A Long Long Way is a novel by Irish author Sebastian Barry, set during the First World War.[1]

A Long Long Way
First edition
AuthorSebastian Barry
LanguageEnglish
PublisherViking Press
Publication date
February 3, 2005
Publication placeIreland
Media typePrint (Hardcover) & Paperback
Pages292 pp
ISBN0-670-03380-4
OCLC57392246
823/.914 22
LC ClassPR6052.A729 L66 2005
Preceded byAnnie Dunne 
Followed byThe Secret Scripture 

Plot synopsis

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The young protagonist Willie Dunne leaves Dublin to fight voluntarily for the Allies as a member of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, leaving behind his prospective bride Gretta and his policeman father. He is caught between the warfare playing out on foreign fields (mainly at Flanders) and that festering at home, waiting to erupt with the Easter Rising.

Reception

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The novel was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2005.[2][3]

In a 2009 US National Public Radio interview, author R. L. Stine stated that A Long Long Way was one of the most beautifully written books he had ever read, and gave copies of the novel to friends and family to read.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Harvey, Giles (2023-03-20). "The Accursed Brilliance of Sebastian Barry". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  2. ^ The Man Booker Prize Archived July 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Smith, Dinitia (2008-06-23). "Old Battles Are Burnished by Time". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  4. ^ R.L., Stine (16 March 2009). "Irish At War: Poetic Prose In 'A Long Long Way'". NPR. Archived from the original on 27 March 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.