The Narrator

The novel’s narrator, its central character and protagonist, is never given a name. The reason for this narrative choice is never explicitly or clearly defined, but there are a couple of possible, implied explanations. One has to do with the fact that no other characters in the book is given a name, with the exception of Mitko, the young and charismatic male prostitute with whom the narrator becomes intensely, almost obsessively involved. The sense here is that the author intends for the reader to have the impression that Mitko is the character of most significance – that even though it is not necessarily his story (it is, ultimately, the narrator’s), he is the most active and most significant player in it.

The other possible explanation for the anonymity of the narrator is that the author intends for his experience to be perceived as a universal one...