Metroland (novel)

1980 novel by Julian Barnes

Metroland

First edition

Author| Julian Barnes
Language| English
Genre| Bildungsroman
Publisher| Jonathan Cape

Publication date

| 1980
Publication place| United Kingdom
Media type| Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages| 176 pp
ISBN| 0-224-01762-4
OCLC| 27013621

Dewey Decimal

| 823/.914 20
LC Class| PR6052.A6657 M47 1980

Metroland is an English novel written by Julian Barnes and published in 1980, the author's first book.

## Overview

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Metroland is a first person account of Christopher Lloyd and his experiences growing up in the suburbs of London (so-called Metro-land), his brief life in Paris as a graduate student and the early years of his subsequent marriage. It is divided into three sections: I Metroland (1963); II Paris (1968); and III Metroland (1977). As adolescents Christopher and his childhood friend Toni had shown contempt for the bourgeois establishment but this lifestyle is one that Christopher ultimately chooses, much to Toni's disappointment, obtaining a secure job in publishing, marrying, buying a house and having a child. Christopher realises that his normal life and somewhat mundane marriage are not perfect, nor are they necessarily more exciting than his time in Paris with his bold French girlfriend Annick, but he does love his wife and is content.

## Reception

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Philip Larkin wrote a letter to Barnes. Barnes later recounted that Larkin had written "that he had much enjoyed it, despite his prejudice against novels with people under the age of 21 in them. He added, gloomily, something like, 'but is that what life's like nowadays?' This unexpected praise was the most gratifying moment of the strange passage of first publication."[1] Barnes' mother complained about the book's "bombardment" of filth.[2]

## Film adaptation

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Main article: Metroland (film)

In 1997 Metroland was made into a film starring Christian Bale and Emily Watson, with a score by Mark Knopfler. The executive producer was Andrew Bandall and the director was Philip Saville.

## References

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1. ^ Flood, Alison (17 May 2013). "Book auction to shine light on the secrets of quidditch: Charity auction of annotated first edition novels gives unprecedented insight into the genesis of classic titles". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
2. ^ Summerscale, Kate (1 March 2008). "Julian Barnes: Life as he knows it". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 10 August 2011.

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Julian Barnes

Novels|

* Metroland (1980)
* Before She Met Me (1982)
* Flaubert's Parrot (1984)
* Staring at the Sun (1986)
* A History of the World in 10½ Chapters (1989)
* Talking It Over (1991)
* The Porcupine (1992)
* England, England (1998)
* Love, etc (2000)
* Arthur & George (2005)
* The Sense of an Ending (2011)
* The Noise of Time (2016)
* The Only Story (2018)
* Elizabeth Finch (2022)

| as Dan Kavanagh|

* Duffy (1980)
* Fiddle City (1981)

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Short story collections|

* Cross Channel (1996)
* The Lemon Table (2004)
* Pulse (2011)

Non-fiction books|

* Nothing to Be Frightened Of  (2008)
* Levels of Life (2013)
* The Man in the Red Coat (2019)

Film adaptions|

* Metroland (1997)
* The Sense of an Ending (2017)

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*[LC Class]: Library of Congress Classification
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