How many miles to babylon

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I certainly felt that they were in love but neither told each other how they felt. Still actions speak louder than words and there is so many moments in this book where you see the sacrifices they make for each other and the love they feel for each other.

Class is a major theme in this book. It all is rather ridiculous but to the people saying it they seem to find it valid and right. It does seem to be all about power and appearances. Another major theme of this book is family life and dynamics. Alec comes from quite a cold home mostly because his mother is domineering. She seems unhappy with her own life and not in love with his father like she used to be.

However she is very well-written. So much so that you feel the tension from the home just through the pages. However much Alec tries to please her, nothing seems enough. I think Johnston wrote these family dynamics very well and gave a very clear picture of both of their home lives.

War is also a major theme of this book. We get a great insight into what life was like in Flanders even many decades later and the struggles faced in vivid detail and accounts. We also get an insight into the varying reasons why people joined. Alec joined to please his Mum, Jerry to gain experience to fight for the Nationalist cause and Bennett, an English officer who Alec shares a room with, to be a hero.

They are all young and are now in a situation which it seems clear none of them are ready for with a lot of older people who are putting a lot of pressure on their shoulders and should know better. Johnston wrote a very authentic book about this period. Anyone from Ireland like me who knows the history of Ireland knows what people went through in those days seeking independence and been ruled by the Catholic religion which had more power than the state at that time.

The book is weaved together brilliantly and seamlessly. The ending of this book is sad and powerful without giving too much away. It seems at first to come out of nowhere and then you realise the whole plot has been working up to this conclusion.

Stunningly written but have a few tissues ready … This is a wonderful read. Very naturally written with great descriptions. A must-read. At only 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 At only pages long, this novel packs a punch.

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.

May 14, Ana rated it it was amazing Shelves: historical-fiction , wwi. God this book I've read a lot of WWI literature, written both by the war generation and by those who came after it, but nothing has reached quite the level of delicate emotional intensity as this.

I think it's because the focus of the book is on the relationship between Alec and Jerry rather than more broadly on the war, so even in a mere pages you get so attached to the characters and the love between them. There are strong parallels with Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men which I cannot believe were simply coincidental, but for me predicting the ending didn't stop the novel being as powerful as it was.

The shortness of the book means that every line is so perfectly crafted that the last few pages had my heart breaking over and over and over again.

Would highly recommend reading it in one go if possible, because it's the kind of book that needs to be experienced in one heart-wrenching burst.

Mar 19, Amy rated it really liked it. The book however is poignant. The story is of two Irish youths who go off to fight World War 1. They are childhood friends but Alex is from a well to do family and Jerry is from a common lower class family. Then once they go to war, they also are treated differently, as Alex is immediately made an officer despite his lack of skill because of his social status and Jerry a private due to his. This is a novella, just under pages, but Johnston is able to weave together a touching ode to friendship in those few pages.

As a war book, you really get the dehumanization and darkness that war brings. I really enjoyed it though and the last line may be one of my recent favorites. Jennifer Johnston is an extremely talented writer.

I believe this book is now out of print but if you see it at a used book sale or thrift store, pick it up. May 13, Jane Willis rated it really liked it. A beautiful book, witty and tragic in equal proportions. The storyline was secondary to the quality of writing, in fact had it been stronger I would have given this the full 5 stars, but this book isn't about the story, it's about the way it is told. A beautiful tale of rural Irish life at the turn of the 20th century, of childhood friendship and family relationships, which moves effortlesly into a gruelling description of life in the trenches during the First World War.

One thing I loved about A beautiful book, witty and tragic in equal proportions. One thing I loved about this book was that although there was no attempt to "write in an Irish accent" which always makes stories difficult and stilted to read, simple use of phrases meant I could still hear the speakers' voices in my head and differentiate between nationalities and classes.

It takes real skill as a writer to nake that work for me! I am really amazed that this book has been around since the s and yet I had never heard of it before. It deserves to be much better known.

Second reading. Upped rating from 3 to 4 stars. To the contrary, they were excellent, generous hosts, and presumably lively guests, but when that side of their lives was quiescent they each retreated into some kind of wilderness of their own. Their only meeting place Second reading. Their only meeting place was the child. War and friendship versus duty are explored showing how war imposes a false and cruel ethic on people. It is people like you and Crowe who cannot see the wood from the trees who cause untold damage amongst those who see nothing at all.

Those who must be led. Alec names his mare Morrigan. A very good read. The Eye of A Miniaturist More than a short story, but shorter perhaps than a novel, this novella deals with two lads from the same Irish village one hundred years ago. One is the son of the manor house, born to privilege and expectations, while the other is poor, with litter education and fewer prospects. Both go off the same day to the Great War, one an officer, the other, a private, and it is questionable if both shall return.

Johnston write with the fine of a miniaturist, that the reader ca The Eye of A Miniaturist More than a short story, but shorter perhaps than a novel, this novella deals with two lads from the same Irish village one hundred years ago.

Johnston write with the fine of a miniaturist, that the reader can "see" in fine detail their fated, intertwined lives. She is probably not well known in the United States, and more's the pity. As I read and finished this work, I felt I was reading a work already a classic in its time. Dec 14, Chaimaa rated it it was amazing. I have just finished this book, and quite honestly, I can't seem to find an appropriate outlet for my feelings about it. That ending.. Apart from that, I really enjoyed the ongoing lively debate about war, men, life.

Therefore, the novel is told in flashback. The novel is presented strictly in chronological order with only a few slight references to the past, as Jerry and Alec at times of depression or crisis look back longingly to the good times they spent together in the Irish countryside. It is divided into two distinct settings: Ireland and France. It is a simply structured but completely effective novel with a plot that is uncomplicated and direct.

She does not waste words on rambling descriptions nor does she overuse images for exaggerated effect. This makes her images all the more memorable when she does use them. Clarity is her main strength. She describes her characters and the action in the plot in a concise condensed manner. The rushes bowed to her as a little rippling wind stirred through them.

A thousand green pikemen bowing. It heaved uncomfortably and its blackness was broken from time to time by tiny figures of white, mistakes. Their conversations were always the same, like some terrible game, except that unlike normal games, the winner was always the same. They never raised their voices, the words dropped malevolent and cool from their well-bred mouths. The emptiness of the Irish landscape and the emptiness of the inhabitants of the Big House are matched by the desolation of the war fields.

Johnston introduces a vivid comparison when she introduces war for the first time. Not a prolonged scream, it rose and fell, faded, deteriorated into a babbling from time to time and then occasionally there was silence. During the silence you could never forget the scream, only wait for it to start again. The men hated the sound as much as I. You could see the hate on their faces. Johnston also uses symbols to good effect in the novel. At intervals in the book, the swan is used as a symbol of loyalty and eternal friendship.

Alec and Jerry share a common love and respect for swans as they begin to know each other. Swans reappear in Flanders, both literally and metaphorically. At times of crisis as the men struggle to endure the hardship of the war, they remember the swans in the few rare glimpses the reader gets of the past. This symbolises the imminent death of Jerry as the bond of friendship between him and Alec is about to be severed.

Another literary device favoured by Johnston is the use of rhyme and poetry at crucial moments. How many miles to Babylon? Four score and ten, sir Will I get there by candlelight? Yes and back again sir. This was a rhyme that Alec learned innocently as a child and it comes back to haunt him as an adult. As children, Alec introduces Jerry to Yeats on the shore of the lake:. Rose of all roses, Rose of all the world And heard ring The bell that calls us on; the sweet far thing.

In contrast to this, Yeats reappears in a very different situation. Here he is experiencing his strongest emotional test and it is significant that he turns to Yeats for help. I love no living person. While Alec quotes the poetry of Yeats, Jerry uses a different kind of rhyme to show his dedication to the Republican cause:.

Now father bless me and let me go To die if God has ordered so. Humour is sparse in the novel and when used it is often grim. It is evident on the morning when Alec leaves for the war and it is used by the soldiers at moments of stress to lighten their moods. Dialogue is used sparingly and it is often loaded with inferences particularly in the relationship between Alec and his parents.

The absence of words only illustrates the lack of communication within the family. Dialogue is not favoured by Major Glendinning who uses short, sharp sentences. These have the primary function of giving orders and he forbids discussion as much as possible.

It is extremely effective as it invites the reader to fill in the gaps and particularly to infer meaning from the electric silences which permeate the story. While Alec and Jerry have lived in close proximity to each other in Ireland there is a strong contrast between their backgrounds. Can I gel there by candle-light? Yes, and back again. This nursery rhyme has won the eulogies of R. Stevenson and Mr. Walter de la Mare, among other distinguished poets, as being one of the most truly poetic pieces in the language.

This appears to be generally accepted, but, when I first came to ask why, the same very insufficient answer was always given. The following is a synthetic version of conversations on the same subject with several friends, Englishmen and Americans. How does that strike you?