The Reader

The main character of the story is "you," the presumed male reader of the book. The entire novel is written as though the author is speaking directly to the reader, who is male, and who is attempting to discover the truth behind a mass of fictitious books being brought into the literary market. The reader is clearly shy but does have a strong sense of value and worth. He places a large value on reading for pleasure but less so on reading to find a hidden inner meaning. This character is brave, traveling across the country to discover the truth and also bold in his efforts to win over the heart of Ludmilla. He intrudes on writers, is kidnapped, held hostage, forced into becoming a double agent, is lied to, used, and abandoned several times throughout the novel, and yet still persists in his pursuit to find...