Has anyone come across any books where the POV changes to second person self referential midway through a chapter, can it work? Would it tend to put you off?

I think this is one of those things you can only find out by doing it, and seeing what people think of how it works. I know second person divides people like the red sea, so it's all in how its done, perhaps. I do think it's probably easier for readers to enjoy when it's part of a novel they've already made friends with, than if it starts like that...

Emma

I had this discussion with a couple of people yesterday.

One took virulently against the idea of switching into the second person (from the first person).

The other thought it was acceptable if used as a way of making the narrator's interior monologue chime with what he/she takes as being the majority view, or as a way of making an individual view seem widely accepted - in the way that people do, quite unconsciously, in daily speech. For example, they'll say:

"You'd've thought he'd've grown out of that sort of thing at his age"

Instead of sticking their neck out and making it plain it's their own view:

"I think he should have grown out of that sort of thing at his age"

In the sort of example given above, I guess it's a good way of illustrating self-deception - the inability to come to terms with the individuality of one's own views.

But I'm not sure if that's quite what you mean.

Thanks for that Emma and Rupert,

I've found that I quite frequently slip into the second person in the way that you describe Rupert but now I've tried to rework passages to try and no only establish that common ground with the reader but to somewhat distance the character from himself and his own actions at key points. I guess we'll just have to see if it works!