Close Reading

“And so when I began to go on evening walks last fall, I found Morningside Heights an easy place from which to set out into the city. The path that drops down from the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and crosses Morningside Park is only fifteen minutes from Central Park. In the other direction, going west, it is some ten minutes to Sakura Park, and walking northward from there brings you toward Harlem, along the Hudson, though traffic makes the river on the other side of the trees inaudible. These walks, a counterpoint to my busy days at the hospital, steadily lengthened, taking me farther and farther afield each time, so that I often found myself at quite a distance from home late at night, and was compelled to return home by subway. In this way, at the beginning of the final year of my psychiatry fellowship, New York City worked itself into my life at walking pace” (Cole 8).

Teju Cole begins his novel, Open City, with this unusual passage. The unorthodoxy of it, however, is what makes it effective. The combination of many intentional tactics amount to a brilliant and cohesive introduction to the story that is about to unfold in front of the reader.

Cole’s prose begins en media res, which causes the reader to suddenly be present within Julius’ thoughts. This is refreshingly overwhelming for a reader that has not encountered this tactic before. However, the reader later discovers that the book began in the middle of the beginning of the story. Teju Cole employs a tactic of using an initially unidentifiable narrator; the reader does not know who is speaking, let alone his or her age, gender, or race. Since the beginning of the story is void of all characteristics of the speaker, the reader is allowed to zone in on what is happening that very moment.

Julius reflects that his walks started “...taking me farther and farther afield…” The repetition of “farther” serves to underscore the exponential nature of Julius’ walks. It resonates with the first paragraphs closing line, “…New York City worked itself into my life at walking pace.” The tactic exposes the explicit aimlessness of the walks, Julius has no real reason behind them besides to just think. However, the more he thinks, the more explicitly meaningful the walks become. With that, his train of thought is propelled on and on, and so he walks further. Contrarily, the seemingly aimless quality of his walks could show his lack of emotion in his life. Julius, as the reader finds out later in the book, does not care about people, he essentially is just a body(Refer to “Emma’s Thoughts” for more on this idea).

Julius narrates, “…I often found myself at quite a distance from home late at night, and was compelled to return home by subway.” This hints at his slight discomfort for night city life, and foreshadows an eventual mugging. The fact that Julius demonstrates the isolation he feels, half black and half white, in the cultural melting pot of New York. He feels uncomfortable when black people recognize his african roots, calling him “brother.”

Julius is physically alone for a large portion of the book, but he is so much more alone than that. Julius walks alone, works alone, lives alone, just broke up with his girlfriend, and has sex with 50 year women. He does not have many meaningful relationships in his life, the only one he chose to carry with him from his past is the one who knows least about it. In this way, Julius obtains some sort of demented pretend world- a world without his turbulent past.

Accurate positional detail indicates Julius’ personal attachment to his specific path- it is of notable importance to him. Cole writes, “In this way, at the beginning of the final year of my psychiatry fellowship, New York City worked itself into my life at walking pace.”  The use of past tense and first person point of view, with intentional and effective variations to second person, enriches the beginning lines of the book. Specifically, Julius describes how the northward way of his path “brings you toward Harlem.” By using second person, Cole stimulates the reader’s imagination and attempts to widen his/her understanding of the place that meant so much to him. It also gives the writing a more personalized touch, Julius is not just thinking about it, he is telling you about it.

Julius notices, “though traffic makes the river on the other side of the trees inaudible.” This can be viewed as one of the many metaphors in this book. This attention to detail focuses on how industrial life and technology blocks out the beauty of nature. It also serves as a contrast- the river of cars is juxtaposed with the real river and the trees. Julius mentioning of the parks could be demonstrative of the separation of the city from nature, it is present, but segregated into small parts of the city.

These tactics work together to complete an accurate and apt introduction to Open City. Teju Cole allows the reader to become instantly connected to the story, without bothering with the details of the narrator. However, one is left asking, does Julius begin nondescript for stylistic reasons, or for reasons that transcend the syntax and comemnt on Teju Cole's life?