I was captivated from the first page. I cannot remember when I enjoyed a first novel more

If all works of fiction were as thoughtful, as subtle, as well constructed, and as funny as Metroland there would be no more talk of the death of the novel

A rare and unusual first novel

A very funny, touching first novel. It has a hard comic edge to it that is logical and at the same time extremely diverting

One would have to look very hard to find a wryer, more lovingly detailed account of intellectual and sexual innocence abroad

An alert, witty, unpredictable novel which brings a sharp fresh eye to bear on English character and English compromises

Metroland is a delicious book, sharp and witty and observant

One of the best accounts of clever English schoolboyhood I've read

Flighty, playful… Barnes succeeds in vividly recreating teenage precociousness, particularly what it feels like to be a young male encountering love and sex

A dazzling entertainer

Consummately elegant

He writes perceptively about the shift from self-absorbed teenager to adult.

If all works of fiction were as thoughtful, as subtle, as well constructed and as funny as Metroland there would be no more talk of the death of the novel

It's one of the best accounts of clever English schoolboyhood I've read

Irony and imagery are deployed with a finesse even Flaubert wouldn't wince at...consummately elegant