The novel I chose to read was 'How Many Miles To Babylon' by an Irish author Jennifer Johnston. I decided to read this novel because my friend read it and recommended it, it is also on the Leaving Certificate course so I thought it was a good idea to read it. How many miles to Babylon was written in 1974 and is one of Johnston's most celebrated novels. It has been adapted for television in 1982 and into a stage production in 2005 and 2006.This novel was written in the genre of fiction and social realism, which basically means that it does not exceed the limits of reality.This novel is a story about the lives of two boys, Alexander Moore and Jerry Crowe in Ireland prior to and during World War 1. Alec is the only child of a wealthy Anglo Irish couple whereas Jerry is part of the Catholic underclass, two very different cultures. Their personal qualities reflect these backgrounds as do the prejudices that divide them at home and at war.
The story was described through the eyes of the narrator Alexander Moore, it recounts the events of his life that have led to his present circumstances. As a child Alec, the only son of a bitter marriage, formed a close friendship with a village boy named Jerry Crowe who shared his passion for horses. However Alec's mother Alicia has a very strong dislike for Jerry. Jerry's social status means that for Alicia he is not a suitable friend for Alec. Having found out about Alec's and Jerry's friendship, Alicia forbids Alec to see Jerry anymore and takes him on a holiday to Europe in the hope that separating them for a period of time would make them forget about eachother and fall out of friendship, however this did not work and when Alec returned from Europe their friendship continued. Alicia's final attempt to keep Alec and Jerry apart was to send Alec off to war, this would mean that Alec would become an officer because of his social status and mix with men from his own social background. While she doesn't know that Jerry also plans to go to war to earn some money for his family, it is irrelevant to her as Jerry's social class are separated from Alec's. Alec and Jerry both find themselves under the command of the cold and heartless Major Glendinning. The Major treated their close friendship with confusion and suspicion and when Jerry runs away for a few days to search for his wounded father, Glendinning sentences him to death, making Alec take command of the firing squad that will carry out Jerry's execution. Due to their close friendship Alec was unable to follow such a command, he visits Jerry in his cell and shoots him with his own pistol. The last paragraph of the novel describes Alec himself waiting for the firing squad after being sentenced to death.
The character I found to be most interesting was Jerry Crowe. Jerry is part of the Catholic underclass, a very different culture to his best friend Alexander. Even though the village people and the majors judged and looked down at them for being friends, Jerry ignored them because he didnt care what people thought of them. Their backgrounds were very different, Alec was home-schooled while Jerry's background was in an ordinary school, which he left at a very young age to work. I really admired Jerry near the end of the book. After receiving a letter from his Mam saying that his Father had gone missing Jerry risks his life to go look for him, this showed great courage. After finding his critically injured father, Jerry returns to the war. He decides to face the consequences of running away from war like a man and gets turned in. He was sentenced to death, however Jerry's death showed how much he loved his family and that really impressed me!
How Many Miles To Babylon is set in the early 20th century during World War 1. I found this book extremely interesting because it was set in Ireland, but life for Irish people back then was extremely difficult and different to my life today. It was really interesting to see the separation between social classes. I also found this book extremely easy to read because the author really allows you to get dragged into the world of the book and it becomes nearly impossible to put the book down, you just want to keep reading! I enjoyed the style of writing, it was easy to understand and was a nice change from other novels on the English syllabus that are all written in the old fashioned English language.
I really enjoyed reading 'How Many Miles To Babylon' by Jennifer Johnston and I would definitely recommend it. The story captures your attention from cover to cover, and I am really looking forward to reading another novel by this author!
Ciara :)
