Reviews

Quanto manca per Babilonia? by Jennifer Johnston

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siria's review against another edition

5.0

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 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.

kconley15's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

historiana's review against another edition

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5.0

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 156 pages you get so attached to the characters and the love between them. 'Intimate' really is the best description of this book, both physically (the swimming together, the close quarters of the trenches, the soft touches) and emotionally. 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.

axelds's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

<b>na al die mijlen is het einde bitterzoet</b>

Weer een boek dat ik heb gekocht door de cover, want ik kende niets van zowel de auteur als van de titel van het boek.

Het boek gaat over twee Ieren, elks van een andere sociale klasse die elkaar leren kennen en bevriend geraken. Ze besluiten om naar Vlaanderen te gaan en daar mee te vechten in de oorlog. In deze loopgraven komen ze de uitdaging tegen die hun vriendschap op de proef stelt. De ene is officier en de andere soldaat.

Het boek kabbelt voort zoals de titel eigenlijk zegt. Het boek is niet altijd even interessant en met momenten is de dialoog moeizaam. De accenten zorgen voor een extra horde waardoor het boek me niet zo leek te grijpen.

Het boek vertelt niet over hoe gruwelijk de oorlog was, al is dit tussen de regels door goed te lezen. De essentie in dit boek ligt me vooral bij de banden die de mensen onderling krijgen tijdens de oorlog en hoe het dagelijks leven er voor hen uitzag.

Het verhaal was traag en soms moeizaam maar op het einde, eenmaal toegekomen in Babylon, wist het boek me toch te verrassen.

"Real friendship admits recognition of the ugly as well as the beautiful. I remember the moments that snatched me from the passive solitude of my normal life, warned me of the pleasure and the fear of living"

ipb1's review against another edition

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3.0

Hmm - I'm out of sync with the consensus... I just found this underwhelming and a pale shadow of better-executed WWI novels (like the brilliant [b:Birdsong|578489|Birdsong|Sebastian Faulks|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1509306393l/578489._SY75_.jpg|1093016] and [b:All Quiet on the Western Front|18882869|All Quiet on the Western Front|Erich Maria Remarque|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388297884l/18882869._SY75_.jpg|2662852]). It raised and then shied away from really examining the class and political issues separating the protagonists, and having repeatedly intimated their unrequited love the failure to address it (which may have made more sense of the final Act) belittles that element into little more than prurience. Disappointing.