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Cindy's Reviews > Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
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** spoiler alert **
I don鈥檛 know what compelled me to finish this book but it was the worst book I鈥檝e 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 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鈥檓 reading my review 11 years later and it makes me laugh. Although I still don鈥檛 like the book and stand by my review I don鈥檛 know why my tone sounds so crazy. 馃し馃徎鈥嶁檧锔� 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鈥檓 reading my review 11 years later and it makes me laugh. Although I still don鈥檛 like the book and stand by my review I don鈥檛 know why my tone sounds so crazy. 馃し馃徎鈥嶁檧锔� LOL.***
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Perfume.
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
March 1, 2007
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Finished Reading
October 31, 2007
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Tessa
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Nov 23, 2011 06:54AM
I disagree. I feel that perfume takes a strange look at humanity. Its very dark in the beginning but funny in places injecting a slight lightness of tone like quality. The book is beautifully described and detailed, without becoming to heavy. The book is always sharp and to the point at all times while still portraying a slightly carefree quality. The text always feels like it pushes the plot forward and seems to be sending it to a strong and satisfying climax that I can't wait to read.
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I totally agree with you. I too can't understand what compelled me to finish it. I suppose I kept hoping it would get better.... It didn't.
im half the way, and i don't know if ill finish it. I don't like the story and i don't like the main character. But hey i liked the film. The film had some mistery and strange atmosphere that i havent found in the book. at least not yet.
孝褗锌邪 锌褍褌泻邪 褋懈 褌懈. 袩褉芯褋褌芯.
I agree with you to a certain degree, the orgy part was completely egregious, it felt like l was reading a porn book, but there were some things l like, such as the connection with olfaction and everyday likeness.
In my opinion, it would not have made sense for him to continue killing people throughout the book. He had to learn how to harvest their scent first or else the killing would have been in vain as it was with the first girl. Also, the orgy made sense to me. He 'saw' the world through scent and understood that scent is what fueled people's desires for the women he killed. By harvesting their scent, he had the essence of what people desired and associated with beauty which he then applied to himself. It intoxicated people as beauty would but in a greater concentration. I'm not saying this could happen in real life, but it made sense for the book in my opinion. I thought it was beautifully done, but perhaps there's a difference in translation...?
^True. And no I couldn鈥檛 finish Twilight hehe
I was hopelessly scrolling to find a bad review.... SO glad to read this!I was so exited about this book, my best friend and my boyfriend had recommended it, all the reviews were fantastic... But then I started reading... and after 30 pages I already wanted to stop reading it.
This is one horrid book.
And it's not just the story and the characters: even the writing style is terrible, it's like a very bad fairy tale, written for children.
Thank you! Yes i feel the same. I had totally blocked out the part in the cave and the dripping of the water!!!! I was uterly happy when he was killed i just wish it was sooner.
I totally agree! And the reason you sounded crazy when you wrote the review is because you passionately hated this book. I just finished it and feel exactly the same way. I've never hated a book as much as I hated this one. That said, I will remember it far better than a lot of the books I gave a 3-star rating.
Hear. Hear. Absolute tripe. Two weeks of my life I'll never get back... But I can't abandon a book once I've started.
I didn麓t like it the first time I read it, I was only 15 back then and I found it so boring. Now after having re-read it I absolutely loved 90% of it but I seriously hated the other 10%. I was mad during the final scenes, they were among the most ridiculous things I麓ve ever read and truly disgusting in some ways. But I loved all the other stuff, lol, so I couldn麓t really rate it.
what part of your head told you this was supposed to be realistic lol. its a magical realism novel after all? also the orgy bit was supposed to highlight his disgust towards other people and it did it well? maybe dont read classics if you're stuck with YA novels smh
I totally agree with you! I absolutely hated this book and wish I'd never heard of it
My teacher recommended this book to me, she said it was very addictive, so I had a lot of expectations for it. However, I absolutely hated it, I can't understand how it is possible for someone to love it! One of the worst books I've ever read ...
It is the worst book ever. Completely exaggerated. Abusive of language. Irony is this a German book about France guy and France culture. NICEEEE
I love the movie. But this book, I think I hate it! I try so hard to finish it 馃槕馃槕馃槕
I am listening to this book, almost done, and regretting that I wasted8 hours of my life listening to this none sense! What was the point of this story?
Couldn鈥檛 agree more. Absolutely hated this book. It started of interesting and then it fell into a heap. I would NEVER recommend it to anyone.
Doesn't sound crazy at all. I just finished reading it myself and I feel like it's hours I'm never getting back. Also in my review, I mentioned liking the movie better but I think it just hurries the story along much quicker and also you got ensemble cast to pull it off, plus Alan Rickman, the book just drags terribly so.
Hi! I just finished reading this book and I believe your review describes accurately what I feel, so I don't think it sounds crazy at all. I'm still trying to understand how this became a bestseller. I can't even comprehend the positive feedback about this book. I just kept on reading hoping it would change, but it only took a turn for the worse...I'm glad some people had a good time reading this, because it's definitely not my cup of tea.
Completely agree and so happy to see others on here with this mindset regarding this absurdly strange & terrible book. I can鈥檛 believe it has a 4 star rating on GR!
I 100% agree with you, don't worry you are not crazy at all!! I definitely feel like reading this book felt like a waste of time, and a confusing rollercoaster of events and random scenes like the mountain scene. I also thought the final scene was the stupidest scene ever!! I'm with you in this fs
I agree with the lack of climax, and the whole orgy scene was a bizarre way of illustrating how affected they were by the scent, but I also didn鈥檛 feel it needed a climax besides (or would argue that鈥s the climax) JBG realising he is never satisfied and will never feel whole or human and subsequently allowing himself to be mauled to death by dousing himself in a scent he created to potentially rule the world (could鈥檝e done so much but used it only to destroy himself)
