to this book. I saw almost every thing happen long before it did and all the symbols spoke to me. But I also thought I would like to read it again, I still think I missed quite a few things too. Fantastic review. Better than the book, unfortunately.

As I already have made clear, I prefer historical fiction to be instructive and although this book features the Irish- British friction, there is little you will learn about WWI from this book. I was hoping for some action. The book is kind of depressing.

His family is as dysfunctional as you can get. His parents are both despicable and he is a wimp. Not a lot to like there. So true. Johnston does have a way with words. I liked the twist of the mother demanding he go to war. It was also unusual to have the protagonist prefer to be a live coward to a dead hero.

That was outside the box, but the prince and pauper theme of Alec and Jerry was not very original. The naive rich kid and the earthy poor kid. The friendship rang true, however. You also get a second truly despicable character in the Major. I think the most memorable passage involved the Major hitting Alec with his cane causing Alec to sneeze! That is such a bizarre reaction! I liked the ending partly because I have to admit it was particularly shocking to me because I misread the opening.

Although I am embarrassed by that, I have to admit it made the ending more interesting for me. What took them so long? The dude was out there for three nights! I found that very unrealistic. A rhetorical question of course. From a literary point of view Johnston is the superior writer. Compared to this Strange Meeting felt like a lecture.

I like poetry, fairytales and mythology, all things that are present in How Many Miles to Babylon? Their only meeting point was the child is agreat line, I agree. He might have been the character I liked best. I never saw Alec as a coward. The sneezing is weird, I thought that too but he might have hit a nerve in the face. Maybe it is possible? Yes, the knifing of that man… I was wondering if they really did it.

Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — How Many Miles to Babylon? 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 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. Get A Copy. Paperback , pages. Published by Penguin Books first published More Details Original Title. Flanders , Belgium Ireland. Other Editions Friend Reviews.

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The end, that brilliantly is the beginning - WHY? Why do you think Alexander did it? See 1 question about How Many Miles to Babylon? Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 3. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Start your review of How Many Miles to Babylon?

Apr 27, Siria rated it it was amazing Shelves: queer-lit , historical-fiction , irish-fiction , 20th-century.

For such a brief book, How Many Miles to Babylon is a work of startling delicacy and power. Set in the dying days of the Irish Ascendancy just before the start of WWI and the Rising ensured that "all changed, changed utterly", it tells the story of two young Irish men. Alex, an upper-class Protestant, and Jerry, a working class Catholic, who become friends despite the class divisions between them: a friendship that's both erotically charged and very strong, and which leads to one of the sta For such a brief book, How Many Miles to Babylon is a work of startling delicacy and power.

Alex, an upper-class Protestant, and Jerry, a working class Catholic, who become friends despite the class divisions between them: a friendship that's both erotically charged and very strong, and which leads to one of the starkest, most powerful endings of any book I've ever read.

I first read this as part of my Leaving Cert syllabus, all the way back in I adored it and re-read it many times before the year was out; though, for some reason, the rest of the class didn't share my affection for it, and my teacher went to great pains to emphasise that there was absolutely nothing homoerotic about this book, at all, whatsoever.

No sir. Oh, Irish convent schools. View 1 comment. 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 w Well, good grief. 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. 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 h A compelling, well-written little story - even though occasionally the word craftsmanship made itself a little too noticable.

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.

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. Jun 14, Trin rated it really liked it Shelves: queerlit , historicalfiction , irish-lit. 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. View 2 comments. Apr 06, Bettie rated it really liked it Shelves: war , wwi , historical-fiction , published , execution , spring , brit-isles-ireland , radio BABT Blurb: 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 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 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. Very touching. View all 3 comments. Dec 02, James Henderson rated it liked it Shelves: irish-lit , historical-fiction. 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 With a title referencing a traditional nursery-rhyme this novel retraces some familiar ground. 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. 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.

Apr 06, Laura rated it liked it Recommended to Laura by: Bettie. Shelves: read , irish-literature , audio-books , hf-world-war-i , fictionth-century. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This is not a story about life in the trenches of World War I.

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 send This is not a story about life in the trenches of World War I.

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. Dec 06, Zuberino rated it really liked it Shelves: fiction , war , historical-fiction , childhood , history , ireland , world-war-i , countryside , youth , class.

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. Jonathan Coe. Breakfast at Tiffany's Truman Capote. Brideshead Revisited Evelyn Waugh. The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald. On the Road Jack Kerouac. The Plague Albert Camus. The History of Love Nicole Krauss.

Cold Comfort Farm Stella Gibbons. Goodbye to All That Robert Graves. Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad. Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys. The Pursuit of Love Nancy Mitford. Dubliners James Joyce. The Day of the Triffids John Wyndham. A Month in the Country J. Villages John Updike. About the Author. Jennifer Johnston Jennifer Johnston was born in Dublin in and is one of our foremost Irish writers. Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more.

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