OPEN CITY
Teju Cole
Random House
IF you’ve ever been in a New York state of mind, the peripatetic narrator of Open City, Julius, may well strike a chord.
Like so many love-broken thirty-somethings, his Manhattan rovings are his balm at first, but the quotidian becomes existential as the half-German, Nigerian-born Julius discovers the journey is more important than the destination and his true education begins.
The plot is loose and at times Cole seems to be showboating a tad, but he is honest, clever and explorative.
As a debut novel, Open City, although not without its faults, is a promising start for a young, talented writer who has a good grip on using literature as a cultural magnifying glass. - Aly Verbaan