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Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
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An acclaimed bestseller and international sensation, Patrick Suskind's classic novel provokes a terrifying examination of what happens when one man's indulgence in his greatest passion¡ªhis sense of smell¡ªleads to murder.
In the slums of eighteenth-century France, the infant Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born with one sublime gift¡ªan absolute sense of smell. As a boy, he lives to decipher the odors of Paris, and apprentices himself to a prominent perfumer who teaches him the ancient art of mixing precious oils and herbs. But Grenouille's genius is such that he is not satisfied to stop there, and he becomes obsessed with capturing the smells of objects such as brass doorknobs and fresh-cut wood. Then one day he catches a hint of a scent that will drive him on an ever-more-terrifying quest to create the "ultimate perfume"¡ªthe scent of a beautiful young virgin. Told with dazzling narrative brilliance, Perfume is a hauntingly powerful tale of murder and sensual depravity.
An acclaimed bestseller and international sensation, Patrick Suskind's classic novel provokes a terrifying examination of what happens when one man's indulgence in his greatest passion¡ªhis sense of smell¡ªleads to murder.
In the slums of eighteenth-century France, the infant Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born with one sublime gift¡ªan absolute sense of smell. As a boy, he lives to decipher the odors of Paris, and apprentices himself to a prominent perfumer who teaches him the ancient art of mixing precious oils and herbs. But Grenouille's genius is such that he is not satisfied to stop there, and he becomes obsessed with capturing the smells of objects such as brass doorknobs and fresh-cut wood. Then one day he catches a hint of a scent that will drive him on an ever-more-terrifying quest to create the "ultimate perfume"¡ªthe scent of a beautiful young virgin. Told with dazzling narrative brilliance, Perfume is a hauntingly powerful tale of murder and sensual depravity.
263 pages, Paperback
First published February 26, 1985
18.1k people are currently reading
416k people want to read
About the author
Patrick S¨¹skind
44?books3,957?followersFrom 1968-1974 he studied medieval and modern history in Munich and Aix-en-Provence. In the '80s he worked as a screenwriter, for Kir Royal and Monaco Franze among others.
After spending the 1970s writing what he has characterized as ¡°short unpublished prose pieces and longer un-produced screenplays¡±, Patrick S¨¹skind was catapulted to fame in the 1980s by the monodrama Der Kontrabass (The Double Bass, 1981), which became an instant success and a favourite of the German stage. In 1985 his status as literary wunderkind was confirmed with the publication of the novel Das Parf¨¹m. Die Geschichte eines M?rders (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer), which quickly topped the European best-seller list and eventually sold millions of copies worldwide.
After spending the 1970s writing what he has characterized as ¡°short unpublished prose pieces and longer un-produced screenplays¡±, Patrick S¨¹skind was catapulted to fame in the 1980s by the monodrama Der Kontrabass (The Double Bass, 1981), which became an instant success and a favourite of the German stage. In 1985 his status as literary wunderkind was confirmed with the publication of the novel Das Parf¨¹m. Die Geschichte eines M?rders (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer), which quickly topped the European best-seller list and eventually sold millions of copies worldwide.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 29,938 reviews
June 3, 2014
I was predisposed to love this book no matter what. I love perfumes. The fact that this book had blood and murder was just a bonus.
For me, perfumes and scents are a visceral thing. I love perfume. I have never been a visual person, my memories are composed of layers of scent.
I remember as a child, growing up in Vietnam, visiting my elderly neighbor's house and having him give me a cup of black tea infused with jasmine. Those jasmines would put the pitiful little star jasmines to shame. They were huge, each petal as wide as a fingernail. White, waxen, and filled with the most beautiful, deep, richly floral scent that even as a 5-year old I could feel was seductive without ever knowing the meaning or the existence of the word.
I remember sleeping with the window open, as the night air was filled with the scents of the flowering trees that grew outside my grandparents' house. I remember the green, earthy smell of the rice paddies where I grew up. I remember the bitter, smoky smell of the pits (so environmentally destructive, but whatever) that my neighbors dug in which they burned wood slowly for months to make a small supply of coal. Not all the smells were pleasant, of course, because hello, I did grow up on a farm, but my memories are built upon scent.
My love of perfume grew when I was a teen. I learned about perfumes, and how they were made. I learned about how flowers were distilled for their scents, an enormous quantity of raw ingredients required for a few precious drops of essential oils. I learned about making aromatic compounds in an organic chemistry lab, and that my beloved scent of jasmine (and tuberose) smelled as beautifully seductive and sexual as it did because it contained a compound called indoles, which smells like poop. Who knew!
I learned that each perfume as a top note, which quickly dissipates, the middle notes, which remains, the base notes, which lingers onto your skin like the touch of a long-gone lover. I learned that musk can smell rank, like sweaty, animalistic sex on top of a slice of Muenster cheese, or it can smell like the warmth of a mother's embrace.
There are certain scents I will never be able to wear again, because one I wore for months, while longing after a guy I thought I could never have. Another I can't smell without wincing, because it reminds me of heartbreak and tears, despite the fact that it came in a rose-colored bottle and smelled like green tea and lemons.
This book is a perfume lover's dream come true. The entire book could have had no mystery at all, and I would still read it and revel in the descriptions alone.
The Summary: Jean-Baptiste Grenouille was a bastard, born in 1738 to a syphilitic, consumptive woman working in a stinking fish stall as a gutter. After delivering the unfortunate child, she was promptly arrested for abandoning said child, and hanged.
A most auspicious beginning.
Even in the beginning, his wet nurse---paid for by the state---noticed that something was wrong with Grenouille.
People notice. His fellow children notice.
But I have yet to succumb to the urge to murder. >_>
For me, perfumes and scents are a visceral thing. I love perfume. I have never been a visual person, my memories are composed of layers of scent.
I remember as a child, growing up in Vietnam, visiting my elderly neighbor's house and having him give me a cup of black tea infused with jasmine. Those jasmines would put the pitiful little star jasmines to shame. They were huge, each petal as wide as a fingernail. White, waxen, and filled with the most beautiful, deep, richly floral scent that even as a 5-year old I could feel was seductive without ever knowing the meaning or the existence of the word.
I remember sleeping with the window open, as the night air was filled with the scents of the flowering trees that grew outside my grandparents' house. I remember the green, earthy smell of the rice paddies where I grew up. I remember the bitter, smoky smell of the pits (so environmentally destructive, but whatever) that my neighbors dug in which they burned wood slowly for months to make a small supply of coal. Not all the smells were pleasant, of course, because hello, I did grow up on a farm, but my memories are built upon scent.
My love of perfume grew when I was a teen. I learned about perfumes, and how they were made. I learned about how flowers were distilled for their scents, an enormous quantity of raw ingredients required for a few precious drops of essential oils. I learned about making aromatic compounds in an organic chemistry lab, and that my beloved scent of jasmine (and tuberose) smelled as beautifully seductive and sexual as it did because it contained a compound called indoles, which smells like poop. Who knew!
I learned that each perfume as a top note, which quickly dissipates, the middle notes, which remains, the base notes, which lingers onto your skin like the touch of a long-gone lover. I learned that musk can smell rank, like sweaty, animalistic sex on top of a slice of Muenster cheese, or it can smell like the warmth of a mother's embrace.
There are certain scents I will never be able to wear again, because one I wore for months, while longing after a guy I thought I could never have. Another I can't smell without wincing, because it reminds me of heartbreak and tears, despite the fact that it came in a rose-colored bottle and smelled like green tea and lemons.
This book is a perfume lover's dream come true. The entire book could have had no mystery at all, and I would still read it and revel in the descriptions alone.
The Summary: Jean-Baptiste Grenouille was a bastard, born in 1738 to a syphilitic, consumptive woman working in a stinking fish stall as a gutter. After delivering the unfortunate child, she was promptly arrested for abandoning said child, and hanged.
A most auspicious beginning.
Even in the beginning, his wet nurse---paid for by the state---noticed that something was wrong with Grenouille.
¡°I don¡¯t mean what¡¯s in the diaper. His soil smells, that¡¯s true enough. But it¡¯s the bastard himself, he doesn¡¯t smell.¡±Babies have a smell, some stink, but underneath it, there's always a warm, cuddly smell that even a cold, heartless, child-hating woman such as I can appreciate. Grenouille has no scent.
People notice. His fellow children notice.
They could not stand the nonsmell of him. They were afraid of him.As a teen, he sought work at a tannery in Paris. Paris is a stinking pit of hell. To Grenouille...it is heaven, with its amalgamation of scents.
It was a mixture of human and animal smells, of water and stone and ashes and leather, of soap and fresh-baked bread and eggs boiled in vinegar, of noodles and smoothly polished brass, of sage and ale and tears, of grease and soggy straw and dry straw. Thousands upon thousands of odors formed an invisible gruel that filled the street ravines, only seldom evaporating above the rooftops and never from the ground below.Grenouille knew he was not normal, but his obsession for the pursuit of a scent never really gained traction until he committed his first murder, for love of a virgin's scent.
...the sweat of her armpits, the oil in her hair, the fishy odor of her genitals, and smelled it all with the greatest pleasure. Her sweat smelled as fresh as the sea breeze, the tallow of her hair as sweet as nut oil, her genitals were as fragrant as the bouquet of water lilies, her skin as apricot blossoms... and the harmony of all these components yielded a perfume so rich, so balanced, so magical, that every perfume that Grenouille had smelled until now, every edifice of odors that he had so playfully created within himself, seemed at once to be utterly meaningless.The scent of a living human being that he must commit to memory, that he must capture, in the way a flower collector dries a specimen within parchment, in the way an insect lover kills and pins to a page the very thing he loves.
When she was dead he laid her on the ground among the plum pits, tore off her dress, and the stream of scent became a flood that inundated him with its fragrance. He thrust his face to her skin and swept his flared nostrils across her, from belly to breast, to neck, over her face and hair, and back to her belly, down to her genitals, to her thighs and white legs. He smelled her over from head to toe, he gathered up the last fragments of her scent under her chin, in her navel, and in the wrinkles inside her elbow.His is an obsessive quest that will lead him to murder again, and again, and again, in this desperate search.
Grenouille knew for certain that unless he possessed this scent, his life would have no meaning.This is a book in which the title is completely self-explanatory. It is about a murderer, and his obsessive quest for a perfect perfume. It's something I understand, in my constant search for the Holy Grail of fragrances.
But I have yet to succumb to the urge to murder. >_>
August 5, 2021
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July 22, 2008
Because sometimes you just have to read about an 17th century perfumer who may or may not be the Anti Christ and goes on a killing spree, before starting aa giant omnisexual fuckfest and being voluntarily cannabilized.
Ah literature. That's why I read you, the class. The class.
Ah literature. That's why I read you, the class. The class.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 21, 2009
I want my last 2 weeks back. I dove into this book expecting a hell of a lot more than I dragged out of it. From the very beginning I did not like the author's writing style and should have known then that this book just wouldn't be for me.
This book is set in the mid-1700's France and centers around a horrid man who has no redeeming qualities other than the fact that he has likely the most perfect sense of smell in the history of mankind. But he uses this skill for selfish and evil purposes and we get to come along for the story of his life - if you could call it that.
The premise of the story seemed interesting enough, and of course the title tells us that there is going to be murder so that always makes for interesting reading. But I just found it to be extremely boring and tiresome.
The author obviously did his research relating to all things perfume - the methods involved in it's creation - both chemically and artistically - and the importance of it's purpose in that point in history. But he goes overboard with list after exhaustive list of ingredients or steps within a process or varieties to be found. He can't help but describe every minute detail, not just of perfume, but of the landscape or the people. I love descriptive writing - I truly do - but I do also like to have an exciting plot to keep me involved. By the time he finished describing a scene I forgot why we were there.
This book lulled me to sleep and caused me to welcome distractions rather than turning the page so it took me a lot longer than a book of this length normally would. I know that it is loved by many and was recommended to me by several whose opinions I value. But this one just didn't cut it. Even when the action picked up in the last 50 pages or so, it became extremely bizarre and made me wonder what the heck the point was exactly.
This book is set in the mid-1700's France and centers around a horrid man who has no redeeming qualities other than the fact that he has likely the most perfect sense of smell in the history of mankind. But he uses this skill for selfish and evil purposes and we get to come along for the story of his life - if you could call it that.
The premise of the story seemed interesting enough, and of course the title tells us that there is going to be murder so that always makes for interesting reading. But I just found it to be extremely boring and tiresome.
The author obviously did his research relating to all things perfume - the methods involved in it's creation - both chemically and artistically - and the importance of it's purpose in that point in history. But he goes overboard with list after exhaustive list of ingredients or steps within a process or varieties to be found. He can't help but describe every minute detail, not just of perfume, but of the landscape or the people. I love descriptive writing - I truly do - but I do also like to have an exciting plot to keep me involved. By the time he finished describing a scene I forgot why we were there.
This book lulled me to sleep and caused me to welcome distractions rather than turning the page so it took me a lot longer than a book of this length normally would. I know that it is loved by many and was recommended to me by several whose opinions I value. But this one just didn't cut it. Even when the action picked up in the last 50 pages or so, it became extremely bizarre and made me wonder what the heck the point was exactly.
May 13, 2020
¡°He possessed the power. He held it in his hand. A power stronger than the power of money or the power of terror or the power of death: the invincible power to command the love of mankind. There was only one thing that power could not do: it could not make him able to smell himself.¡±
Perfume is a story about social isolation; it¡¯s a story about not belonging in the world and the negative effects this can wrought on one¡¯s mind. It¡¯s also a story about obsession, a singular pursuit for perfection regardless of the costs.
Consequences simply do not matter for Jean. He is completely detached from reality; he lives in his own world of scent, invisible to all others. Murder means nothing to him because he does not fully understand what he is murdering. He has no feelings. He cannot comprehend what it is to snuff out a life because he is not truly alive himself. He is dead inside and numb to all else in his differentness.
¡°He realized that all his life he had been a nobody to everyone. What he now felt was the fear of his own oblivion. It was as though he did not exist.¡±
¡°He had withdrawn solely for his own personal pleasure, only to be near to himself. No longer distracted by anything external, he basked in his own existence and found it splendid.¡±
As such befalls misery for all those that meet him. His talent is remarkable and his motivation (when roused) is unstoppable. His singular pursuit for his goal is uncompromising and he will stop at nothing to achieve the most perfect of scents. The secret ingredient he has been looking for comes his way and he cannot rest until he has it. Innocence is a mighty hard thing to harvest, though it is the missing piece he has been looking for; it will give his perfume the power to inspire love: it will be irresistible.
However, as the tale of Icarus taught us, those who fly too high will burn. As such the ending of this is simply perfection. The moment captures the heart of the book in one beautifully horrific frenzy of emotions and desire. The delivery is masterful. I knew it was coming (I¡¯d seen the film many years previously) though I don¡¯t think the film could every quite capture the intensity and euphoric nature of the situation.
The only reason I have not given this five stars is because I found it rambled a little in places. I think the story could have been cut back and made tighter and more effective, though I loved the prose and the plot. Jean makes for an interesting character study for sure.
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Perfume is a story about social isolation; it¡¯s a story about not belonging in the world and the negative effects this can wrought on one¡¯s mind. It¡¯s also a story about obsession, a singular pursuit for perfection regardless of the costs.
Consequences simply do not matter for Jean. He is completely detached from reality; he lives in his own world of scent, invisible to all others. Murder means nothing to him because he does not fully understand what he is murdering. He has no feelings. He cannot comprehend what it is to snuff out a life because he is not truly alive himself. He is dead inside and numb to all else in his differentness.
¡°He realized that all his life he had been a nobody to everyone. What he now felt was the fear of his own oblivion. It was as though he did not exist.¡±
¡°He had withdrawn solely for his own personal pleasure, only to be near to himself. No longer distracted by anything external, he basked in his own existence and found it splendid.¡±
As such befalls misery for all those that meet him. His talent is remarkable and his motivation (when roused) is unstoppable. His singular pursuit for his goal is uncompromising and he will stop at nothing to achieve the most perfect of scents. The secret ingredient he has been looking for comes his way and he cannot rest until he has it. Innocence is a mighty hard thing to harvest, though it is the missing piece he has been looking for; it will give his perfume the power to inspire love: it will be irresistible.
However, as the tale of Icarus taught us, those who fly too high will burn. As such the ending of this is simply perfection. The moment captures the heart of the book in one beautifully horrific frenzy of emotions and desire. The delivery is masterful. I knew it was coming (I¡¯d seen the film many years previously) though I don¡¯t think the film could every quite capture the intensity and euphoric nature of the situation.
The only reason I have not given this five stars is because I found it rambled a little in places. I think the story could have been cut back and made tighter and more effective, though I loved the prose and the plot. Jean makes for an interesting character study for sure.
________________________________
You can connect with me on social media via .
__________________________________
December 7, 2020
Despite its name, Perfume is not a pleasant book. Quite the opposite, it is terrifying and gore for the most part. The perfume the author builds between the pages reeks. It is a combination of what is worse in humans: body odor, vileness, jealousy, pride, and finally murder.
Since the novel is a classic (and a movie), I suppose the plot might be fairly well known so I will resume it a few words. We begin in the slums of Paris in the eighteen century where a baby boy is born and dumped in the trash. His lungs are quite powerful and it screams his way out and into the cold world. The little boy is passed around from caretaker to caretaker until it becomes obvious there is something quite different about him. Baptiste Grenouille has an incredible smell while he does not have any body odor himself. He also possesses an amazing capacity to survive through disease, hard work and unfriendly individuals. After learning all about the smells of Paris he decides he wants to create fragrances and becomes an apprentice to one of the oldest perfumers in Paris. As you can imagine, Batiste proves to be genius at creating new smells but he also becomes obsessed to find the perfect fragrance which in the end it will lead to murder.
Perfume is an original and unique novel and similar to some smells, it both repulsed and entranced me until the last page. It is about the creation of a genius and a monster, about the stinks of Paris and the enticing world of perfumery. The writing is not always perfect, it a bit dated but still it was a book like I¡¯ve never read before. Recommend but not for everyone, something I keep saying a lot lately. It seems my reading choices are a bit creepy lately
Since the novel is a classic (and a movie), I suppose the plot might be fairly well known so I will resume it a few words. We begin in the slums of Paris in the eighteen century where a baby boy is born and dumped in the trash. His lungs are quite powerful and it screams his way out and into the cold world. The little boy is passed around from caretaker to caretaker until it becomes obvious there is something quite different about him. Baptiste Grenouille has an incredible smell while he does not have any body odor himself. He also possesses an amazing capacity to survive through disease, hard work and unfriendly individuals. After learning all about the smells of Paris he decides he wants to create fragrances and becomes an apprentice to one of the oldest perfumers in Paris. As you can imagine, Batiste proves to be genius at creating new smells but he also becomes obsessed to find the perfect fragrance which in the end it will lead to murder.
Perfume is an original and unique novel and similar to some smells, it both repulsed and entranced me until the last page. It is about the creation of a genius and a monster, about the stinks of Paris and the enticing world of perfumery. The writing is not always perfect, it a bit dated but still it was a book like I¡¯ve never read before. Recommend but not for everyone, something I keep saying a lot lately. It seems my reading choices are a bit creepy lately
November 7, 2012
I had a heck of a time thinking who I'd recommend this to. It won a Fantasy award, yet I can't call it Fantasy. It's set in a bygone period, but it doesn't play with history, so it's not Historical Fiction. It's about a murder, yet it's not terrifying like Horror, nor is it a mystery. It's just the story of a peculiar boy who became a dangerous and most interesting man. He was born without an odor, you see, and lacking that part of identity, became obsessed with smell. That identity crisis triggers philosophical, religious and morbid chords in the book, yet none dominate. If anything, a dark curiosity dominates it. The book has a slightly menacing monotone about it that is almost hypnotic, and lays a surreal lens over the brilliant and crisp descriptions Suskind provides for his world. It's an angry, dangerous little book that baffled literary critics and inspired Nirvana. Read it and label it for yourself.
November 24, 2022
In 18th Century France a baby is born who lacks any scent. He does, however, have a deep and strong survival urge. Although he is treated as a pariah by many for his condition, he possesses a parallel condition, a heightened sensitivity to aroma. It is his quest to experience life through smell, and he does so. He is also a cold-hearted sociopath who seizes opportunities where he can to advance his particular desires. It ends badly for him, but that is a good thing.
The author
This is a very interesting book. I was rapt. Until I was done it was an unhappy thing to have to put it down unfinished, due to interruptions like work, sleep and eating. Thankfully I was able to complete it. Perfume is an odd story, perhaps, but also very interesting, providing some payload in depictions of 18th Century Europe and information about aroma in general and perfumery in particular. Much recommended but not for all tastes...or olfactory receptors.
The author
This is a very interesting book. I was rapt. Until I was done it was an unhappy thing to have to put it down unfinished, due to interruptions like work, sleep and eating. Thankfully I was able to complete it. Perfume is an odd story, perhaps, but also very interesting, providing some payload in depictions of 18th Century Europe and information about aroma in general and perfumery in particular. Much recommended but not for all tastes...or olfactory receptors.
October 30, 2018
I don¡¯t know what compelled me to finish this book but it was the worst book I¡¯ve ever read. I get that Jean-Baptiste has an extraordinary sense of smell and that his obsession leads him to murder. I understand the irony of it all: that he was born abandoned and died in an act of love. Even so, there was nothing about the story that was vaguely likable. I know it¡¯s fiction but it seemed completely unrealistic and ridiculous to be even remotely appreciated. Furthermore, it takes forever to reach the part of the book where Jean-Baptiste actually starts to murder people because there¡¯s a huge, useless portion of the book dedicated to 10 years of his life when he goes into hiding in a mountain. Also, there is no climax (unless you count the execution/orgy scene which I thought was the stupidest scene ever). How could someone be compelled to write such a useless piece of crap and worse, how could a book gain such fame as to be deemed an international bestseller?
I hate this book. It was a waste of time. I don't recommend anyone should read this book... not even my worst enemy!!
**EDIT: I¡¯m reading my review 11 years later and it makes me laugh. Although I still don¡¯t like the book and stand by my review I don¡¯t know why my tone sounds so crazy. ???¡â? LOL.***
I hate this book. It was a waste of time. I don't recommend anyone should read this book... not even my worst enemy!!
**EDIT: I¡¯m reading my review 11 years later and it makes me laugh. Although I still don¡¯t like the book and stand by my review I don¡¯t know why my tone sounds so crazy. ???¡â? LOL.***
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 5, 2022
1.75
Ugh nie cierpi? tej ksi??ki. Koszmarnie nie moja. A ilo?? s?owa ?olfaktorycznie¡± to naprawd? dramat, ale to ju? chyba kwestia t?umaczenia. Nic mi si? w niej nie podoba?o :(
Ugh nie cierpi? tej ksi??ki. Koszmarnie nie moja. A ilo?? s?owa ?olfaktorycznie¡± to naprawd? dramat, ale to ju? chyba kwestia t?umaczenia. Nic mi si? w niej nie podoba?o :(
October 28, 2022
The novel exhibits the paramount power of smell, as the ultimate invisible agent in channeling emotions, and the same power used to befool humans and victimize them, as we all perceive smell with our senses before discerning it with our own mind!
It is a perfect psychological thriller, inundated with the gamut of smells! ?
This could have easily ended up being one of my longest reviews, but tried my level best to make it as succinct as possible! I openly divulge, it was outrightly daunting to review a novel of this gigantic amplitude, expounding on themes beyond my creative contemplation!
Patrick Suskind, had done his deep-research on all olfactory senses and scents, on the power of dreams, on cold-heartedness and greed. Above all, he astutely drove his protagonist on a pathway to acquire godlike omniscient powers, thus leading to a tragic end!
It is an epic tale about the journey of Jean Baptiste Grenouille, the most gifted and abominable personage in the 18th century France, when all the streets, marketplaces and atmosphere smelled fiendishly with the effluvia and putrefying vapors from sewers, decaying life and stale animal droppings!
It is his story of abysmal evil while on the quest of inventing one of the world¡¯s most exotic perfumes.
My personal sense of smell was utterly dulled, my tummy ached, and the pain deadened all senses, post-reading the 18th century abject, abysmal and rotten smells seething, mingling, and impregnating Paris, in the opening novel.
Patrick was a Wordsmith in delineating senses while cleverly intertwining them with a plot beyond anyone¡¯s contemplation. Though, later ongoing comprehension was thrilling and full of fragrance! ?
Patrick Suskind easily proved his mettle as the KING of ¡°the human olfactory senses¡±!
He ostensibly describes, the urge and want of heavenly bliss, by the French, helping them to transcend from the abysmal abject pungent reality of the 18th century into a subtle realm surrounded by seraphim and exotic fragrance!
Patrick, astutely sets up the tempo for us readers, to mentally let go the temporal reality, and be ready to travel with him vicariously into a realm of sheer and sensual placidity, using only one tool , and that is ¨C our acute sense of SMELL!
Since my childhood, apart from the picturesque memory, I personally basked in the power of smell, as the superlative agent to channel and mold my own emotions and wishes.
Without any further ado and divergence, let me dive into a very basic/superficial abridged novel summary (without spoilers)-
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The infant Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, is born with a sublime majestic gift of ¡°an absolute sense of smell¡±! Traversing through all the atrocities of childhood, he grows into deciphering all the odors of Paris, and apprentices with an eminent perfumer, who mentors him with the ancient art of mixing and distilling aromatic herbs, precious oils, flowers, woods, seeds and everything that can render into a heavenly smell and bliss! ?
But the obsessive and ambitious Grenouille is unstoppable and boisterous, and becomes all the more consumed with capturing smells of objects like brass doorknobs, fresh cut-wood and the like.
One fine day, he catches a hint and tinge of scent that drives him onto the most perturbing and terrifying quest of creating ¡°The ultimate perfume¡± of the scent of a beautiful young virgin! What follows is a series of murders and sensual depravity and perversion! What follows is profane and sacrilegious.
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It is tale told with majestic brilliance, leaving the readers captivated, intoxicated with words and smells, in complete awe!
Suskind, has very cleverly used means to unveil how human senses can be easily dulled and eluded by a mere whiff of an exhilarating smell!
He endows the protagonist not only with a captivating and magical sense of smell but also arms him with a destructive obsession, that sets the plot into motion.
Grenouille, doesn¡¯t view the world, with eyes but through smell! In short, his soul feeds on smells of all kinds, and in deprivation, it hungers more and sets-out onto more precarious deadly obsession!
With an isolated abandoned childhood, mayhem and death follows, wherever Grenouille goes! The revelation, that scents are not immortal or permanent, and that they cannot be preserved, incites and ignites the murderer instincts in Grenouille! His sole ambition in his life, now confines just to ¡°preserve the human scent¡±
It sounds cannibalistic, but no scent lures him, not even the ones concocted in the laboratory, but only human scent!
He is never disconcerted or unnerved, butchering bodies, just to intoxicate himself with the scents gathered. That¡¯s ghastly and obnoxious.
Suskind has shrewdly balanced the softness and delicacy of the topic of perfumes with the mayhem and dismemberment of destructive obsession!
The protagonist lacks on sentiments and human emotions, his diabolical obsession takes precedence!
All the hurdles and obstacles faced in concocting the perfume, ends up concocting his own END!
My verdict- ¡°±è±ð°ù´Ú³Ü³¾±ð»å-4-²õ³Ù²¹°ù²õ¡±. Subtracted a star, due to my lack of grasping it in its entirety in my first read. It is profusely laden with smells and vocabulary, which I couldn¡¯t register in totality, might add on the missing star, post my re-read, and hoard it all! ?
It is a perfumed, artfully crafted psychological thriller, that inebriates and stupefies not only the reader¡¯s sense of smell but vision too, with the artful usage of words!
It is a masterwork of heavenly artistic conception and flawless execution. An extravagantly gripping page-turner. A thrilling and compelling story of a man with a magical sense of smell but with a bewilderingly and bizarrely destructive obsession, that leads to the flawless execution of the novel in the most illuminating, outlandish, incredible and intoxicating manner, which takes over your mass and bones and leaves you craving for all the more!
I was left inebriated for a good enough time, ofcourse in a good way! :-D
Unsolicited advice ¨C Anyone lacking on olfactory senses, without any further delay pick up this novel!
Anyone lacking on adventure in life, without a second thought pickup this novel!
I don¡¯t know how I am ought to smell, but currently I smell of all the mystery and awe, post the thrilling and chilling read!
There is again a gargantuan truckload of quotes, so battled my way out to pick up a few (without disrespect to the ones I couldn¡¯t pick):-
¡°The persuasive power of an odor cannot be fended off, it enters into us like breath into our lungs, it fills us up, imbues us totally. There is no remedy for it.¡±
¡°The cry that followed his birth, the cry with which he had brought himself to people¡¯s attention and his mother to the gallows, was not an instinctive cry for sympathy and love. That cry, emitted upon careful consideration, one might almost say upon mature consideration, was the newborn¡¯s decision against love and nevertheless for life.¡±
¡°Which is why the fa?on de parler speaks of that universe as a landscape; an adequate expression, to be sure, but the only possible one, since our language is of no use when it comes to describing the smellable world¡±
THIS IS MY ALL-TIME FAVORTITE:-
¡°We are familiar with people who seek out solitude: penitents, failures, saints, or prophets. They retreat to deserts, preferably, where they live on locusts and honey. Others, however, live in caves or cells on remote islands; some¡ªmore spectacularly¡ªsquat in cages mounted high atop poles swaying in the breeze. They do this to be nearer to God. Their solitude is a self-mortification by which they do penance. They act in the belief that they are living a life pleasing to God. Or they wait months, years, for their solitude to be broken by some divine message that they hope then speedily to broadcast among mankind. Grenouille¡¯s case was nothing of the sort. There was not the least notion of God in his head. He was not doing penance nor waiting for some supernatural inspiration. He had withdrawn solely for his own personal pleasure, only to be near to himself. No longer distracted by anything external, he basked in his own existence and found it splendid.¡±
¡°What he coveted was the odor of certain human beings: that is, those rare humans who inspire love. These were his victims.¡±
March 19, 2025
Due to a bit of a cold lately, I couldn't smell the cinnamon sprinkled on my Frothy Coffee, nor the aromas of fresh croissants walking past the patisserie, or the preparation of an evening meal consisting of mussels cooked in garlic butter. I love these smells, they are just as important to me as taste, damn this cold!, if only I had the nose of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, having a cold wouldn't have made any difference, I could smell the fresh fish markets from a mile away!. No interest though in hunting virgins for their scent thank God.
S¨¹skind's novel (which I didn't even realise has been so popular) is Set in 18th century France, and tells the grim story of one Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, a physically and emotionally abused orphan who is blessed with a supernatural gift, the great sense of smell. His frenzied obsession for odours guides him in a ghastly perverse way to search for the lost origin of his identity. A genius of aroma, Grenouille himself lacks a personal odor, signifying an absence of individual identity, but never mind, he can just go about stealing that of others. As he discovers his olfactory virtuosity, he becomes increasingly obsessed with inventing new fragrances, particularly his own, which he attempts to create artificially by extracting and blending the corporeal scents of young virginal women he murders. His great hope is to create the ideal perfume that will give him the magical essence of identity. He despises the rest of mankind, but still is solely driven by a desire for the attention and affection of others, he wants to be top dog, the hell with everybody else. At the moment of his crowning glory, however, Grenouille knows that the aura of identity created by his magic perfume is an illusion, and that it has been hate rather than love that drove him to become a genius of perfuming. After this epiphany, Grenouille goes barking mad, and surrenders himself to a gory finale.
This book was good, I enjoyed it for the most part, but for me, it wasn't great, as viewed by a lot of others. The plot is unique and skilfully done, not only in Grenouille¡¯s characterization, but also because S¨¹skind has done his homework on 18th century France and the science behind perfume. He describes Grenouille and his actions with a detached demeanor, thereby heightening the horrific nature of Grenouille¡¯s actions by not commenting on that nature, this leads to the problem though of very little coverage in Grenouille's despair as he realises that everything he did was in vain and ultimately unsatisfying to both him and me as the reader. And the repetitive prose and unfocused paragraphs had me skimming the odd page here and there. I can see why it has had big appeal, because on the surface, the premise is so startlingly different, so kudos there, and he gets a range of emotions from sympathy when a filthy young orphan, to disgust and hatred when he starts his murderous quest.
Even tough the chilling horrors of Grenouille's actions are painted in such realistic tones, the novel on the whole never really got under my skin as I thought it would, it's good in places but pretentious in others, and summing up the central character he was just too two-dimensional for my liking. Not the sort of book I would normally read, so at least it was a break from the norm.
Although I am still a long way off wondering around in grandpa slippers, I felt this novel was maybe intended for a younger audience.
Forget the fish guts, cow hide, boiled puppy and dead virgins, I will stick to the mint, lavender, bergamot, sandalwood and tonka bean of Jean Paul Gaultier.
A lightly scented 3/5
February 20, 2025
I¡¯ve gotta say, this novel is easily one of the most unique, imaginative, and captivating books I¡¯ve ever read.
Spoilers Ahead!
The novel follows the insane yet legendary life of Grenouille, a genius perfumer. He was born under a fishmonger¡¯s cutting board, raised in a foundling home, then sold to a tanner where he worked like a slave. He killed a girl just to inhale her scent. Later, he became an apprentice to a perfume maker and completely turned his business around. He lived in a mountain cave for 7 years, experimented with lethal gases, then ended up in Grasse, where he worked in a perfume shop, murdered 25 girls, and extracted their scents to create the ultimate fragrance. He was sentenced to death but managed to escape, only to return to Paris, where he was literally torn apart and eaten in the cemetery.
"What?" ... yes.
The storytelling is super straightforward, following a stable chronological order - nothing fancy like flashbacks or multiple perspectives. But that¡¯s exactly what makes it feel so unique to me. Lately, I¡¯ve been reading a lot of novels that experiment with structure, so this traditional approach actually felt fresh. And Patrick S¨¹skind¡¯s writing is absolutely stunning - clever, precise, rhythmic, and laced with this cool, detached humor. He somehow makes the description of something intangible - scent - feel completely immersive.
This novel made me realize something about life: disappointment is the norm, and getting what you want is the exception. Grenouille embodies this perfectly. He can smell everything in the world - except himself. He dedicates his entire life to mastering perfume, eventually killing 25 women to create the ultimate fragrance. When he finally uses it in front of 10,000 people, they go wild, losing all control in a euphoric frenzy. In that moment, he is worshipped, adored, deified. But instead of feeling victorious, he feels nothing but disgust. He wanted to be loved, but at his peak moment of success, he realizes - he doesn¡¯t love them back. In fact, he hates them. And the only thing that truly satisfies him isn¡¯t love, but hatred.
After a lifetime of chasing his dream, he finally attains it¡ only to realize it was never what he actually wanted. And isn¡¯t that the most painful truth of life?
I¡¯m not here to analyze capitalism, lovelessness, or the consequences of power. All I know is that this book showed me how fate brutally mocks human desires. No one ever truly gets what they want - we just live with disappointment. That¡¯s the whole truth of life. It¡¯s honestly kind of crushing.
They said the only heroism lies in still loving life after one has looked it squarely in the face. But in moments like this, that kind of optimism just feels¡ weak.
5 / 5 stars
Spoilers Ahead!
The novel follows the insane yet legendary life of Grenouille, a genius perfumer. He was born under a fishmonger¡¯s cutting board, raised in a foundling home, then sold to a tanner where he worked like a slave. He killed a girl just to inhale her scent. Later, he became an apprentice to a perfume maker and completely turned his business around. He lived in a mountain cave for 7 years, experimented with lethal gases, then ended up in Grasse, where he worked in a perfume shop, murdered 25 girls, and extracted their scents to create the ultimate fragrance. He was sentenced to death but managed to escape, only to return to Paris, where he was literally torn apart and eaten in the cemetery.
"What?" ... yes.
The storytelling is super straightforward, following a stable chronological order - nothing fancy like flashbacks or multiple perspectives. But that¡¯s exactly what makes it feel so unique to me. Lately, I¡¯ve been reading a lot of novels that experiment with structure, so this traditional approach actually felt fresh. And Patrick S¨¹skind¡¯s writing is absolutely stunning - clever, precise, rhythmic, and laced with this cool, detached humor. He somehow makes the description of something intangible - scent - feel completely immersive.
This novel made me realize something about life: disappointment is the norm, and getting what you want is the exception. Grenouille embodies this perfectly. He can smell everything in the world - except himself. He dedicates his entire life to mastering perfume, eventually killing 25 women to create the ultimate fragrance. When he finally uses it in front of 10,000 people, they go wild, losing all control in a euphoric frenzy. In that moment, he is worshipped, adored, deified. But instead of feeling victorious, he feels nothing but disgust. He wanted to be loved, but at his peak moment of success, he realizes - he doesn¡¯t love them back. In fact, he hates them. And the only thing that truly satisfies him isn¡¯t love, but hatred.
After a lifetime of chasing his dream, he finally attains it¡ only to realize it was never what he actually wanted. And isn¡¯t that the most painful truth of life?
I¡¯m not here to analyze capitalism, lovelessness, or the consequences of power. All I know is that this book showed me how fate brutally mocks human desires. No one ever truly gets what they want - we just live with disappointment. That¡¯s the whole truth of life. It¡¯s honestly kind of crushing.
They said the only heroism lies in still loving life after one has looked it squarely in the face. But in moments like this, that kind of optimism just feels¡ weak.
5 / 5 stars
April 11, 2008
This book was different and brilliant. The story of an orphaned boy born without a scent, but with an incredibly refined sense of smell, the book drags a bit in parts, but the ends justify the means, in more ways than one.
All things considered, the book is a valentine to the beauty, elegance, and power of smell. A truly underrated sense, Suskind reminds the reader of just how powerful an effect our sense of smell can have. Although Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (one of the great names in contemporary fiction)'s amazing sense of smell seems the sort of thing that is unquantifiable in most any medium, Suskind makes it work perfectly. His vivid descriptions almost evoke the smells he is describing into reality, and his characterization of Grenouille is nothing short of perfect.
Grenouille is, of course, an abhorrent, vicious, loathsome character, and Suskind takes great pains to point this out literally at various intervals throughout the story. However, despite his actions and the way he is described, Suskind cleverly says one thing and shows another, presenting Grenouille as the unquestioned hero of the story, allowing him to come across as, at the very least, sympathetic (if not pitiable), and at most, a man whose single-minded drives and desires leads to the reader outright rooting for him to succeed in his horrific acts.
As the subtitle of the book is 'The Story of a Murderer', I don't think it gives anything away to say that the book climaxes in the brutal murders of 25 women that Grenouille uses to create the most perfect smelling perfume the world has ever known. Despite all the difficulties Grenouille encounters, all the opposition and roadblocks (and it's indisputably true that Grenouille was dealt a bad hand in life), he still takes his lumps admirably and never wavers from his pursuit of his dream, which, at its heart, is something I think everyone aspires to be able to do. Furthermore, when Grenouille finally does achieve his dream, he is heartbroken to discover that, after everything, it was not what he'd envisioned. Sadly, I think that is something people can relate to as well. And so it is that the story of a murderer ends up as something everyone can relate to.
One of the ways Suskind is able to so perfectly pull this off is to disassociate Grenouille from these abhorrent acts. Throughout the story, we see only Grenouille striving and working hard to achieve his goal. Then, at the cusp of putting it into motion, the story suddenly changes perspective from the actions of Grenouille to their aftermath and the perspective of the local townspeople. It's a jarring and effective method that allows the reader to still root for Grenouille, as they still are very much aware that Grenouille is responsible for these horrific actions, but disassociates him from the brutality of them by only speaking of them in an offhand manner (i.e. the chaos they create, rather than the actual detailed acts themselves).
All that said, the end of the book is insane, but wonderfully so. It's completely out of left field and it's almost hard to accept that what is happening is real and not some sort of dream (which it isn't). The reader is left waiting for the moment when Grenouille opens his eyes and we're told what really happened, but it never comes. Compared to the climax, the end of the story almost makes perfect sense, when in any other story it would be seen as equally insane, if not more so. But don't let it detract you from reading the book. It's true, you'll either love it or hate it, but no matter what you'll be unable to say it wasn't worthwhile.
All things considered, the book is a valentine to the beauty, elegance, and power of smell. A truly underrated sense, Suskind reminds the reader of just how powerful an effect our sense of smell can have. Although Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (one of the great names in contemporary fiction)'s amazing sense of smell seems the sort of thing that is unquantifiable in most any medium, Suskind makes it work perfectly. His vivid descriptions almost evoke the smells he is describing into reality, and his characterization of Grenouille is nothing short of perfect.
Grenouille is, of course, an abhorrent, vicious, loathsome character, and Suskind takes great pains to point this out literally at various intervals throughout the story. However, despite his actions and the way he is described, Suskind cleverly says one thing and shows another, presenting Grenouille as the unquestioned hero of the story, allowing him to come across as, at the very least, sympathetic (if not pitiable), and at most, a man whose single-minded drives and desires leads to the reader outright rooting for him to succeed in his horrific acts.
As the subtitle of the book is 'The Story of a Murderer', I don't think it gives anything away to say that the book climaxes in the brutal murders of 25 women that Grenouille uses to create the most perfect smelling perfume the world has ever known. Despite all the difficulties Grenouille encounters, all the opposition and roadblocks (and it's indisputably true that Grenouille was dealt a bad hand in life), he still takes his lumps admirably and never wavers from his pursuit of his dream, which, at its heart, is something I think everyone aspires to be able to do. Furthermore, when Grenouille finally does achieve his dream, he is heartbroken to discover that, after everything, it was not what he'd envisioned. Sadly, I think that is something people can relate to as well. And so it is that the story of a murderer ends up as something everyone can relate to.
One of the ways Suskind is able to so perfectly pull this off is to disassociate Grenouille from these abhorrent acts. Throughout the story, we see only Grenouille striving and working hard to achieve his goal. Then, at the cusp of putting it into motion, the story suddenly changes perspective from the actions of Grenouille to their aftermath and the perspective of the local townspeople. It's a jarring and effective method that allows the reader to still root for Grenouille, as they still are very much aware that Grenouille is responsible for these horrific actions, but disassociates him from the brutality of them by only speaking of them in an offhand manner (i.e. the chaos they create, rather than the actual detailed acts themselves).
All that said, the end of the book is insane, but wonderfully so. It's completely out of left field and it's almost hard to accept that what is happening is real and not some sort of dream (which it isn't). The reader is left waiting for the moment when Grenouille opens his eyes and we're told what really happened, but it never comes. Compared to the climax, the end of the story almost makes perfect sense, when in any other story it would be seen as equally insane, if not more so. But don't let it detract you from reading the book. It's true, you'll either love it or hate it, but no matter what you'll be unable to say it wasn't worthwhile.
December 16, 2024
Celor care au urechi s? aud? le-a? sugera un mic adev?r: Cel mai afrodisiac parfum r?m?ne absen?a oric?rui parfum. Totu?i...
?n libr?ria din Podu Ro?, prietenul DS m-a tras de m?nec? ?i mi-a ?optit: ?S? vii s?pt?m?na viitoare. Primim o carte ie?it? din comun¡±. Era ?n 1988. C?r?ile se vindeau pe sub m?n?, trebuia s? ai ?pile¡± pentru a prinde ?i a citi un roman bun. A?a am cump?rat Parfumul. Se tip?rise ?n colec?ia ?Globus¡± a Editurii Univers.
Am g?sit ?n acest roman povestea unui nefericit ?i am ?n?eles c? o ?nzestrare ie?it? din comun (sim?ul mirosului, ?n cazul lui Jean-Baptiste Grenouille) ?l poate transforma pe individ ?ntr-un monstru. Funes al lui Borges e st?p?nit de v?z, nu poate uita nici o nuan?? de verde, nici o nuan?? de ro?u. Grenouille nu uit? nici o nuan?? a unui miros, poate descompune un parfum ?n toate elementele alc?tuitoare. Nici unul dintre aceste ilustre personaje nu e ?n stare s? g?ndeasc? abstract. S?nt lipsi?i de ra?iune ?i se situeaz? ?n afara oric?rei morale.
C?nd ucide, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille nu inten?ioneaz? neap?rat s? ia un suflet, el soarbe ?ns??i mireasma victimei. Pentru el, frumosul absolut nu are nici o leg?tur? cu v?zul (?frumuse?ea st? ?n ochi¡±, credea David Hume). Pentru el, frumosul absolut e un miros sau un m?nunchi de mirosuri. ?i, deci, ar putea afirma, dac? ar fi capabil de g?ndire abstract? (?i nu e), c? frumuse?ea st? ?n n?ri. Iat?:
P. S. ?n Bestsellers, John Sutherland men?ioneaz? c? Parfumul e ultima carte a unui prozator german care a intrat ?n topurile americane. Das Buch als bestseller :)
P. P.S. Oare ce au spus filosofii despre miros? Ofer numai un exemplu. Pentru Immanuel Kant, care va admira, totu?i, aroma am?ruie a cafelei, mirosul este mai degrab? nociv ?i antisocial: ?Cel care ??i scoate din buzunar batista ?nmuiat? ?n parfum le impune tuturor celor din preajm? mirosul lui preferat, ?n pofida voin?ei lor, oblig?ndu-i astfel s? se desfete cu el, dac? vor s? mai respire. Acesta este ?i motivul pentru care obiceiul nici nu mai este la mod?¡±. ?n opinia g?nditorului german, parfumul este, de cele mai multe ori, o modalitate de a-?i impune subtil-agresiv prezen?a. ?ntr-o ?nc?pere - mai e nevoie s? spun? -, atmosfera se cuvine a fi inodor?. Pentru filosofi, cel mai pre?uit miros r?m?ne, a?adar, absen?a lui...
?n libr?ria din Podu Ro?, prietenul DS m-a tras de m?nec? ?i mi-a ?optit: ?S? vii s?pt?m?na viitoare. Primim o carte ie?it? din comun¡±. Era ?n 1988. C?r?ile se vindeau pe sub m?n?, trebuia s? ai ?pile¡± pentru a prinde ?i a citi un roman bun. A?a am cump?rat Parfumul. Se tip?rise ?n colec?ia ?Globus¡± a Editurii Univers.
Am g?sit ?n acest roman povestea unui nefericit ?i am ?n?eles c? o ?nzestrare ie?it? din comun (sim?ul mirosului, ?n cazul lui Jean-Baptiste Grenouille) ?l poate transforma pe individ ?ntr-un monstru. Funes al lui Borges e st?p?nit de v?z, nu poate uita nici o nuan?? de verde, nici o nuan?? de ro?u. Grenouille nu uit? nici o nuan?? a unui miros, poate descompune un parfum ?n toate elementele alc?tuitoare. Nici unul dintre aceste ilustre personaje nu e ?n stare s? g?ndeasc? abstract. S?nt lipsi?i de ra?iune ?i se situeaz? ?n afara oric?rei morale.
C?nd ucide, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille nu inten?ioneaz? neap?rat s? ia un suflet, el soarbe ?ns??i mireasma victimei. Pentru el, frumosul absolut nu are nici o leg?tur? cu v?zul (?frumuse?ea st? ?n ochi¡±, credea David Hume). Pentru el, frumosul absolut e un miros sau un m?nunchi de mirosuri. ?i, deci, ar putea afirma, dac? ar fi capabil de g?ndire abstract? (?i nu e), c? frumuse?ea st? ?n n?ri. Iat?:
?O sut? de mii de miresme ?i p?reau mai pu?in pre?ioase dec?t acel parfum. Era principiul cel mai ?nalt, al c?rui model se cuvenea s? le ordoneze pe toate celelalte. Era frumuse?ea pur?. Lui Grenouille ?i era limpede c? via?a sa nu mai putea s? aib? vreun sens dac? nu va poseda acel parfum. Trebuia s?-l cunoasc? p?n? ?n cel mai mic am?nunt, p?n? la ultima, cea mai suav? ?nr?murire; doar amintirea lui, oric?t de complex?, nu-i ajungea. Voia s? apese apoteoticul parfum ca pe o pecete asupra ?nv?rtejirii sufletului s?u negru¡± (pp.39-40).
P. S. ?n Bestsellers, John Sutherland men?ioneaz? c? Parfumul e ultima carte a unui prozator german care a intrat ?n topurile americane. Das Buch als bestseller :)
P. P.S. Oare ce au spus filosofii despre miros? Ofer numai un exemplu. Pentru Immanuel Kant, care va admira, totu?i, aroma am?ruie a cafelei, mirosul este mai degrab? nociv ?i antisocial: ?Cel care ??i scoate din buzunar batista ?nmuiat? ?n parfum le impune tuturor celor din preajm? mirosul lui preferat, ?n pofida voin?ei lor, oblig?ndu-i astfel s? se desfete cu el, dac? vor s? mai respire. Acesta este ?i motivul pentru care obiceiul nici nu mai este la mod?¡±. ?n opinia g?nditorului german, parfumul este, de cele mai multe ori, o modalitate de a-?i impune subtil-agresiv prezen?a. ?ntr-o ?nc?pere - mai e nevoie s? spun? -, atmosfera se cuvine a fi inodor?. Pentru filosofi, cel mai pre?uit miros r?m?ne, a?adar, absen?a lui...
August 20, 2016
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December 3, 2021
(Book 243 from 1001 books) - Das Parfum. Die Geschichte eines M?rders, Patrick S¨¹skind = ??Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, Patrick Suskind
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer is a 1985 literary historical fantasy novel (published originally in German as Das Parfum) by German writer Patrick S¨¹skind.
The novel explores the sense of smell and its relationship with the emotional meaning that scents may have.
The story mainly concerns Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (French for "frog"), an unloved 18th-century French orphan who is born with an exceptional sense of smell, being able to distinguish a vast range of scents in the world around him.
Grenouille becomes a perfumer but becomes interested in murder when he encounters a young girl with an unsurpassed wondrous scent.
???????? ??? ??? ?? ?????: ????: ?????? ?? ?????????? ?????? ???????: ?????? ??????? (???????)? ????? ?????? ????? ???? ????? ??? ???? ? ??? ?? ??? ??????? ???2002??????
?????: ???: ?????? ?? ????????? ???: ?????? ??????? (???????)? ????? ???? ?????? ??? ???? ?????? ???1372? ??311 ?? ???? ????-964875818? ?????: ????????? ????????? ????? - ???20?
?????: ???? ???: ?????? ??????? (???????)? ?????: ???? ????? ??? ?????? ???? ???? ???1379? ??272?? ????9645639115?
???: ??? ?? ?????? ????? ??? ?? ??????? ???????? ??????? ???????? ?? ?? ?? ???1985?????? ????? ????? ???? ?? ???? ??? ????????? ??? ? ????? ??????? ?????? ?? ??? ???? ?????? ??????? ?? ???????? ?????????? ?? ???? ?????? ?? ?? ?????? ?? ????? ???????? ????? ? ????? ????? ????? ??? ?? ??? ???? ???? ?? ???? ????? ???? ???? ?? ?? ?????? ??? ??? ?? ??? ???????? ????? ????? ??????? ?????? ? ????? ?????? ?????? ?????? ?? ?? ?????? ??? ??? ????? ?????? ? ?????? ??????? ?? ????? ?????? ??? ??? ?? ?? ????? ? ????????? ????? ???? ???? ???????? ???? ????? ???? ??????? ?? ?? ??? ?? ????? ?? ????????? ?? ?? ?? ????? ?????? ????? ??? ?? ??? ??? ???? ????? ???? ???? ???? ?????? ?? ?????????? ?? ????? ? ??????? ??????? ? ???? ?????? ???? ?? ??? ?? ?????? ???? ???? ??? ??? ? ???? ???? ??? ???? ?? ??? ? ??? ???? ????? ???? ? ??? ?? ?????? ?????? ??? ?? ?? ?? ???? ?? ???? ????? ???? ?????? ?????? ???? ????? ?? ???2006?????? ??? ???? ???? ?? ??????? ?? ????????? ???? ?????? ????? ??? ???
??? ?? ???: (?? ?????? ? ??? ? ????? ??????? ???? ?????? ?? ??? ?? ????????????? ? ???????? ???????? ???? ???? ?? ???????? ?? ??????? ? ???? ?? ?????.)? ????? ??? ?? ??? ?????
????? ?????? ????? 14/10/1399???? ???????? 11/09/1400???? ???????? ?. ???????
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer is a 1985 literary historical fantasy novel (published originally in German as Das Parfum) by German writer Patrick S¨¹skind.
The novel explores the sense of smell and its relationship with the emotional meaning that scents may have.
The story mainly concerns Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (French for "frog"), an unloved 18th-century French orphan who is born with an exceptional sense of smell, being able to distinguish a vast range of scents in the world around him.
Grenouille becomes a perfumer but becomes interested in murder when he encounters a young girl with an unsurpassed wondrous scent.
???????? ??? ??? ?? ?????: ????: ?????? ?? ?????????? ?????? ???????: ?????? ??????? (???????)? ????? ?????? ????? ???? ????? ??? ???? ? ??? ?? ??? ??????? ???2002??????
?????: ???: ?????? ?? ????????? ???: ?????? ??????? (???????)? ????? ???? ?????? ??? ???? ?????? ???1372? ??311 ?? ???? ????-964875818? ?????: ????????? ????????? ????? - ???20?
?????: ???? ???: ?????? ??????? (???????)? ?????: ???? ????? ??? ?????? ???? ???? ???1379? ??272?? ????9645639115?
???: ??? ?? ?????? ????? ??? ?? ??????? ???????? ??????? ???????? ?? ?? ?? ???1985?????? ????? ????? ???? ?? ???? ??? ????????? ??? ? ????? ??????? ?????? ?? ??? ???? ?????? ??????? ?? ???????? ?????????? ?? ???? ?????? ?? ?? ?????? ?? ????? ???????? ????? ? ????? ????? ????? ??? ?? ??? ???? ???? ?? ???? ????? ???? ???? ?? ?? ?????? ??? ??? ?? ??? ???????? ????? ????? ??????? ?????? ? ????? ?????? ?????? ?????? ?? ?? ?????? ??? ??? ????? ?????? ? ?????? ??????? ?? ????? ?????? ??? ??? ?? ?? ????? ? ????????? ????? ???? ???? ???????? ???? ????? ???? ??????? ?? ?? ??? ?? ????? ?? ????????? ?? ?? ?? ????? ?????? ????? ??? ?? ??? ??? ???? ????? ???? ???? ???? ?????? ?? ?????????? ?? ????? ? ??????? ??????? ? ???? ?????? ???? ?? ??? ?? ?????? ???? ???? ??? ??? ? ???? ???? ??? ???? ?? ??? ? ??? ???? ????? ???? ? ??? ?? ?????? ?????? ??? ?? ?? ?? ???? ?? ???? ????? ???? ?????? ?????? ???? ????? ?? ???2006?????? ??? ???? ???? ?? ??????? ?? ????????? ???? ?????? ????? ??? ???
??? ?? ???: (?? ?????? ? ??? ? ????? ??????? ???? ?????? ?? ??? ?? ????????????? ? ???????? ???????? ???? ???? ?? ???????? ?? ??????? ? ???? ?? ?????.)? ????? ??? ?? ??? ?????
????? ?????? ????? 14/10/1399???? ???????? 11/09/1400???? ???????? ?. ???????
May 26, 2023
RIP Oscar Wilde you would have loved this
To be honest, this is at the same time the most absurd and the most fascinating book I have read in my life. There's something about really graphic and visceral examples that sends across the strongest message.
I love the portrayal of human greed and power, such a unique approach to those subjects. AND THE WRITING, SO BEAUTIFUL, I'm honestly impressed.
If you love books that traumatize you to your core, read this!!!
To be honest, this is at the same time the most absurd and the most fascinating book I have read in my life. There's something about really graphic and visceral examples that sends across the strongest message.
I love the portrayal of human greed and power, such a unique approach to those subjects. AND THE WRITING, SO BEAUTIFUL, I'm honestly impressed.
If you love books that traumatize you to your core, read this!!!
December 14, 2022
???????? ???????? ???????? ????? ????????? ?????? ???????? ????? ??????? ? ??????? ??? ????????????
????? ?????? ???? ?? ???? ??? ??????????. ?????? ??????????? ? ????????. ?????? ???? ?? ?? ???? ????? ??? ??????? ??????? ???????. ????? ???? ?? ??? ? ?? ??? ???? ????. ?? ??? ?? ??? ????? ? ??? ??? ?? ??? ?? ????? ????. ???? ???? ?? ??? ????? ???? ????????? ??????? ???? ?? ??? ????? ?? ???. ???? ??? ?????? ???? ????? ??? ? ??? ????? ??????. ???? ???? ?? ???? ?? ???? ?????? ?? ???? ???? ? ??? ?? ?????? ???????. ??? ?? ??? ?? ?????! ???? ??? ????????? ???? ?????. ???? ???? ???? ??????? ????? ????? ? ?? ??? ????? ?????? ??? ???? ?? ????? ?? ?????? ? ?????? ??? ?????. ? ??? ?????? ????? ??? ??? ??? ???????! ???????? ? ?????? ? ?????? ?? ?? ????????. ????? ?????? ?? ?? ??? ? ?????? ?? ???. ?? ??? ???? ????? ?? ??? ????? ? ??? ??????. ??! ???? ??? ????? ????????. ???? ???? ????? ???? ???? ? ??????? ? ????? ???? ???????. ?? ????? .. ????? .. ???????? .. ?????? ? ???? ? ??????? ?? ????????. ?? ? ????? ???? ?? ??????? ? ???????. ?????? ???? ?? ?? ?????? ????? ??????. ??????? .. ?????? ?????????? ???? ???? ?? ?????? ??? ???? ????? ???????.
????? ?? ?????? ????? ???. ????? ????. ????? ???? ??????. ???? ????? ? ????? ??? ?????. ? ???? ???? ????? ??? ????? ????? ????? ???????. ? ???? ???? ????? ?? ??????: ?????? .. ??? ?? ??????. ? ?? ???? ??? ????? ?? ????? ?????. ?? ??????? ?? ???? ??????. ????? ?????? ????? ???????. ????? ?? ??? ? ??? ?? ???. ? ???? ???? ???.
?????? ??? ?????. ??? ?? ?? ???? ???? ????. ?? ????? ?? ??????? ??????? ?????? ???? ????. ?? ??? ??????? ??????? ?? ???? ?????? ?????. ? ??? ?? ???? ?? ????? ?? ???? ????? ?????? ?? ??????. ??? ?? ?????? ???? ?? ????. ?????? ? ???? ??????. ?? ??? ?????? ??? ?? ??? ??? ?? ?? ?????? ??? ?????. ???? ???? ?????? ?????. ???? ???? ??? ?????. ? ??? ????. ??? ???? ????? ??????? ????? ?? ?? ????. ? ??? ???? ?????. ? ??? ?????? ?????? ?? ????? ?????? ??????. ????? ?????? ??????? ?? ??? ????????? ???? ??????. ???? ?????? ??????. ? ?? ???? ????? ???????. ?? ????? ??????.
??? ?????? ??????. ??????? ??? ?????. ?? ???? ???? ?? ??????. ??????? ?? ??????? ?? ?????? ? ?????. ??????? ??? ??. ???? ??? ??? ??????? ?????. ??????? ?? ?????? ? ???? ?????. ??????. ??????. ??????. ??????. ????????. ????? ?? ????? ? ?????. ??? ??? ???? ?????? ??????. ?? ??? ????? ?? ?????. ?????. ????? .. ??? ??? ????? ???? ???? ? ???? ???? ??? ???? ?? ????. ? ?? ???? ????? ???? ??? ???. ?? ??? ??. ?? ??? ??. ? ?? ??? ??? ????. ???? ???? ??. ?? ????. ???? ??? ??? ?? ??? ????. ???? ???? ?? ??? ???? ???? ?????? ?????? ? ???? ???????. ????? ???? ???? ? ????? ????. ????? ?????? ? ??????. ???? ?????? ?????? ?????? ???????. ? ????? ????. ???? ???? ? ????? ? ???? ?????? ??????? ??? ???? ? ????? ?????? ???????. ?????? ??? ??????? ????? ? ??????? ??. ?????? ??????. ???. ??? ?????? ??????. ??? ?? ????. ??? ?????? ?????? ??? ??? ?? ??????? ?????. ??? ???? ?? ??? ?????? ???? ???????? ?????.
??? ????? ???? ????? ??? ??? ????. ???? ????? ??? ?? ????? ??? ????. ? ?????? ???? ????? ??? ?????. ??? ???? ?? ?? ??? ???? ? ?? ???? ?? ??. ??? ???? ??? ?? ???. ??? ??????. ??? ???? ? ??? ????.
May 29, 2008
I'd like to make something very clear with my review of this book. I normally don't go overboard with the whole "the movie vs. the book" argument because I'm not interested in making people's decisions for them, even though I'm strongly opinionated about the subject. But this is a case where I have to speak out. S¨¹skind has created here a work of literary art in prose, and I take that seriously. I admire lots of books but I wouldn't say this about any old novel. The movie "Perfume" makes an utter mockery of this artwork, its incredible language (even in translation) and its profoundly disturbing character. The movie is to this book what a smudge of dirt is to a brilliant, glowing star. The movie not only fails to capture the depth and profundity of the prose but also of its unique darkness and unsettling moral bleakness. "Perfume"'s central character (in many ways, its only character) is far beyond some simplistic "good" or "evil." Rather, he is utterly disconnected from humanity. He lacks a fundamental concept of agency in other people, who are essentially conveyors or producers of smells and nothing more. He kills, not with any idea of transgression, but simply as he would break an object in order to smell it. In this he is far more terrifying than any serial killer or other contrived "evil" character, and the story of his incredible and absurd life leaves one with a deep darkness that takes a long time to dissipate after the novel is closed and shelved or passed on.
The movie, as I saw it, conveyed none of this existentially disturbing character, but merely his salient features; i.e., his uncanny ability to smell and dissect smells, and even then can't possibly describe what he senses with the book's vividness and detail. In short, viewers are left with a paltry, thin gruel that denigrates and shames the original book and its author.
The movie, as I saw it, conveyed none of this existentially disturbing character, but merely his salient features; i.e., his uncanny ability to smell and dissect smells, and even then can't possibly describe what he senses with the book's vividness and detail. In short, viewers are left with a paltry, thin gruel that denigrates and shames the original book and its author.
Read
October 25, 2024ahahaha wtf were those last pages??? WILD turn of events even by this novel¡¯s standards
October 12, 2024
This book is a gripping tale of an olfactory genius: a youth with an extraordinary sense of smell, transforming it from a perfectly tuned instrument of perception to a source of inspired creativity and intellectual delight. Physically unattractive and paradoxically odorless, Jean-Baptiste was doomed to grow as an outcast from birth. This fact allowed him to nurture his two greatest passions, the search and collection of new scents and the gradually increasing aversion from humanity. The conflict between the two turns him into a ruthless monster. The protagonist unconditionally sweeps off all moral barriers in the way of his goal to create a divine perfume that would subjugate the world. The final result is as destructive as it is self-destructive. Patrick Suskind's classic novel vividly portrays the temptations and dangers of extreme isolation and self-aggrandizement - and it is both a guide and a warning.
November 14, 2023
"Hab¨ªa encontrado la br¨²jula de su vida futura. Y como todos los monstruos geniales ante quienes un acontecimiento externo abre una v¨ªa recta en el espiral ca¨®tico de sus almas, Grenouille ya no se apart¨® de lo que ¨¦l cre¨ªa haber reconocido como la direcci¨®n de su destino: ten¨ªa que ser un creador de perfumes. Y no uno cualquiera, sino el perfumista m¨¢s grande de todos los tiempos."
Pero qu¨¦ novela tan interesante ha escrito Patrick S¨¹skind¡ Este es otro de esos libros que yo ve¨ªa en los estantes de la librer¨ªa, o sobre el cual, muchos lectores rese?aban pero que no hab¨ªa tenido yo la oportunidad de leer.
Es verdaderamente original y sorprendente la manera en que S¨¹skind crea el personaje de Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. Sencillamente brillante.
Han existido en la literatura famosos asesinos (creo que Rask¨®lnikov de "Crimen y castigo" es uno de los m¨¢s emblem¨¢ticos), pero en el caso del personaje principal de "El perfume" lo que sobresale es casualmente su sorprendente naturaleza y originalidad.
El hecho de que Grenouille haya nacido sin ning¨²n tipo de olor personal y un sentido del olfato tan perfecto, a punto tal que hasta ¨¦l mismo sabe que s¨®lo puede aprovecharlo para asesinar, le da todo el sentido a la trama del libro para que los sucesos de su vida sean lo m¨¢s importante.
El olfato de Grenouille le permite distinguir todo tipo de olores, hedores, fragancias, tufos, aromas, emanaciones, vahos, esencias y por supuesto, perfumes. Nada escapa a su olfato, un sentido que para muchos es el menos importante de los cinco que poseemos en el cuerpo humano.
Desde su infancia, Jean-Baptiste es alguien que no tiene madre, que no siente dolor ni sentimiento de amor alguno. Con el correr de los a?os se transformar¨¢ en un ser insensible y desarrollar¨¢, a partir de su peculiar habilidad una extra?a forma de comportamiento que lo llevar¨¢ a cometer asesinatos, siempre hacia j¨®venes y bellas muchachas virginales.
Otro aspecto para destacar es la manera en la que est¨¢ narrado el libro y hay que felicitar a S¨¹skind por ello. La historia est¨¢ ambientada en la Francia del siglo XVIII y S¨¹skind la relata como un aplomado escritor del siglo XIX. Es excelente su dominio de la narrativa, ya que esto se asocia a lo original del personaje y porque adem¨¢s mantiene el suspense de lo que pasa con Grenouille. Considero tambi¨¦n que las primeras quince p¨¢ginas son atrapantes y hacia el intermedio del libro, el autor logra que el lector no pueda desprenderse de la lectura.
Tal vez el momento m¨¢s chato de la historia es cuando S¨¹skind narra los siete a?os en que Grenouille se recluye en la monta?a de Auvernia, pero r¨¢pidamente la historia vuelve a tener un vivo inter¨¦s, precisamente a partir de que vuelve a cometer tantos asesinatos, y al llegar a esta parte es clave el hecho de haber le¨ªdo sobre sus andanzas en la perfumer¨ªa de Giuseppe Baldini, de sus forzados trabajos con el curtidor Grimal, de su primera v¨ªctima, la muchacha pelirroja de Rue de Marais, o de sus estancia durante la ni?ez en la casa de madame Gaillard quien ins¨®litamente carece de todo olfato.
Debo reconocer que lo que m¨¢s me descoloc¨® fue precisamente el final del libro. Para que se me entienda: los lectores en su mayor¨ªa leemos ficci¨®n y nos acostumbramos a todo tipo de historias fant¨¢sticas, pero en el caso del final de esta novela, realmente me esperaba otra cosa. A mi entender es demasiado inveros¨ªmil y el abrupto cambio sepulta un poco la intriga a la que me somet¨ªa en las primeras dos partes de la novela.
Y nuevamente, en la cuarta parte, que se compone de un solo cap¨ªtulo creo que S¨¹skind acelera el final de una manera casi abrupta (y tambi¨¦n, demasiado inveros¨ªmil), contrastando con las extens¨ªsimas descripciones de las caracter¨ªsticas tanto de la personalidad de Grenouille como de todos los sucesos que le ocurren en los distintos lugares que vive.
Estoy dudando en calificar a "El perfume" con tres o cuatro estrellas, pero me voy a inclinar por las cuatro por el hecho de que me mantuvo muy intrigado en un 85% de la historia y porque, adem¨¢s, cuesta mucho encontrar libros sobre asesinos tan pero tan originales como Jean-Baptiste Grenouille.
Pero qu¨¦ novela tan interesante ha escrito Patrick S¨¹skind¡ Este es otro de esos libros que yo ve¨ªa en los estantes de la librer¨ªa, o sobre el cual, muchos lectores rese?aban pero que no hab¨ªa tenido yo la oportunidad de leer.
Es verdaderamente original y sorprendente la manera en que S¨¹skind crea el personaje de Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. Sencillamente brillante.
Han existido en la literatura famosos asesinos (creo que Rask¨®lnikov de "Crimen y castigo" es uno de los m¨¢s emblem¨¢ticos), pero en el caso del personaje principal de "El perfume" lo que sobresale es casualmente su sorprendente naturaleza y originalidad.
El hecho de que Grenouille haya nacido sin ning¨²n tipo de olor personal y un sentido del olfato tan perfecto, a punto tal que hasta ¨¦l mismo sabe que s¨®lo puede aprovecharlo para asesinar, le da todo el sentido a la trama del libro para que los sucesos de su vida sean lo m¨¢s importante.
El olfato de Grenouille le permite distinguir todo tipo de olores, hedores, fragancias, tufos, aromas, emanaciones, vahos, esencias y por supuesto, perfumes. Nada escapa a su olfato, un sentido que para muchos es el menos importante de los cinco que poseemos en el cuerpo humano.
Desde su infancia, Jean-Baptiste es alguien que no tiene madre, que no siente dolor ni sentimiento de amor alguno. Con el correr de los a?os se transformar¨¢ en un ser insensible y desarrollar¨¢, a partir de su peculiar habilidad una extra?a forma de comportamiento que lo llevar¨¢ a cometer asesinatos, siempre hacia j¨®venes y bellas muchachas virginales.
Otro aspecto para destacar es la manera en la que est¨¢ narrado el libro y hay que felicitar a S¨¹skind por ello. La historia est¨¢ ambientada en la Francia del siglo XVIII y S¨¹skind la relata como un aplomado escritor del siglo XIX. Es excelente su dominio de la narrativa, ya que esto se asocia a lo original del personaje y porque adem¨¢s mantiene el suspense de lo que pasa con Grenouille. Considero tambi¨¦n que las primeras quince p¨¢ginas son atrapantes y hacia el intermedio del libro, el autor logra que el lector no pueda desprenderse de la lectura.
Tal vez el momento m¨¢s chato de la historia es cuando S¨¹skind narra los siete a?os en que Grenouille se recluye en la monta?a de Auvernia, pero r¨¢pidamente la historia vuelve a tener un vivo inter¨¦s, precisamente a partir de que vuelve a cometer tantos asesinatos, y al llegar a esta parte es clave el hecho de haber le¨ªdo sobre sus andanzas en la perfumer¨ªa de Giuseppe Baldini, de sus forzados trabajos con el curtidor Grimal, de su primera v¨ªctima, la muchacha pelirroja de Rue de Marais, o de sus estancia durante la ni?ez en la casa de madame Gaillard quien ins¨®litamente carece de todo olfato.
Debo reconocer que lo que m¨¢s me descoloc¨® fue precisamente el final del libro. Para que se me entienda: los lectores en su mayor¨ªa leemos ficci¨®n y nos acostumbramos a todo tipo de historias fant¨¢sticas, pero en el caso del final de esta novela, realmente me esperaba otra cosa. A mi entender es demasiado inveros¨ªmil y el abrupto cambio sepulta un poco la intriga a la que me somet¨ªa en las primeras dos partes de la novela.
Y nuevamente, en la cuarta parte, que se compone de un solo cap¨ªtulo creo que S¨¹skind acelera el final de una manera casi abrupta (y tambi¨¦n, demasiado inveros¨ªmil), contrastando con las extens¨ªsimas descripciones de las caracter¨ªsticas tanto de la personalidad de Grenouille como de todos los sucesos que le ocurren en los distintos lugares que vive.
Estoy dudando en calificar a "El perfume" con tres o cuatro estrellas, pero me voy a inclinar por las cuatro por el hecho de que me mantuvo muy intrigado en un 85% de la historia y porque, adem¨¢s, cuesta mucho encontrar libros sobre asesinos tan pero tan originales como Jean-Baptiste Grenouille.
July 31, 2017
To be entirely honest I still haven't decided whether I loved the book or hated it. XD I loved the writing style and the idea behind it but at the same time I was disgusted by the vivid pictures it provoked. It was way too easy to get lost in the "Perfume" and I swear I could literally smell the book while I read it. *lol*
All things considered it actually was a very good read and I can recommend it to everyone who's into haunting stories.
I read that book a while ago and I'm still thinking about it! So yeah I guess Patrick S¨¹skind did an amazing job! ;-)
All things considered it actually was a very good read and I can recommend it to everyone who's into haunting stories.
I read that book a while ago and I'm still thinking about it! So yeah I guess Patrick S¨¹skind did an amazing job! ;-)
December 27, 2015
Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer is simply one of the greatest horror novels ever written.
Taking place in 18th century, France, it begins with an infant born with one difference from the rest of the world: Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born with the ability to smell anything and everything in the world around him.
Although not a novel of the supernatural as commonly defined, in a sense, it is, because his ability can only be defined as that of supernature.
While not being the most prolific author, , has made his permanent mark not only in horror and gothic fiction, but in the circles of high literature, as well.
More a modern descendant of or and other great gothic writers of that period than to most writers working today, , is a unique, fresh, story of mystery, suspense, and madness.
For those of you tired of books you can see right through, anticipating where the storyline is going and how it's going to end, this is the book for you.
I can't imagine anyone figuring out the ending, or even trying to, because you wil be so caught up in the book, you will savour every page and description until the end.
It's really hard to find good modern gothic fiction, horror or otherwise, that's done with a literate touch from someone that conveys the feeling of actually being there inside a rich, period piece setting.
A book no one with literate reading interests should miss.
Though different, it will appeal to readers of newer masters of horror; , , , and .
And to older masters; , , , , , , , , and .
* I do like the cover to the more modern version of this book but, if you are a true book connoisseur like me, track down the 1987 September edition, 1st paperback printing by Pocket Books with the shiny red embossed lettering on a red & black book. It's just fantastic and reminds me of a combination of the artwork for the film, (1984), the infamous murderer, Jack The Ripper, and to .
My highest of all recommendations!!!!!
January 21, 2016
There are some books which can be called unique. They may be good, bad or indifferent: but their authors strike out from the trodden paths of narrative themes and structure to explore totally new vistas, so that the product becomes unique. Perfume by Patrick Suskind is such a book.
Jean Baptiste Grenouille is "an abominable and gifted personage, in an era which was not lacking in abominable and gifted personages". Born a bastard in the stinking heart of the city of Paris in the eighteenth century under a gutting table, the first cry he utters sends his mother to the scaffold for abandoning an infant. Grenouille grows up by sucking many wet nurses dry, survives the horrendous childhood of an orphan in an age without mercy, and grows up to become a successful perfumer. For this is his unique gift: the child who does not emit any smell himself is blessed with extraordinary olfactory capabilities, which allows him to recognise, separate and catalogue in his mind all the different odours he comes into contact with.
But simple identification is not enough for Jean. He is driven by the insatiable urge to possess any smell he likes for himself; he will move heaven and earth to extract it from its origin, make a perfume out of it and keep it with him. He is not bothered that the object which originates the smell will be destroyed in the process of extraction: he is a "smell-vampire". And like a vampire, it is the smell of virgins which drives him wild. Ultimately, Grenouille's gift and single-minded obsession proves to be the cause of both his uplift and undoing...
Suskind has written a gripping novel which will hook and pull the reader in from the first sentence onwards. However, this is not a simple horror story or thriller: it has got layers of meaning hidden beneath one another which will come out on careful reading.
Jean Baptiste Grenouille is a masterly creation. His insatiable thirst for smells makes him a truly terrifying "collector": one who cannot enjoy his passion the normal way, but must possess the object of his desire (I was reminded of Frederick Clegg in John Fowles' "The Collector") completely. The fact that he lacks a characteristic odour himself enhances his vampiric nature. Also, all the people who profit from him come to a grisly end, like the poor misguided souls who make a pact with the devil.
Joseph Campbell has made the slogan "Follow your bliss" very popular - but how to know whether your bliss is good or bad? I have always wondered about the concept of "negative bliss". Both Gandhi and Hitler could have been said to be following their bliss in different ways. While reading this novel, I was struck by the realisation that the difference is in one's attitude. If one is doing it because one cannot be doing anything else - following one's karma, if you want to put it that way - then it is bliss. But if one is driven by an insatiable need which feeds on itself, one ends up being a vampire. Ultimately, it consumes oneself.
Highly recommended.
Jean Baptiste Grenouille is "an abominable and gifted personage, in an era which was not lacking in abominable and gifted personages". Born a bastard in the stinking heart of the city of Paris in the eighteenth century under a gutting table, the first cry he utters sends his mother to the scaffold for abandoning an infant. Grenouille grows up by sucking many wet nurses dry, survives the horrendous childhood of an orphan in an age without mercy, and grows up to become a successful perfumer. For this is his unique gift: the child who does not emit any smell himself is blessed with extraordinary olfactory capabilities, which allows him to recognise, separate and catalogue in his mind all the different odours he comes into contact with.
But simple identification is not enough for Jean. He is driven by the insatiable urge to possess any smell he likes for himself; he will move heaven and earth to extract it from its origin, make a perfume out of it and keep it with him. He is not bothered that the object which originates the smell will be destroyed in the process of extraction: he is a "smell-vampire". And like a vampire, it is the smell of virgins which drives him wild. Ultimately, Grenouille's gift and single-minded obsession proves to be the cause of both his uplift and undoing...
Suskind has written a gripping novel which will hook and pull the reader in from the first sentence onwards. However, this is not a simple horror story or thriller: it has got layers of meaning hidden beneath one another which will come out on careful reading.
Jean Baptiste Grenouille is a masterly creation. His insatiable thirst for smells makes him a truly terrifying "collector": one who cannot enjoy his passion the normal way, but must possess the object of his desire (I was reminded of Frederick Clegg in John Fowles' "The Collector") completely. The fact that he lacks a characteristic odour himself enhances his vampiric nature. Also, all the people who profit from him come to a grisly end, like the poor misguided souls who make a pact with the devil.
Joseph Campbell has made the slogan "Follow your bliss" very popular - but how to know whether your bliss is good or bad? I have always wondered about the concept of "negative bliss". Both Gandhi and Hitler could have been said to be following their bliss in different ways. While reading this novel, I was struck by the realisation that the difference is in one's attitude. If one is doing it because one cannot be doing anything else - following one's karma, if you want to put it that way - then it is bliss. But if one is driven by an insatiable need which feeds on itself, one ends up being a vampire. Ultimately, it consumes oneself.
Highly recommended.
August 2, 2017
"So what did you think of it?" she asked. "I've been trying to write something, but all I can come up with is that it's a weird story about a guy who has an unusually good sense of smell."
She stopped, struck by a thought. "Wait a minute. You've got a pretty acute sense of smell yourself. I've noticed, don't try to deny it. That thing with the toaster. Right?"
He was cornered, and vaguely assented, hoping she would drop the subject. But she persisted.
"So you must have read it too. What did you think?"
"Well," he said reluctantly after a while, "You can't really describe it with words. That's the point. But you could describe it as... as a smell."
"As a smell?"
"You'd actually have to create the smell," he said. "I thought about it quite a lot."
"What would it smell like?" she asked, amused. "Beautiful young virgins?"
"A bit," he said. "But that isn't the dominant note."
"What is, then?"
He hesitated. It sounded so absurd. "Epistemology," he said after a long pause. "And moral philosophy. You know. Kant."
"It smells of Kant?" she asked. "But what does Kant smell like? I wouldn't have thought he had a smell."
"Oh, he does!" he said. She had never seen him so animated. "And you can extract it. S¨¹skind is absolutely right. Grease-soaked linen, that's the way to do it. Enfleurage. Distillation. People who are reading Kant have a special aroma."
"But don't they have to be dead for you to be able to get it?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That is the main problem," he replied. He looked at her, and now all the excitement was gone. "It's a problem," he repeated. "But it's one you can solve. If you're persistent."
She was staring at him as though she had never seen him before. What was he doing? He had already told her far too much.
"Just kidding," he said, and he moved the corners of his mouth upward as he had learned to do. "Just kidding. Actually, I can sum it up in a couple of words. People stink."
She stopped, struck by a thought. "Wait a minute. You've got a pretty acute sense of smell yourself. I've noticed, don't try to deny it. That thing with the toaster. Right?"
He was cornered, and vaguely assented, hoping she would drop the subject. But she persisted.
"So you must have read it too. What did you think?"
"Well," he said reluctantly after a while, "You can't really describe it with words. That's the point. But you could describe it as... as a smell."
"As a smell?"
"You'd actually have to create the smell," he said. "I thought about it quite a lot."
"What would it smell like?" she asked, amused. "Beautiful young virgins?"
"A bit," he said. "But that isn't the dominant note."
"What is, then?"
He hesitated. It sounded so absurd. "Epistemology," he said after a long pause. "And moral philosophy. You know. Kant."
"It smells of Kant?" she asked. "But what does Kant smell like? I wouldn't have thought he had a smell."
"Oh, he does!" he said. She had never seen him so animated. "And you can extract it. S¨¹skind is absolutely right. Grease-soaked linen, that's the way to do it. Enfleurage. Distillation. People who are reading Kant have a special aroma."
"But don't they have to be dead for you to be able to get it?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That is the main problem," he replied. He looked at her, and now all the excitement was gone. "It's a problem," he repeated. "But it's one you can solve. If you're persistent."
She was staring at him as though she had never seen him before. What was he doing? He had already told her far too much.
"Just kidding," he said, and he moved the corners of his mouth upward as he had learned to do. "Just kidding. Actually, I can sum it up in a couple of words. People stink."
November 27, 2017
It's hard for me to put into words how much I loved this story. The pacing, the characters, the overall plot - everything was perfection. However, the most amazing thing for me was the writing style. So much eloquence and beauty, without ever being over the top. I've seen some people complaining about how "simple" some of the heavy plot points were treated. I do understand and respect those opinions, but I especially liked that aspect.
Yes, this is a book about a murderer, but it isn't a crime novel. It's much more than that. To me, it was a wonderful exploration of a man I loved to hate and hated to love.
Yes, this is a book about a murderer, but it isn't a crime novel. It's much more than that. To me, it was a wonderful exploration of a man I loved to hate and hated to love.
February 23, 2024
4.5?? I wanted a dark gruesome read with a tint of passion. This had so much passion, extremely descriptive and the experience of reading this book was like nothing I've ever known.
Grenouille wasn't even normal as a baby. One of his first nursing maids reported him as having no smell. It's interesting to see the irony that he grew up to be a masterful perfumer who could scent and distinguish thousands of smells and makes/compositions of various scents and learn how to use them to manipulate human emotions.
His obsession with scents leads to murder and hence a beginning of a passionate, visceral reaction to claim these scents and the innocent, clueless lives that wear them.
I just realized that so many literary fiction/classics books I have read lately are made into films. I think this will probably be the most challenging to depict in motion picture. I can't wait to how it's done. ??
Grenouille wasn't even normal as a baby. One of his first nursing maids reported him as having no smell. It's interesting to see the irony that he grew up to be a masterful perfumer who could scent and distinguish thousands of smells and makes/compositions of various scents and learn how to use them to manipulate human emotions.
His obsession with scents leads to murder and hence a beginning of a passionate, visceral reaction to claim these scents and the innocent, clueless lives that wear them.
I just realized that so many literary fiction/classics books I have read lately are made into films. I think this will probably be the most challenging to depict in motion picture. I can't wait to how it's done. ??
July 19, 2023
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