reading 3d studio max files into a c# app

Question

im nly new to all this 3d stuff., but i have to do a project so i have to get good fairly quick. im creating a model of a man in 3d studio max. how do i write my c# /directX9 app so that it reads in the model ( the 3ds file). this would be way more feisable for me that for me to code out all the vertices for the man in c#. ive searched the web but can find nothing in c#, and i cant understand c++ much, or at all. thanks all