I'm halfway through this book - it won all sorts of awards and I downloaded the sample from Amazon and really liked it, so bought the book. I can only describe the writing as dense - every sentence is packed with meaning and words that I've never encounterered before. It starts with the main character Julius walking through the streets of New York and I am enjoying reading it on my iPad so I can look up words and pull up google maps to see where he is.
But it's starting to read more like nonfiction than fiction. Everything is told from Julius' point of view and the narrative is dark. It meanders quite a bit - I think that's why there is so much walking - paralleling what you encounter on the streets of cities. The story moves to Brussels and becomes even more somber as stories unfold about disenfranchised immigrants who fled impossible situations in their home countries.
I wish I could sense that this story is going to go somewhere, or if it will continue on its current path. If I had a paper copy I would be flipping through for hints of redemption or hope. I haven't got the hang of how to do that on Kindle. For now I'm not sorry I've read this far, but think I will put it down for a while and decide whether to try and finish it. Although I probably won't...I think a good book should leave the reader unambiguous about needing to turn the page.
http://www.amazon.com/Open-City-Novel-Teju-Cole/dp/0812980093
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