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A Long Long Way

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A Long Long Way

By: Sebastian Barry
Narrated by: John Cormack
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About this listen

 With acclaimed works like The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty, Irish author Sebastian Barry has earned a reputation as a "master storyteller" ( The Wall Street Journal). In A Long Long Way he has created an unforgettable portrait of the horrors of war through the story of Willie Dunne, a young man who leaves his native Dublin in 1914 to join the Allies on the Western Front. Caught between the catastrophic violence he encounters there and the growing political tension at home over Irish independence, Willie finds himself confronting unbearable choices regarding family, patriotism, and the devotion he feels toward his regiment. A deeply affecting portrayal of personal struggle and the consequences of war, this is one of Barry's most powerful accomplishments.© Sebastion Barry; (P)Oakhill Publishing Ltd Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction War & Military Heartfelt Tear-jerking War

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Critic reviews

"Barry succeeds admirably in creating complex individuals who find themselves trapped in a brutal reality....Beautiful and soul-wrenching." ( Los Angeles Times)
"The story grips, shocks and saddens; but most importantly refuses to be forgotten." ( The Times of London)
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I got a whole new perspective into the motivation of Irishmen fighting in World War 1. I had thought they fought solely for the granting of an Irish parliament within the union with Britain, known as Home Rule. I was amazed to learn that some of them fought out of loyalty to the King and British Empire. Astounding!
The story is about young Dubliners who fought and died in The Dublin Fusiliers in Belgium. It tells the story of one young man and his relationship with his comrades and his family back home, particularly his father. The backdrop is the fight for Irish independence from Britain, with rebellion mounting in Dublin, which his father polices.
It's a story of how young men are expended by wars they know little of, how they go on as best they can and try to keep connections with back home alive, how their lives and fate are shaped by amorphous changes in their societies.
I enjoyed it but felt the story moved too slowly, and the sense of cheerfulness of the protagonist and his comrades seemed unrealistic given the brutality and fear they experienced.
I liked the narrator's style.

Insightful but slow

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Emotional tale of Irish soldier in the First World War, though the main character accepts all setbacks stoically.

Tragic tale in the finest Irish literary tradition

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The beauty of the writing and the wonderful narration, bring home all the horrors of the Great War, and of all wars. it's difficult to listen to at times, but so powerful that you just keep going. I read this as a book, a number of years ago. The story is still as fresh and compelling. Everyone should read or listen to this book, but it is not a Beach Read.

A terrible beauty

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Wonderful writing again from Sebastian Barry. My favourite to date. Visited Ypres and battlefields last year and this brought it to life painfully and poignantly. Bravo.

A horrible, poetic and beautiful account of one man’s war. WExquisitely written, wonderfully narrated.

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I was some what relived it was over,no more would I listen to my heroes plight.
A real story of Ireland's once forgotten heroes, who gave there lives for the common man, may once more see the roses of Picardy.
And here am I a hundred years after Little Wilily and can honestly say that my balls! will never hang as low as Wilily's and his Brothers!!

An Irish story

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Sebastian is a true poet novelist and master of his art. Beautifully written and gut wrenchingly expressive of the horrors and futility of war. My grandfather was there and emerged a broken man and this tells me why. I liked the narration because it was always in the background of the words and the story. The reader did not intrude. I thought it was perfectly read with the humility of the narrator to the story.

No. Words can express the haunting tragic pain of this story

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This book was a seminal read for me and being an ex squaddie with a family member who was gassed in 1915 made it all the more so.
Probably the most visceral and graphic novel I’ve read on WW1, and with it being woven around the Irish Troubles of the time brought a a different perspective on young lads and their loyalties.
Rarely has a book moved me as much. Kudos to the author.

One of the best.....

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I have very much liked the other books by Barry that I have read. I also like books centring on WW1, but I found this slow going and my attention kept wandering.

slow

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Beautifully written in Barry's inimitable Irish voice. A story of the Irish in WW1 and their lives at home and at war, that gave this Englishman a better understanding and respect.

A moving and beautiful book

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Sebastian Barry’s story centres on a a handful of individuals and their experiences in the First World War. I loved the narration which is well paced and sympathetic, even when events are distressing.

I think the descriptions of real life in the trenches, including conscientious objectors, assaults by Allied troops on civilian women, the horror of shelling and much more, are some of the most harrowing and moving I’ve ever read. It’s often uncomfortable, but Barry has a knack of drawing on humour and common sense to make this a lively and compelling read. It comes across Asan honest reflection of how ordinary young men went into and dealt with the abominations of war, beyond their control. Memorable and enduring.

Visceral and moving

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