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Title: Open City

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Teju Cole

Narrator: Kevin Mambo

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-17-11

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 139 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Acclaimed author Teju Coles writing has appeared in numerous journals in Nigeria and the United States. His second novel, Open City is the story of a Nigerian-German psychiatrist making a living in New York City five years after the Twin Towers were destroyed. The tale emerges as a rich and unforgettable meditation of life and culture.

Critic Reviews:

"Reminiscent of the works of W.G. Sebald, this dreamy, incantatory debut was the most beautiful novel I read this yearthe kind of book that remains on your nightstand long after you finish so that you can continue dipping in occasionally as a nighttime consolation." (Ruth Franklin, The New Republic)

"A psychological hand grenade." (Alexis Madrigal, The Atlantic, Best Books I Read This Year)

A meditative and startlingly clear-eyed first novel. (Newsweek/Daily Beast Writers Favorite Books 2011)

Members Reviews:

A Rich Tapestry

Under the guise of young professional's straying thoughts as he walks New York (and later, Amsterdam), Cole weaves a complex world, combining thoughts on the world (everything from bed bugs to economic collapse), personal memoir, happenstance conversations, history and the world around him. As in the movie "The Waking Life", long passages of the novel are incidental monologues that characters seem to recite to the narrator, almost unprompted.

Open City rewards patience. On a minute, paragraph by paragraph scale, Cole's laconic plotting might seem aimless, but rich themes bubble to the fore of each chapter, and larger themes invite probing and relistening as you dig into the book. Cole paints a complex but vivid character, a man who seems to accomplish much but dreams so much more. Yet, you'll see, he isn't quite an angel.

I enjoyed this book greatly. It has its conceits - why does everyone open themselves up so unreservedly to this mysterious narrator? - but the tapestry of thoughts, conversations and dreamlike action, all told with gorgeous prose, was intoxicating. I've actually found it's rich world worth exploring again with a relisten.

Stream of consciousness novel

It was interesting, though unusual. Cole's descriptions of places and people made it easy to visualize them.

Great book

What made the experience of listening to Open City the most enjoyable?

This is a great book. It is thoughtful and insightful. The writing is beautiful and the images of New York are great.

Lyrical at times, but also frustrating

I really wanted to like Open City, but ultimately found this book rather frustrating. Teju Cole's other writing can be wonderful, so I had high expectations. The title is great, and I was initially drawn to the portrait of Manhattan at a particular moment in time (early 2000s). I began reading this book in print, then switched over to kindle for a bit, and finally read the whole thing as audiobook. Kevin Mambo reads in an engaging, fluid way that captures the variety of accents embedded in this book.

As other reviewers have noted, the main character in Open City comes across as self-involved, even arrogant at times. Not sure if this quality was intended by the author, but that is how it comes across.