“I remember only that the main character’s self-preoccupation and imagined “world-weariness” were a little off-putting.”
—
It would seem, for whatever reason, some people are just strongly inclined to identify with the character. Would be interesting to study why that is.
"For whatever reason?!"
It's a very appealing attitude to assume: "Everyone else in the world is a disgusting hypocrite!" By implication, "I am better than everyone else!"
By extension: "That relieves me of a lot of responsibility for the world's ills and for my own apparent short-comings."
Regards,