He began to forgive the chill of this Northern city. He thought about the…blood running in his own veins. He watched himself being consoled by literature and history, and, observing how much he’d changed in one year, he wondered what kind of person he was ultimately meant to be. But there was still that hopelessness or sorrow right beneath the skin of his afternoons.

From the novel Strong Motion by Jonathan Franzen. The protagonist is a 23-year old named Louis. Have you ever read a novel where the main character shares your name? I have found it strange, but less strange than I expected.