Metroland

by Julian Barnes

From the bestselling, Booker Prize-winning author of A Sense of an Ending comes a comedy of sexual awakening in the 1960s that is “wonderfully fresh, crackling with nostalgic irreverence” ( Vogue ).

Only the author of Flaubert's Parrot could give us a novel that is at once a note-perfect rendition of the angsts and attitudes of English adolescence, a giddy comedy of sexual awakening, and a portrait of the accommodations that some of us call "growing up" and others "selling out.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, British Literature, London, Literature, 20th Century

180 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1980

About the author

Julian Patrick Barnes is an English writer. He won the Man Booker Prize in 2011 with The Sense of an Ending, having been shortlisted three times previously with Flaubert's Parrot, England, England, and Arthur & George. Barnes has also written crime fiction under the pseudonym Dan Kavanagh (having married Pat Kavanagh). In addition to novels, Barnes has published collections of essays and short stories.
In 2004 he became a Commandeur of L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. His honours also include the Somerset Maugham Award and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. He was awarded the 2021 Jerusalem Prize.

Reviews

[©hrissie ❁ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, what do you know? Julian Barnes, writing Metroland in his late twenties and early thirties (it took him around seven years to publish his first novel) -- a downright funny fellow and erudite entertainer in the making. (How about we somehow-someway transpose your thirty-something awkward, whimsical, singularly nerdy self to the here and now?)

Gentlemanly paving the way for his man-of-lettership, his trademark dry wit and his non-fiction work, Barnes's debut novel presents itself as the comic, overly confident and self-assured wanderings and musings of a pair of schoolboys, the narrator Christopher and his friend Toni, who hail from the suburban London area denominated as Metroland, identify with the Angry generation, know their stuff and revel in their know-it-allness, and give free reign to semi-sophisticated theories while being very French about it all. (When in doubt, throw in some Mallarmé, Rimbaud, Baudelaire, or better yet, head out for some serious flâneuring, and engage in an épat.) Essentially a pair of silly billies, therefore, whose eccentricity is certainly affected but whose lifestyle and manners are nonetheless remarkably immersed in the liberal arts and who are themselves devoted to their routine observations.

Barnes does many a complex move with this framing, particularly through the distinctive voice and interplay between the funny and the thoughtful. (Could they indeed be 'happening' at the same time?) He certainly makes it clear that this is no mere buffoonery, even as you will find yourself grinning multiple times on the same page while Questioning the Big Themes. Characterisation, contexts and setting, as well as literary-artistic references and intertexts all combine to foreground the blistering centre of this novel: sexual and 'sentimental education'. Christopher finds himself lazily working through a funded research project in the Paris of 1968, distracted from the contextual headiness of that disorderly year by his infatuation with Annick. His tempered more mental trial-and-error approach to the inexplicable nuances and absurdities of human relationships -- particularly the man's perception of the woman -- is a foil to his youthful friend's practical adherence to sexual liberation for its own sake. Paradoxically, Toni comes across as the character most emblematic of a certain Frenchness in this respect, whereas Christopher remains immune to some of its excesses, privileging the essentially more British tendency towards making and understanding -- which looks more like oblique, conjectural, essentially confusional understanding -- love.

The English-French alignment and cultural correspondences constitute a node of infinite fascination for Barnes throughout his writing career: in Metroland this interest is palpable. You are bound to bump into it at every corner, while flâneuring your way through this immensely enjoyable novel. By traversing the tangibly French, moments of incongruence and dissonance -- cultural barriers, in other words -- arise. But Barnes is interested in making sense of these differences and, above all, in anchoring his vision in the ironies of their unlikely yet symptomatic overlapping. It is all very psychological and philosophical, but refuses to even momentarily abandon the realm of experience. Indeed, each of the three parts of the novel ends with a section called 'Object Relations', which in reworked Proust-like fashion traces the narrator's situatedness with his surroundings, the way in which objects, spaces, books both contain and seem to add materiality and substance to human individual experience. From the seemingly abstract emerges an intimate (and intimistic) vignette within which all the questions, doubts, fears Chris carries around and expounds find residence and frames of reference: perhaps frail and fleeting, but themselves discovered as meaningful.

Where life yields to art and vice versa is also a question that keeps resurfacing in the novel: always at the back of Christopher's (and Barnes's) mind. Always there. Very reasonably and relatably so, thinks the lover of literature.

'Some people say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading'

🌹

Barnes actually takes to nuancing this from within its experiential reality. It becomes a matter of interpreting the extent to which he reaches an understanding on this point. Well, forty years later, he still seems to be fairly troubled by the questions it raises.

The elegant Barnesian pen, masterfully at work in this early endeavour, holds wonderful revelations, surprises, treats. Absolutely wonderful.

[Fabian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first discovered Julian Barnes early last year &, yup, he's pretty major. Thunderbolts radiate from his novellas, for they read masterfully, all angles are explored in radical ways--even small or hypothetical tales evoke the intensity of a Faulkner, Waugh or Woolf.

In this one, we get another adolescent angst-filled portrait. Sentences in anything by Barnes take a while to simmer... not until you finish an entire paragraph does the discerning reader stop, look at the uppermost edge of the page with something like disdain in his face, then go "ah-huh!". The instant he gets it, his life's forever changed.

[Bianca thinksGRsucksnow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Metroland is Julian Barnes' first published novel.

I've never heard of it, but then again, I hadn't heard of Julian Barnes himself until two years ago.

I've picked this up without reading the blurb, solely based on the fact that it was written by Barnes.

The only other book of his I read was Levels of Life which blew me away.

Metroland is a coming of age novel of sorts. Christopher Lloyd is the main protagonist and also the narrator. Most of his ruminations are about his high school years, alongside his sidekick, Toni. When high school ends, they part ways as Christopher moves to Paris, where he finally loses his virginity at twenty-one. Fast forward to when Christopher is thirty, with a stable job, which he's surprised to enjoy, a mortgage, a wife and a child. Has Christopher become the epitome of what he and Toni used to deride. If so, is that necessarily that bad, especially when one finds himself unexpectedly happy and content.

I so enjoyed this little novel. It's incredibly smart, so well written, deep, and at the same time, sardonic and sarcastic. It breathes intelligence, with a slight affectation, from the very first pages. Every sentence is perfect. As if all that weren't enough, Barnes throws in some French and some art, just to kill me.

The narrator of this audiobook, Greg Wise, nailed down the voice, including the French accents. Perrrrrfection!

Julian Barnes, you are one sleek writer. It's a privilege to read your words.

[Pia G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

metroland, bakıldığında bir büyüme hikâyesi gibi görünse de aslında büyümenin getirdiği hayal kırıklıkları ve kabullenişlerin hikâyesi..

christopher ve toni’nin o hiçbir şeyi ciddiye almıyoruz tavırları bana çok tanıdık geldi. ergenliğin verdiği o ukalalık, yetişkinlerin dünyasını küçümsemek, paris ve özgürlüğe olan o takıntı.. ancak yıllar geçtikçe görüyoruz ki christopher aslında hep kaçtığı banliyöye geri dönüyor. metroland dediği o sıkıcı, sıradan hayatına. ve en acı tarafı, bunu fark etse de büyük bir kırılma yaşamıyor. bence hikâyenin bize söylemek istediği tam da burada saklı. toni ise onun tam tersi, ideallerinin peşinden gidiyor ancak sanki hayata da yeniliyor.

bu iki yolun karşılaştırılması beni düşündürdü, insan için huzur mu değerli, yoksa idealler mi? barnes’ın kendine özgü üslubu, bu ağır soruları hafifleştirse de satır aralarında çok ciddi bir hesaplaşma var. aslında kitap sürekli bize aynı şeyi fısıldıyor; gerçekten ne istiyoruz, hayatımızı kim için yaşıyoruz? ne yazık ki bu sorulara benim de net bir cevabım yok..

[John David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve recently read, and posted reviews of two other Julian Barnes’ novels, “The Sense of an Ending” and “A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters,” both of which I thoroughly enjoyed. “Metroland” reflects some of the same themes: obnoxiousness of young schoolboys who have read a few important books but not nearly enough, growing up, love, and memory. This being my third book by Barnes, I’m starting to get a feel for his authorial panache, and I can’t help being charmed by it. You get the sense that he’s always writing with a gentle smirk on his face, not unlike the one he always has on display on the back covers of his books.

The story follows the narrator Chris and his best friend from school, Toni, as they grow up in the suburbs of London (the “Metroland” of the title). They both hate ordinary people, whom they contemptuously go around calling “bourgeois.” They profess to live for art and ideas, when really it’s just a kind of self-important high-mindedness they’re putting on. Part II sees Chris moving to Paris and growing a bit distant from Toni. While there, he meets and falls in love with a French woman named Annick and befriends three fellow art-lovers, one of them a woman named Marion, on a visit to the Musee Gustave Moreau. One day, he mentions to Annick rather heavy-handedly that he met Marion (with whom he has done nothing other than casually flirt), but Annick gets upset, leaves him, and is never seen again.

And here’s where Barnes’ wonderful infatuation with irony comes to a head: he falls in love with Marion, has a child with her, takes on a mortgage and respectable job that he actually enjoys, and turns into one of those hideous bourgeois that he hated as a boy. However, he’s an adult now, and he’s come to find out that living a middle-class life can be full of the same happiness, stress, joy, and anxiety that even the life of an artist can.

For a rough comparison, imagine two Holden Caulfields, except that Chris actually manages to make some moral and intellectual progress and crawl out of his teenage funk during the course of the story. Toni unfortunately doesn’t, and at the end of the novel is bitter that his writing hasn’t proven more successful than it is. Being a successful human being first helps, though – a lesson that Chris learned, by hook or by crook.

This novel was published in 1980, and it resembles what you would expect Barnes then: the author finding his voice, a voice that still resonates in his later fiction - philosophical but not overbearing, witty but not caustic. For a debut novel, I thought this was very impressive. I didn’t find it as wonderful as some of his later stuff – “A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters” is still my favorite of the three – but it’s definitely worth checking out if you enjoy his other work.

[Eylül Görmüş · Rating 4 out of 5]

İkinci Julian Barnes’ım, ilkinden (Bir Son Duygusu) daha da çok sevdim. Bir kere komik. Komik yazarlara bayılıyorum. Kendilerini ve yarattıkları karakterleri aşırı ciddiye almamaları beni de gevşetiyor. Bu kitap bir tür “bildungsroman” mıdır? Bence öyledir; çağdaş ve iyi bir “oluşum” romanı örneğidir; baş karakter Christopher’ın ergenlikten orta yaşa uzanan yolculuğunu izlemekteyiz zira. Endişelerini, keşiflerini, sorularını yakın hissetiğimden midir, yoksa üzerine epeyce kafa yorduğum sadakat / aşk / tek eşlilik / çok eşlilik vb konulara nefis biçimde değindiğinden midir bilmiyorum, baya beğendim kendisini. Barnes’a devam edeceğimin kesinleştiğini söyleyebiliriz. “Şu ana değin, karımla sevişmekten hâlâ zevk aldığım için mi (niye bu hâlâ?) ona sadık kalmıştım? Sadakat yalnızca cinsel hazzın bir işlevi miydi? Eğer arzu azalırsa ya da timor mortis baş gösterirse, o zaman ne olacaktı?”

[Argos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Julian Barnes’tan tam 19 kitap okumuşum, bu 20. kitap ve ne tesadüf ki yazarın ilk romanı. Daha ilk eserinde Fransa’ya ve Fransız kültürüne olan hayranlığını belli ediyor İngiliz yazar. Kitap iki kişi üstüne kurulu, anlatıcı Chris ve arkadaşı Toni.

Üç bölüme ayırmış kitabı Barnes; İlk bölüm iki yakın arkadaşın ergen olduğu 15 yaşlarında oldukları 1963-8 yılları arasındaki dönem, ki kitapta Londra’nın çevreye doğru genişlediği, tren hatlarının ulaştığı bölgenin adını taşıyor; Metroland. İkinci bölüm anlatıcının Paris’te olduğu 1968 ve sonrasına ait yirmili yaşlara, gençlik dönemine ait anlatıları kapsıyor ve Paris adını taşıyor. Üçüncü ve son bölümü ise artık erişkin veya yetişkin denilen 30’lu yaşların anlatıldığı ve tekrar İngiltere’ye dönüldüğü dönem oluşturuyor, yani Metroland 2.

İki arkadaşın resim, sinema, edebiyat gibi sanatlar ile çevrelerindekilerin zayıflıklarını bulma onları faka düşürme gibi iki farklı konuda ortaklaşa ergenliklerini yaşadıklarını okuyoruz. Ancak yıllar geçtikçe bu iki sıkı dostun aralarındaki bağların da yıllara yenik düşüsünü keskin mizahi anlayışıyla anlatıyor J. Barnes. Hayat hikayesini bildiğim için Chris karakterinde otobiyografik dokunuşlar hissettim. Cinsellik ve seks konusunda hem ergenlikte hem gençlikte hem de yetişkinliklerinde farklı düşünen bu iki kafadardan Toni bu konularda ne kadar yırtıksa Chris de o kadar tutuk ve tutucu.

Keyifle okudum, Barnes okumak için iyi bir başlangıç olabilir, ancak yeni baskısı yok, zor bulunan bir kitap.

[Boudewijn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Metroland was Julian Barnes's first novel. He was 34 at the time and had worked on it for 7 or 8 years, before finally finding a publisher who was willing to publish it. And I am glad they did, because this book really struck a chord for me. I could relate to the personal and phylosophical journey that Christopher travelled while becoming an adult and - in some regards - I could recognize it.

In the book, Christopher and Toni are growing up in Metroland, a London suburb with a suburban life which they despise. Christopher escapes to Paris which, in the end, transforms his to the exact suburban life which he so desperatedly tried to avoid - and is happy with it.

Recommended for anyone who is on the doorstep to his middle age, and is content with his achievements. In the end, what matters is to know who you are, know what you can do and, perhaps even more important, know what you cannot do - and accept it.

Read in Dutch

[Hulyacln · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Bir yaşam bir sanat yapıtı; ya da bir sanat yapıtı daha yüce bir yaşam biçimi olabilir miydi? Sanat yalnızca, dindar olmayan insanlar tarafından üzerine düzmece bir maneviliğin yamandığı şık bir eğlence miydi? Yaşam sona eriyordu; ama sanat da sona ermiyor muydu?’
.
Christopher ve Toni, iki arkadaş. Onların arasındaki bağın kökleri sanata, düşüncelere ve öteleri görebilmeye duyulan açlığa dayanıyor. Onlar gün geçtikçe büyüyor, farklılıklar da ortaya çıkıyor elbet. Birlikte alınan yollar yalnızlaşıyor.
.
Metroland, okuyunca kıskandığım bir ilk kitap. Kullanılan dil, seçilen-biçilen ve birbirlerini biçimlendiren karakterler, Londra ve Paris’in tüm o can alıcılığıyla mekân olarak karşımızda belirmesi ve tabii ki ‘özel trende’ yolculuk sebebiyle.
Arka kapak yazısında belirtildiği gibi bir ‘oluşum’ romanı aynı zamanda Metroland. İlk gençlik, gençlik ve ardından hayatın tam da sorumlulukların omuzlara eklemlendiği yetişkinlik çağını bir karakter (aslında iki demek de mümkün) üzerinden anlatıyor Barnes. Bir yandan günlük, bir yandan da iç dökme gibi okuyorsunuz. Kitapta bahsi geçen eserleri, filmleri merak ediyor; sokaklarında turluyorsunuz.
.
Julian Barnes tanışmaktan büyük mutluluk duyduğum bir yazar oldu. Kitaplığımda yer alan bir eseri daha var ve okunmak için çok beklemeyeceği kesin. Diğer Barnes eserlerini okumak, yorumlamak için de sabırsızlanıyorum.
Hani bir kitap okursunuz ve şöyle dersiniz ‘Hmm bu yazar başıma çok çorap örecek!’, Julian Barnes tam da bu cümleyi söyletti bana...
.
Sevinç Altan çalışması olan kapak illüstrasyonu, Serdar Rifat Kırkoğlu’nun hayran kaldığım çevirisiyle~
 

[Rowan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been hooked on Julian Barnes' writing for years; he has an extraordinarily accomplished style that is unmistakable even when he is at his most experimental. This is his début novel, and in some ways it is more conventional than his later work - it has none of the manipulation of form found in A History of the World in 10½ Chapters, for instance, or the surreal plot twists of England, England. But in its own way it is quite an unusual novel - one in which nothing really happens; events which you think will be pivotal are described in detail and then fade into unimportance, while life-changing decisions are made partly or entirely "off-camera". It is less a story than an extended philosophical musing; but more than this, Barnes is very deliberately reminding us that this is how real life pans out: slowly, subtly, momentous only in retrospect.

It is hard not to sound pretentiously philosophical when discussing this book, and I actually found the book rather hard to read at first. The protagonist is portrayed slightly too realistically as a precociously cynical schoolboy, making him hard to empathise with, and Barnes makes liberal use of his extensive knowledge of French philosophy and literature. Rather than feeling like he was sharing that knowledge, I felt as though I was inadequate for not knowing Camus' relationship with his maman, or what, precisely an épat is.

In a more forgiving mood, though, I recognised Barnes' usual wry observational humour - you get the feeling that nothing in life could be anything other than absurd to him. But not in a biting way - a scene towards the end involving a drunken man feeling up his wife could have been many things, but it came across as genuinely tender and moving (the last words of the chapter are "feeling puzzled").

The book progresses from boyhood questing after the meaning of Art and Life, via attempting to find himself in Paris (more name-dropping to skim over, although I have at least briefly "lounged about at Shakespeare & Company"), to a strangely anti-climactic return to suburbia, before concluding, optimistically, that simple happiness is both possible and desirable.

"But I was thinking in the future conditional rather than the plain future; it's the tense that minimises responsibility." A classic Barnes line: is it just a kind of learnèd pun, or an important message to the reader? It makes you think, even if you're not quite sure what it makes you think. This book doesn't really answer any big questions; in some ways, it doesn't even ask them; instead, it turns to the reader and suggests quietly that they might not be right questions after all.

[W.D. Clarke · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*
I am tempted to "level-up" JB's debut to 4*, but not only is that metaphor now as dead as a doornail, I, though a Barnes-ophile and perhaps even budding -maniac, also remain too embotherèd by the out-of-joint tripartite nature of this bildungsroman's bildung/construction and overrushed trip through time to do so:

—An absolutely thrilling Part I (where I thought this would surely be a 5* book):
We begin in early adolescence circa the Angry Young Man era of English letters, our endearingly snobbish, über-callow heroes épat-ing (as they call it) the bourgeoisie (who surround them as surely as suburbia or Metroland surrounds London) and searching for and endlessly discussing more authentic, aesthetic theories to live by—they think. And think and argue and even, shockingly feel, a bit before thinking and arguing again.
(Truly excellent.)

—A much-too-short excursus in Part II upon the obligatory post-uni excursion to Paris:
Where it's May, 1968, of course (and therefore ripe with multivalent possibility) but none of that appears to matter, as our (now singular) hero might be falling in love once or twice, he's never quite sure.
(You blinked, it's over, what happened, did it matter?)

—An even shorter present-day 1977 Part III with-wife-and-kid back in Metroland:
With some brief reflections upon and a bit of agon about whether maturity is just the time during which one has learned to sell-out —or not. More-ish, as the Brits say, but s'all merely a sketch though, as though rushed by some imaginary deadline or something.
(As the air in the hero's bicycle tires is let out by rando adolescents his students, so too for us.)

It's a schematic Boys Own (the girls don't get much of a look-in, I'm afraid) manual for late 20C anglo-bourgeois-aesthetes, in other words, with some of the lively, brainy, OTT Barnesian banter that animates/consumes the addictive* Talking It Over and its somewhat less coruscating Love, Etc: Talking It Over Series, Book 2, which is elevated above its imagined peers by prose which seems as effortless as it is measured, precise, and yet still somehow lyrical—as you'd likely expect of even a tyro JB.

But it’s less "like watching a mighty river of boys flowing down to the great sea of adulthood" (his protagonists' teacher's words) than a series of vignettes which could have made for a superb trilogy of fully-fledged novels themselves, had they incubated longer. But they also hint at the excellence and laurels to come.

*Yes, that novel's logorrheic overabundance of the "crepuscular" makes its debut here along with ole JB hisself!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Metroland is the first hand account of Christopher Lloyd, from growing up in the suburbs of London to the brief period after graduation in Paris and then the early years of marriage. As a child Christopher was obsessed with the idea of bourgeois lifestyle with his friend Toni. In Paris he remembers his French girlfriend Annick and now he has a mundane marriage.

While this is a novel, it’s also a reflection of Christopher Lloyd’s life. As a child he has big plans as well as being obsessed with the idea of having sex. Then he finally meets Annick and has sex and has such fond memories of this relationship. Then looking at his marriage, he sees it’s not perfect and he wonders to himself is he really happy.

Some people call it “growing up” and others “selling out”; this account of Christopher’s life was really interesting, his attitude and angst didn’t end and he just hasn’t let go with his old ideals. While his French girlfriend challenges his ideals and tries to explain that growing up isn’t selling out he never really gets it. It’s not until he reflects on his past that he starts to understand. Sure his marriage has its problems but he is not unhappy; he is content. But while you never find out what happens next, I got the feeling that Christopher has truly started to understand that his life is good and slowly is changing his thinking.

I loved Julian Barnes’ A Sense of An Ending and I wanted to explore more of his writing. I decided to read this one because of it was short and it felt like a similar style. I really thought this book had a lot to offer, in the way of ideals, morals, relationships, love and just the way we view our lives. Looking back on our lives, it’s easy to remember the good and the bad but there is a whole lot in between we tend to forget, so when Christopher is looking at his past, he misses so much.

A beautiful novel, while very short has so much in it to offer. I went and watched the movie adaption of this book as well. While it captured a lot of the books ideas, I couldn’t get past the idea of Christian Bale as Christopher Lloyd and felt it left out a lot of be beauty. Fans of Julian Barnes should check this book out. Christopher Lloyd is an interesting character; a coming of age novel but this hipster took a long time to really grow.

This review originally appeared in my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2013/...

[Julian Worker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Julian Barnes's first book and it's in three parts.

The first and third sections are set in Metroland - a strip of suburbia in outer London - in 1963 and 1977 respectively. The middle section is set in Paris in 1968.

The first section chronicles the development of a friendship between Christopher and Toni, two boys at an all-boys school who as adolescents make fun of the adult world. They love and art and French writers and show of their knowledge of these subjects whenever they can. They determine not to live the traditional life of Metroland and buy a house, get married, and have children.

In 1968, at the age of 21 Christopher goes to Paris to continue his studies, has his first love affair, misses all the major events of that year of uprisings, and meets his future wife Marion.

Back in Metroland in 1977, we find Christopher married to Marion with a young daughter Amy. Toni continues to try and live the ideals of his younger days and chides Christopher for giving in and becoming like the people they used to make fun of in their younger days.

[Kate O'Shea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was certainly not a fan of this particular Barnes (an author I usually enjoy). It seemed somewhat pointless to be honest. The voice of a bored schoolboy is the dominant theme. He doesn't know what he wants to do, he doesn't understand life, the world, love, anything. He goes to Paris but I'm still not sure why. He falls in love, he falls out of love. I simply didn't care.

There are, however, some beautifully drawn scenarios - the parts on various trains ignoring girls, winding up other passengers, being as irritating as only the young can really get away with. The interactions with extended family are amusing but otherwise I was a bit bored.

Just not for me.

[Yaprak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ay vallahi oldu sanki bu iş. Sesli kitaptan dinledim bu kitabı da. Evden toplu taşımaya yürürken, işle ilgili bir şeyler yaparken dinlemeye başlayıp bitirdim. Bence Julian Barnes kitapları sesli kitap için çok uygun öncelikle. Çünkü çok fazla diyalog yok, dolayısıyla ''Bu cümleyi kim kurdu ya şimdi?'' gibi bir anlamsızlığa ve telaşa düşmüyorsunuz. Anlatıcının yaşadıklarını, hislerini ve düşüncelerini aktarmasını dinlemek çok daha kolay ve keyifli.

Bu romanda da yine Bir Son Duygusu'na benzer şekilde ikili ilişkiler, ergenlikten yetişkinliğe geçiş, kadın-erkek ilişkilerinde sadakat, asilik ve burjuvazi eleştirisi gibi temel konular var. Christopher ve Toni'nin gençlik ateşinin hayatın rutinine uyup / uymayıp devam etmesi, beraberinde yaşama dair birçok soru ve sorgulamayı da getiriyor. Çok keyif aldım. Barnes ile buluşmaya devam edeceğim ben belli ki.

Ah bir de kitapta bir yerde İskenderiye Dörtlüsü'nden bahsediliyor -ki pek de tatlı bir başlangıcın ilk sohbeti olarak geçiyor- heyecanlanıp hemen Eylül'e mesaj attım. :)

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Julian Barnes debut novel, Metroland follows the adolescence and early adulthood of Chris Lloyd. Typical of Barnes' work, there are little or no questions asked about the very specific issues that may arise in a place and time; such issues as race, gender and class remain largely untouched upon - instead he focuses his writings on the characters within, and the internal dilemma's and challenges they face over the passage of time. As such,they have a universal appeal, in spite of their strong focus on middle-class characters, living underwhelmingly ordinary lives.

This is Barnes' debut outing onto the literary scene and was first published in 1980. It shows some hints of what is so appealing in his later works, such as The Sense of An Ending and The Only Story - works that again, address broad-brush themes which touch the lives of 'everyman' characters. But where both these works had some plot, Metroland has basically none to speak of. Again, this is a key characteristic of Barnes' style - leave the story wide-open to interpretation by removing any predictable, generic, tropey narrative. Instead, just write about life.

In Metroland, this works to some extent. We have to remember - this is a debut, with little of the polished zest of his later writings. Nonetheless, his writing is self-assured - he clearly knows what he's about, even though he has just emerged from his chrysalis. Chris's rapport with boyhood friend Toni is written extremely well. Their own in-jokes and peculiar turns of phrase, often incorporating French phraseology into their banter, is refreshing, well-paced and downright funny at some points. Likewise, his coming-of-age and all that accompanies it (loss of virginity, clumsy relationship failings, questions about what the fuck it's all about), is vividly and eloquently written. There is a fresh sense of honesty in Barnes' writing. Even in this first novel, he displays a penchant for dropping pearls of wisdom into the text - questions and musings on the part of the main characters, that provide a sense of enlightenment and force us to ask the same questions in our own minds, or at the very least put ourselves in the shoes of those characters who are doing the 'musing'.

This isn't perfect. But it does have some eloquently written passages. The prose isn't poetic, or stunning, or dazzling. 'Honest' is very much the right word to use here. Straightforward and honest. But still eloquent nonetheless. Because of this, Barnes' allows us to inhabit Chris's psyche throughout his journey through life. And consequently, there is a very real sense that something is lost with the realisation in his thirties that somehow, all the untarnished dreams of youth haven't quite been fulfilled; that a good measure of the joie de vivre which he possessed in his boyhood days with Toni has gone, and gone forever. His reunion with Toni later in the book brings this home. Toni has never quite grown up. To him, marriage is to be denigrated - any man worth his salt simply wouldn't tie himself into such a heavy commitment. Chris however, has irrevocably changed. Marriage, a young child, steady (but boring) job, mortgage and a car that gets him and his family from A to B, have all ensured that he has settled into the groove of middle-aged life. Whether he is right to do so is a question which is left for the reader to answer.

[Ashish · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book by one of my favourite authors and I had always wanted to check out the beginnings of what is an exemplary literary career. Metroland showcases shades of the brilliance of Barnes and is a gateway into understanding what to expect from his other books (for readers new to the author).

The book is divided into parts which follow the phases of the protagonist's life as he matures and transforms into an adult. The first part comes across as a coming of age novel wherein​ the circumstances shape the youthful exuberance and cocky confidence of adolescence as the boy and his friend are ready to take on the world. The second part is where the growing pains turn into a young romantic's voes as he discovers himself in another country and under different circumstances. What follows is the settling of middle age, where life teaches him the lessons of maturity and stability and shapes the worldview which is broader and more empathic.

The book is characterised by the showcasing of the evolution of the protagonist, from a obstinate teenager to a wilful adult. More importantly, it's about the way human nature is like clay in the hands of time, and the trials and tribulations of life and the people we meet are the forces that eventually and effectively give it the final shape that defines who we are.

Barnes has a way of drawing characters, realistic yet incredible. The book has the characteristic subtle humour that we see in a lot of his other works, humour which won't make you laugh out loud, but will definitely tease a chuckle or two. There are certain incongruencies in the book but it's expected from a first time novelist, it's nothing that takes away a lot from the book. There is however a lot of use of French which might be irksome. It requires a fair bit of looking up for translation of phrases, which cannot be skipped as they form some essential parts of the dialogue. This is something that is consistent with some of his other books too, wherein Barnes gives his character a tendency of mix a lot of French in his/her vocabulary. It can be distracting for a reader who doesn't speak the language but it did kick start the drive in me to learn the language as I plan to read everything written by Barnes.

Overall a good book, not his best, it has its flaws, but thematically and structurally great.

[Ayse Dilsad Cetin Ozyurt · Rating 4 out of 5]

İlk Julian Barnes okumamı bitirdim. Günde 60-70 sayfadan fazla Barnes okumak çok da sağlıklı bir okuma değil bence. Durup düşünmek, açıp interneti “bu ne demekmiş, hımmm tamam bu buymuş” gibi yorumlar yapmak gerekiyor anlaşılabilmesi için.
Tatmin olmuş bir Barnes okuru olabilmek için sadece Türkçe bilmek, hatta üstüne İngilizce bilmek de yeterli değil. Fransızca, İspanyolca ya da İtalyanca gibi Latin kökenli bir dil daha bilinirse, üslup kaynaklı dil cambazlıklarıyla yapılan ironiler daha anlaşılır hale geliyor. Çevirmen Serdar Rifat Kırkoğlu dipnotlarla olayı açık hale getirmeye çalışmış ama bazı eksikler de var.
Metroland (1963), Paris (1968), Metroland II (1977) isimleriyle üç bölümden oluşan kitap, anlatıcı Christopher Lloyd’un son bölümdeki yaşından usul usul dökülüyor. Bende Alejandro Zambra hissi yarattı. İlk kitap olmasından mütevellit, fazlasıyla otobiyografi hissi mevcut.
“Understanding Julian Barnes” diye bir kaynak buldum. Ona da göz atılmasını öneririm. Yüzeysel okumalar yapanların sıkılabileceği, derin okumalar yapanların “Barnes bana bugün de bunu öğretti” diyebileceği ironik bir üslup.
Rimbaud, Baudelaire, Flaubert değinmeleri çok fazla.
Sayesinde Johann Strauss II’nin Güzel Mavi Tuna Valsi’ni dinlerken kendimden geçtim. Bir de hayatımın uygun bir döneminde Lawrence Durrell’ın İskenderiye Dörtlüsü’nü okumak farz oldu (Justine, Balthazar, Mountolive ve Clea).
🔻Çeviriye bir eleştirim 1980 yılında yazılmış kitapta “kredi kartı” tanımının kullanılmış olması. Birkaç tane de düzelti hatası var.

[AiK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Крис и Тони, юные интеллектуалы, изображенные, как молодежь 1960-х, не сильно отличаются от молодежи 1990-х или сегодняшней молодежи. Я не вижу большой разницы. Хотя, может быть, в мое время не было стремления к эпатажу публики. Понравились литературные обзоры.

[zeyneb · Rating 2 out of 5]

julian barnes ile sanki ilk buluşmamız güzel geçmiş de ikinci buluşmamızda sohbet aksın diye ona en sevdiği kahvaltılıkları sormak zorunda kalmışım gibi oldu.

olmadı yani. sense of an ending'ten sonra bu sadece ayıp oldu.

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think there are two types of teenagers. The first kind see the world as signifying nothing. The second kind see the world as signifying too much. Both are full of angst, convinced that they can see clearly what the rest of the world--particularly grown-ups, society, the establishment, etc.--is too dull and superficial to notice. Teenagers of the first type are enthralled by J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, and find in Holden Caulfield a more eloquent expression of their own ill-formed views. Teenagers of the second type (as you might imagine, I include myself here) see Holden Caufield as a boring, spoiled, whiny brat. Barnes' Metroland is written for that second type of teenager. If high school reading lists offered a choice between both books, I think my own journey into adulthood might have been a little easier. I would, at least, have had a better literary model. Late in the book, when both main characters have grown into what society would doubtless call adulthood, the less contented of the two confronts his old friend:

"Remember when we were at school, when life had a capital letter and it was all Out There somehow, we used to think that the way to live our lives was to discover or deduce certain principles from which individual decisions could be worked out? Seemed obvious to everyone but wankers at the time, didn't it? Remember reading all those late Tolstoy pamphlets called things like The Way We Ought To Live? I was just wondering really if you would have despised yourself then if you'd known you were going to end up making decisions based on hunches which you could easily verify, but couldn't be bothered to?"

The questions that second type of teenager asks never really go away; they just get set aside in the press of marriage, mortgages, and steady jobs. There's no shame in that, Barnes suggests, but it happens all the same. We make do.

Catcher is a novel about fear, and I read it as ultimately optimistic: being a teenager is hell, but you'll eventually look back on it, your fear conquered with the wisdom of age, and laugh. Metroland is a novel about desire--desire which may change its form and objects, but which never goes away. For Barnes, there is no cliff at the edge of the field, there is only another field, and another, and another. That's life, he says; and we make do.

[Girish · Rating 4 out of 5]

"How does adolescence come back most vividly to you? What do you remember first? The quality of your parents; a girl; your first sexual tremor; success or failure at school; some still unconfessed humiliation; happiness; unhappiness; or, perhaps, a trivial action which first revealed to you what you might later become?"

Julian Barnes should feature in some hall of fame for authors and probably teach a thing or two to today's authors on the power of understatement. This book takes you on a nostalgic trip to the all-knowing adolescence and explores what it means to "grow up".

Christopher Lloyd is first 16 when we meet him. He is the narrator to whom life and adulthood are concepts to be theorised and researched and with his friend Tim, creates bourgeois theories/games. Their thoughts are beyond their age and actions typical of boys. In one of the humorous episodes in the first part, Chris tries to deconstruct his brother's girlfriend.

The second part happens in Paris with a generous dose of French sprinkled in. This part is of introduction to love and sex (or the other way round). We see the slow change in growing up. The third part is when the author realises he is a grown up - after he himself has become a dad. The change is subtle and we read it in actions.

The books comes a full circle when the initial almost incoherent sense making of the world is revisited in adulthood. The characters are not over the top dramatic and more slice of life than an Eric Segal book character. The prose is brilliant and flows wrinklefree. Some initial chapters are distractions.

"It's as if everyone has a perfect age to which they aspire, and they're only truly at ease with themselves when they get there."

Trivia: In Joseph Heller's "Portrait of an artist as an old man", he wrongly quotes "Metroland" , when he actually meant "Before she met me"

Simple story - lyrically told!

[Sanja_Sanjalica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a somewhat difficult book to describe. Part coming-of-age, part adulthood, part social commentary, part everyday musings of life. The style is quite easy to read - a lot to ponder as it is with Barnes. I like the character development and the lack of any big plot booms, as life is not about those. I will think about this one quite a bit.

[Rini · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable and entertaining modern classic. I liked the middle and final part more, understandably I couldn't handle the pretentiousness of the first part well.

[Sonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was originally posted at my blog http://ifnotread.wordpress.com/

I have to admit two things:

1. I read The sense of an ending by Julian Barnes only because he won the Man Booker Prize. There was so much talk about it being too short a book to win and lots of other nonsense. My ears twitched, so I read it.

2. I had never heard of Julian Barnes prior to The sense of an ending. Yep, I know…

Let’s talk about that book another day. After I finished reading this short book I had to go back to the beginning and read Barnes’ first novel, Metroland.

I love Metroland and it confirmed my admiration for Barnes’ writing.

Metroland, written in 1980, follows Christopher in three parts: Metroland 1963, Paris 1968 and Metroland II 1977. I’m reluctant to call it a coming-of-age novel but…

What hooked me in? This line:

‘He was the confidant with whom I shared all my hates and most of my enthusiasms’ (Talking about his friend Toni).
You could write a thesis on this sentence alone. Humans are a strange lot. We are very quick to share our grievances and hatreds but when it comes to our passions in life – we are selective to share.

I now have a love for capital letters. In the car, Christopher refers to his mother as the Front Seat. And then there is Moral Decisions, Having Relationships, Dog House, Feral Hour, Peace and Quiet, Common Pursuit, Love, Truth and Authenticity.

Christopher is rather arrogant as a youngster:

‘What, me, sneer at the Victorians? I didn’t have enough sneer-room left. By the time I’d finished sneering at dummos, prefects, masters, parents, my brother and sister, Third Division (North) football, Molière, God, the bourgeoisie and normal people, I didn’t have any strength left for more than a twisted pout at history.’
If you picked up on the cynicism in that reflection, you’d be right in guessing that Christopher does wise up as he gets older.

Barnes can add text like this:

‘…’
‘…?’

And we know what it means.

This is the thing. You can’t skip paragraphs in Barnes’ books. Not even skip words. Every single word counts and means something. This is why he can write short books and win prizes at the same time.

[Jovana · Rating 4 out of 5]

for a random thriftstore find, was not expecting to enjoy this as much as i did
very up my alley

[Sevim Tezel Aydın · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant...
Julian Barnes' first novel, Metroland, is a coming-of-age story that follows Christoper in three parts from his teenage years to adulthood. The first chapter accounts for the friendship of Christoper and Tony, who grew up in the suburbs of London; they share the same ideas, devotion to art and disgust for "ordinary people". The second chapter sees Christopher five years later in Paris during the 1968 events, where he finds love. In the last part, Christopher becomes what he hated as a boy: a married man with a child and a stable job...
Julian Barnes eloquently describes the teenagers' know-everything manners and distaste for rules, their journey of finding themselves, discovering sexuality, finding love and facing life. His ability to reflect the characters' moods to the reader is admirable...

[Zazou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eigenlijk kan het artikel van Hans Bouman uit de Volkskrant dit boek niet beter beschrijven: https://www.volkskrant.nl/cultuur-med...
Het boek zal me niet bijblijven, hoewel er toch regelmatig mooie en ook grappige gedeeltes in voorkwamen.

[Djuna · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5*

[loė · Rating 4 out of 5]

when i first started reading this i thought there was a reason i got it for €1 but in the end i didn’t hate it