Summary

The Man Who Saw Everything tells the story of a British man named Saul Adler whose time spent visiting East Germany (also known as the GDR) in the late 1980s comes to be the defining experience of his life.

Chapter 1 takes place on Abbey Road in London: the road where the Beatles recorded their famous album Abbey Road. Saul stepped on to a pedestrian crossing (known as zebra crossing in Britain) on Abbey Road, where the Beatles were photographed for their album cover. Saul was hit by a car. The man driving the car got out and apologized to Saul but also explained what had just happened in a way that implied that the accident was Saul’s fault. The man, Wolfgang, asked Saul how old he was and did not seem to believe him when Saul replied that he was 28. Saul felt...