How Many Miles to Babylon?

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 1916 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 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 2002. I adored it and re-read it many times before the year was out; though, for some reason, the rest of the show more 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. show less

This very short (+/-150 pages) but brilliant novel gives us two pictures: of Ireland shortly before and during WW I; and of life at the front, near Ypres, during the early stages of that war.
Alec and Jerry form that classic friendship of the upper-middle-class and the working-class boy. They enjoy themselves, horses, and the delights of a rural upbringing. In steps the heavy-handed Mother, the friendship is driven underground, and things go on.
Alec’s mother encourages him to enlist (her motives are murky). He doesn’t want to, and doesn’t have to, things in Ireland being a little troublesome. Alex goes out into the night, meets Jerry, discovers that he’s going to the war as well, and they proceed to get uproariously drunk.
Soon show more thereafter they’re at the front, in the same unit, but separated again by class. Their experiences, brief as they are, have profound effects on their lives.
Doesn’t sound like much, does it? Author Johnston manages to create a searing story of friendship, love, and politics all in one go. This is an amazing read; do please try it. I guarantee that you won’t regret it. show less

A story of friendship between two Irish boys, Alex, from a wealthy family and Jerry, a boy from a working class family in the village. Against all odds the friendship continued from youth into adulthood when they both enlisted to fight in WWI and served in the same unit.

It's an outstanding novel and although short, packs in a remarkable amount of detail in an understated way, all of which paints a much larger picture that takes in the Irish political scene of 1918, loyalty, love, as well as the fields of Flanders. It goes from the hopeful halcyon days of childhood to the tragedy that transpired.

Reading this in the month of the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI it occurred to me that in some ways not a lot has changed for combatants. show more Like Benedict's Sand Queen that I read recently, the enemy is not the only foe: comrades can be just as vengeful, in this case the ruthless CO, Glendinning.

An excellent book that I can highly recommend. I'll be on the lookout for more by this Irish author. show less

[This is a review I wrote in 2008]

**A heart-wrenching First World War story**

With the huge popularity of other more recent World War One literature, such as "Birdsong", "Regeneration" etc., Jennifer Johnston's wonderful story has been largely forgotten about - but not rightly so.

In 'How Many Miles to Babylon' the author really gets to the heart of life for young men in the trenches of Northern France and she writes a truly mesmerising and horrifying story, with great skill and few words, which leaves you quite stunned at the end.

The story centres around Alec, a boy whom we meet at a young age, growing up with Anglo-Irish parents on a country estate in Southern Ireland. Alec leads a sheltered and lonely life as a boy, and neither parent show more provides him with companionship, so he is delighted to find a friend in a boy from the village, Jerry. The boys keep their friendship secret as both are acutely aware of class divisions and know that neither should be seen with the other. When their friendship is discovered a few years later both boys are desolate but some bonds cannot be broken, and the boys enlist and go off to war together. Jerry is off to learn to fight so he can put his skills to use for the Irish Nationalist Cause, and Alec (who vaguely believes in Home Rule) finds himself goaded into war by his mother. Kinship survives despite further class divide in the army, but some obstacles are insurmountable and the two young men find themselves facing a greater horror than the War itself.

Although there are other convincing novels that deal with trench warfare in the First World War, this one really stands out for me. You won't be disappointed. show less

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/how-many-miles-to-babylon-by-jennifer-johnston/

This is a short, swift, very sad story about a friendship across class and religious lines in pre-first world war rural Ireland, which then plays out grimly in the trenches. There’s a wealth of hidden sexuality and buried family secrets, and the politics of conflict which plays out as much in the internal tensions of the Irish troops as with the Germans. It’s very well done.

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.

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 show more 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. show less