 A HAUNTING AND MESMERIZING TOUR DE FORCE |
| Review Date: March 12, 2000 |
| Reviewer: , |
| In 18th century France, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, born with no scent of his own, but with with a supernatural ability to detect the scent of others is driven to murder in order to create the perfect perfume. This extraordinarily original premise encompasses the most elegant, aristocratic and erotic novel I have ever read. Flawlessly written and drenched in irony, Perfume tells a haunting tale of a man reminiscent of the Phantom of the Opera, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Beauty and the Beast (beast), and even Faust. Amd finally! A writer with enough talent to let us experience Grenouille's thoughts and emotions. Although, of course, identification with him is impossible, (Grenouille is the most chilling character in literature) I did manage to understand Grenouille's all-consuming passion, much to Suskind's credit. Suskind's prose is lush and evokative (the decadance of 18th century France simply comes alive) without spilling over into the purple prose of books like Violin or The English Patient. Perfume is a bizarre tale, but it is also lyrical and hypnotic--almost a fairy tale of terror. If you're looking for something different, something special, I highly recommend Perfume. The only other book I've found to equal it in originality is Jose Saramago's Blindness. Perfume, however, remains my alltime favorite. |
Fascinating, but not quite a Masterpiece
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| Review Date: December 4, 2001 |
| Reviewer: richard_t, Overseas |
| When the first english language version of "Perfume" was released in 1986, readers went crazy. Many placed it among the best books they'd ever read, myself included. A reread, fifteen years later yields a different, more muted, reaction. The book is good, very good. But it is not great. "Perfume" succeeds so well because the premise is so startlingly novel. An olfactory genius in 18th-century Paris who can make a fortune creating perfumes more complicated and subtle than any ever made, is a sociopathic monster. Or as Suskind describes him, a "tick" who can roll up into a defensive ball or periodically drop himself into society. Grenouille is a compelling and disturbing character because Suskind has painted him in such realistic tones. Each effort to capture a new scent impels him farther, taking more chances and testing his limits, exploiting new techniques and his own criminal daring. This is true criminal pattern and makes Grenouille terrifyingly believable. But the book can not be a great one, because Suskind's prose tends toward the overdone. Perhaps it reads better in the original German, but his maddening penchant for rephrasing and repeating the same notion and turning a sentence into a paragraph finally dulls the senses and sets the reader skimming along searching for the next important point. The plot is so unique that it is brilliant. The execution is powerful, not only in Grenouille's characterization, but also because Suskind has done his homework and is smoothly at ease with 18th century mores and the science of perfume. But the squishy repetitive prose and unfocused paragraphs keep "Perfume" from joining the ranks of literary masterpieces. |
Delicious and breath taking read
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| Review Date: October 10, 2006 |
| Reviewer: - Kasia S., New York City |
Upon hearing that this book was made into a movie that is to come out at the end of this year, I knew I had to read the story as I like to read the book first and see the movie after. Scent is something that people can't ignore, they can close their eyes and cover their ears, but a smell can reach them and intrude all private spaces.
Perfume is a tale of a period serial-killer, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille born in 18th century France of a woman who cut and cleaned fish. Born in the market, under her table he was to be left for dead, but miraculously as the people busied themselves with work they heard a powerful wail, a cry like no other. The mother caught at trying to dispose of her baby was punished by death, the little infant taken to a monastery but given away because his lack of scent frightened all around him. Taken by a woman who was battered by her husband when he was alive, who could not smell and feel, he was raised like any other orphan, as long as the church paid her yearly. Jean-Baptiste rouse suspicion from children who were scared of him, they couldn't get any feeling for what he was, for they knew he was not like all other humans. There was that lack of scent, the absolute nothingness and fear he spread, he preferred to be left alone, he worked hard and endured years of hard labor that would have any other human drop dead, but not Grenouille. He waited coiled up inside of his mind like a tick ready for fresh blood, he waited for an opportunity to conquer the world of scent and that he did.
As Grenouille jumps form job to job, landing a position with Baldini, a perfumer in Paris simply by chance he learns all that he can about proper extraction and perfume procedure, all of which are greatly described to the reader. Grenouille who lacks scent himself, has an immense library of scents which whiffs he only needed once in order to bottle and store them inside his own head. He can come up with the most exquisite combinations of scents and oil, pomades and cosmetics, bringing Baldini to the top of fame, letting him take all the credit. All that Grenouille wanted to learn was for his own knowledge, and as he traveled from town to town, people who helped him or who took him in meet with strange and sometimes gruesome deaths. Grenouille is a character who first omits great sympathy, with his cold soul, his strange manners and un-civilized at first behavior. I felt pity, I laughed and felt bad for him, but as time progressed his desire of scent capture moved form household objects to small animals and then humans. His indifference to pain and suffering quickly diffused any pity and made me read of him with a very weary mind.
Once he caught a scent of a ripening womanhood, he was transfixed. Among the 18th century Paris, that was crowded and stank of dirty people, food and excrements, he smelled a pure and beautiful scent, which he described as silk and milk. It was the scent of a red haired girl peeling yellow plums by the river. Jean-Baptiste knew from that moment on that the only scent he really wanted to create was that of a pure human in its crystalline form. After his first murder he inhaled the lingering spirit and put it away in his memory, he then traveled along the coast and waited years for an opportunity to study the science of perfume more and to apply it to his own devilish plan.
This book, has so much more going on that I can possibly describe, the world of Jean-Baptiste and his scents was a pleasure to read. I have never been so transfixed and captivated by a sense I take for granted, and this book was a refreshing eye opener.
Hundreds of scents are described in Patrick Suskind's novel, the smell of a blossoming woman, the metallic tang of a doorknob, the soft creamy sheep wool, oaky warmth of wood pulp, oranges ripening with juice, the moonlight cape of magnolias, the fresh windy smell of a puppy and finally, Grenouille's perfect perfume composed of twenty five virgins.
The ending was pretty shocking and total punch, it left me wanting to read more but also satisfied with how well the story wrapped up. I adored the descriptions of nature and of old Paris, I felt transported to the world of great costumes, powdered wigs, dirty living conditions and interesting relationships. Great read with a chilling villain who succumbs to his own desires and of the alluring world of scent which will never be the same.
- Kasia S.
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Deliciously decadent.
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| Review Date: August 29, 2005 |
| Reviewer: Mary Whipple, New England |
This lusciously depicted novel is both a vivid evocation of life in eighteenth century Paris and an homage to the least celebrated of our senses--that of smell. In language so onomatopoetic it must have been an almost insuperable challenge for the translator, Suskind tells the tale of Grenouille (Frog), an orphan on the streets of Paris whose hard life would have destroyed a less single-minded pursuer of the sensuous life.
Grenouille's sense of smell is so subtly attuned that he can distinguish a single, elemental scent among the various aromas and stenches bombarding him, all vividly described by Suskind. He can identify individuals from their unique scents, a pursuit so compelling for him that he is willing to kill without conscience to preserve or distill the most glorious of these scents. As Grenouille moves from his apprenticeship in a butcher shop (depicted in nauseatingly odoriferous detail) to that of a perfumer, one of the book's witty ironies, the reader is bombarded with scents so intoxicatingly described that s/he may reach for the nearest spray perfume in order to participate personally in the author's sensuous celebrations.
One of the most gloriously descriptive (and sly) novels you will ever read, it is also an unforgettable commentary on depravity, unfettered arrogance, and ironically misplaced idealism, which culminates in a final, thunderous scene of exuberant depravity. Mary Whipple
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A DAZZLING AND COMPELLING NOVEL...
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| Review Date: July 31, 2005 |
| Reviewer: Lawyeraau, Balmoral Castle |
This is a novel so beautifully written that it transcends into literature. Ingenious in its conception and carefully crafted, the author has created a unique and dazzling work of fiction. Divided into three parts, the book tells the story of a most unusual life, that of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille.
The first part of the book establishes that he was born to a woman who was hung from a gibbet for having left him to die. It turns out that Jean-Baptiste is an unusual baby. He gives people the willies, because, unlike most babies, Jean-Baptiste has no scent.
Over time, Jean-Baptiste develops into a boy with a secret gift. His olfactory sense is developed to a degree unheard of in humans. He delights in parsing the odors around him. Ugly, friendless, and a loner, he eventually ventures into the city of Paris, a malodorous and pungent cornucopia of smells. Believe me, there is plenty to sniff out in eighteenth century Paris! Jean-Baptiste savors each whiff, and the book conveys these olfactory delights with meticulous, descriptive precision.
His bleak existence is transformed, however, when he one day captures a heady scent of such exquisite beauty that he finds himself obsessed with it. Determined to have that scent at all costs, he eventually sniffs it out. It turns out to be the scent of a young virgin on the cusp of flowering into a woman. It is a scent that he must possess. What he does to do so will surely chill the reader.
Jean-Baptiste eventually maneuvers to get himself apprenticed to a perfumer, so that he can have the opportunity to learn the trade and create scents. He leads a bleak existence, subsisting as little more than a slave to the perfumer for whom he works.
The second part of the book begins when Jean-Baptiste leave his employer and goes on a personal pilgrimage, leading an austere existence away from civilization for many years. There, he withdraws into himself even further, living a totally self-sustaining, hermitic existence. He ultimately realizes what other have sensed about him. Jean-Baptiste has no personal scent. He simply does not smell.
With this knowledge, he returns to civilization where, having lived as practically an animal for many years, he creates a fictitious and adventurous scenario to account for his filthy and disgusting appearance. Subsequently, he is taken under the wing of some local nobility and feted and pampered. Realizing the importance of scent, he creates a personal scent for himself. He now realizes that he who has the power over scent can rule supreme. He intends to do so.
The third part of the book has Jean-Baptiste migrating to a town that is the hub for the scent trade. Perfumes, oils, and soaps are the stock in trade for this town and, as such, beckon brightly to Jean-Baptiste. Once there, he again smells a scent so delectable that he longs to possess it. He knows that scent for what it is and now knows that it is the scent, and not the personal charms of its bearer, that captures the attention and devotion of others. Jean Baptiste wants to harness that scent at all costs. He desperately desires the power to make others love him. He wants to be supreme.
It is his desperate desire to harness and possess that celestial scent that causes Jean-Baptiste, a socio-path with little empathy for others, to prey upon the maidens of the town in order to obtain that which he needs. It is his obsession that lays at the heart of the vortex that arises in the town, as murder after murder occurs. Yet, no one suspects him. What ultimately happens leads to an almost unbelievable climax, when Jean-Baptiste finds himself consumed by the passion he has managed to arouse in others through scent.
This is a heady, quirky, and compelling debut novel, like nothing I have ever before read. Complex and lyrical in its telling, it is a novel that stays with the reader long after the last page is turned. Bravo!
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Simply mesmerizing. A masterpiece!
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| Review Date: August 28, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Donald Ugarte, Jr., Champaign, IL |
Patrick Süskind excels in his full-bodied portrayal of a man whose story is so tragically entertaining as I have yet to read.
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is the anti-hero who provokes an amalgamation of emotions on no one but the reader, as he seems to pass completely unnoticed by people in the story. It is only until he finds the very objective of his existence -that one sublime fragrance he must possess- that he begins to call attention upon himself, resulting in a murderous rampage, a hedonistic orgy, and ultimately, in the most unexpectedly genius ending a novel has or will have for a very long time.
I was truly absorbed by the sheer inhumanity of the main character and the way Süskind makes him "grow" in the reader's mind. It is truly an admirable way of creating rapport with such a detestable individual as Grenouille, and in that process, coming to "share" or "understand" his love for fragrances and his hate for anything else.
Grenouille seems as real as you and me, even after reading the first few pages of the novel, and adding his peculiar characteristics -the lack of bodily odor of any kind, and his unimaginable, super-human sense of smell- Süskind truly gives the world a creature to remember, although not fondly, but frighteningly, and yet, supremely realistically.
This novel will easily join your "all-time best books ever written" list, if not head it, and by far. Trust me, the ending will mesmerize your understanding of life, love and humanity, and maybe even, as it did on me, give you a reason to quiver like you have not had in a very long time.
Five stars, a masterpiece, two thumbs up (for the lack of more hands) |
Perfume By Patrick Suskind
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| Review Date: January 21, 2000 |
| Reviewer: Kristine Arndt, London |
| When I was thirteen a friend of the family Martin Grief lent my sister a book. My sister however is 9 years older than I and wouldn't let me read it. People had stopped me from watching shows on TV and reading magazines but had always told me that books were to be highly regarded. I was intrigued. So one day I saw the book lying around and took it to my room. It took me two days flat to read it. Have you noticed what a tremendous impact smell has on us? You could be walking down the street in Dublin and smell something that takes you back to your childhood or to the holiday you've just comeback from. Smell seems to have a direct link to our subconscious, we hardly notice it but without it our memories would be in turmoil. Patrick Suskind by writing a book based entirely around this sense has made reading into a new experience. He describes beauty, ugliness and the human condition from this original standpoint. By using a sense that effects us so deeply he is able tap into our emotions and pull us completely into his book. I was transported into a city of grime, disease, and lechery and into the mind of a murderer. After re-reading the book I feel like I know the main character Jean-Baptise Grenoullie intimately. I have smelled what he a has smelled and walked where he has walked. The only negative thing I have to say about this book is that I find the ending unconvincing and a little less believable than the rest of the plot. Please go out and read this book for a new perspective. But don't be surprised if while walking passed a dump or a dustbin in the summer heat you find yourself thinking about the pages you read in this book. |
FEE, FIE, FOE, FUM...
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| Review Date: March 1, 2003 |
| Reviewer: Lawyeraau, Balmoral Castle |
| This is a novel so beautifully written that it transcends into literature. Ingenious in its conception and carefully crafted, the author has created a unique and dazzling work of fiction. Divided into three parts, the book tells the story of a most unusual life, that of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. The first part of the book establishes that he was born to a woman who was hung from a gibbet for having left him to die. It turns out that Jean-Baptiste is an unusual baby. He gives people the willies, because, unlike most babies, Jean-Baptiste has no scent. Over time, Jean-Baptiste develops into a boy with a secret gift. His olfactory sense is developed to a degree unheard of in humans. He delights in parsing the odors around him. Ugly, friendless, and a loner, he eventually ventures into the city of Paris, a malodorous and pungent cornucopia of smells. Believe me, there is plenty to sniff out in eighteenth century Paris! Jean-Baptiste savors each whiff, and the book conveys these olfactory delights with meticulous, descriptive precision. His bleak existence is transformed, however, when he one day captures a heady scent of such exquisite beauty that he finds himself obsessed with it. Determined to have that scent at all costs, he eventually sniffs it out. It turns out to be the scent of a young virgin on the cusp of flowering into a woman. It is a scent that he must possess. What he does to do so will surely chill the reader. Jean-Baptiste eventually maneuvers to get himself apprenticed to a perfumer, so that he can have the opportunity to learn the trade and create scents. He leads a bleak existence, subsisting as little more than a slave to the perfumer for whom he works. The second part of the book begins when Jean-Baptiste leave his employer and goes on a personal pilgrimage, leading an austere existence away from civilization for many years. There, he withdraws into himself even further, living a totally self-sustaining, hermitic existence. He ultimately realizes what other have sensed about him. Jean-Baptiste has no personal scent. He simply does not smell. With this knowledge, he returns to civilization where, having lived as practically an animal for many years, he creates a fictitious and adventurous scenario to account for his filthy and disgusting appearance. Subsequently, he is taken under the wing of some local nobility and feted and pampered. Realizing the importance of scent, he creates a personal scent for himself. He now realizes that he who has the power over scent can rule supreme. He intends to do so. The third part of the book has Jean-Baptiste migrating to a town that is the hub for the scent trade. Perfumes, oils, and soaps are the stock in trade for this town and, as such, beckon brightly to Jean-Baptiste. Once there, he again smells a scent so delectable that he longs to possess it. He knows that scent for what it is and now knows that it is the scent, and not the personal charms of its bearer, that captures the attention and devotion of others. Jean Baptiste wants to harness that scent at all costs. He desperately desires the power to make others love him. He wants to be supreme. It is his desperate desire to harness and possess that celestial scent that causes Jean-Baptiste, a socio-path with little empathy for others, to prey upon the maidens of the town in order to obtain that which he needs. It is his obsession that lays at the heart of the vortex that arises in the town, as murder after murder occurs. Yet, no one suspects him. What ultimately happens leads to an almost unbelievable climax, when Jean-Baptiste finds himself consumed by the passion he has managed to arouse in others through scent. This is a heady, quirky, and compelling debut novel, like nothing I have ever before read. Complex and lyrical in its telling, it is a novel that stays with the reader long after the last page is turned. Bravo! |
SCENTLESS APPRENTICE.
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| Review Date: June 27, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Jeffery L. Voyles, tennessee |
| I came across this book and bought it only because I knew that Kurt Cobain of Nirvana had based his song Scentless Apprentice on the book. Had I simply seen the cover of the book I would not have even picked it up to look at it. I expected when I recieved the book that it might be a book which I would read perhaps three chapters of and then become bored with it. I was wrong. I think this may be the best book I have ever read. The story of suffering, the images of a certain time and place, the strangeness of the main character himself and the way the book is written are all amazing. I began reading this book with low expectations and was very pleasantly surprised. I would love to see someone may this book into a good movie. Thinking of the book as a movie I kept picturing someone like Elijah Wood as the main character and quirky actor Jeff Goldblum as the inventor of a flower growing machine in the book. Very highly recommended. |
Intoxicating
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| Review Date: August 3, 2002 |
| Reviewer: , |
This is my all-time favourtie book. After searching endlessly to find a copy anywhere, I finally came across a second-hand copy at a flea market ..., where I was told that if they had enough copies, they would easily be able to sell at least one a day, which is big business for a little flea market.
The best way that I can describe this book is to use an oxymoron, that being beautifully disgusting. The 18th century French setting, the description of the central charater Grenouille's soulless talents, pursuits and desires for his ultimate scent, and everthing from start to finish is simply magnificent.
The feeling I get from this book every time I read it is one of cyclical completion. For me, the story starts at a logical place (the birth of Grenouille, the "gifted abomination", which is possibly my favourite phrase from the entire book), runs full circle and then ends at a logical place. Not to spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it, but I certainly wouldn't want this story to end any other way.
Suskind's description of Jean-Baptiste's exceptional olfactory endowment is thorough and exact. Let's face it, scent isn't exactly easy to write about! If the reader was unable to empathise with what is essentially the character's entire universe, his passion for and understanding of smell, then no one would stick with the book long enough to learn what is his life's purpose (pretty much the entire point to the book), to create his 'magnum opus', a scent that would inspire (or more accurately, command) others to feel love. The author's assertion that people do not feel love for others through any will of their own, but simply through the aura that comes with the emission of scent is quite unique and gives purpose to why Grenouille is such a revolting, fiendish and unloved social detestation. He isn't just a murderer who likes to kill, or who has been wronged and is seeking vengeance, he simply WANTS something that his victims possess. This is truly a brilliant and inspired read, one that I would recommend to anyone at all, but particularly to those who enjoy a dark look into the macabre and cold existence of an inhuman monster. Best of all, it could never be made into a disgusting piece of Hollywood trash as it contains very little conversation or interaction with other characters.
PS. Just an interesting fact, Kurt Cobain wrote the track "Scentless Apprenctice" that appears on Nirvana's In Utero album about this book. |
Thrilling book - beautifully imagined & beautifully written
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| Review Date: September 8, 2004 |
| Reviewer: E. Castro, Austin, TX USA |
This book is stunning both in the breadth of its ambitious imagination and in the economy of its writing. In about 250 pages Suskind creates a detailed, fully realized, almost sympathetic, semi-human murderer; follows him through a torturous childhood into adulthood; creates an entire universe of scent; and paints a convincing, reeking portrait of 18th century France.
The first few pages are absolutely rank. Suskind draws such a convincingly disgusting map of smells that I felt almost claustrophobic reading it. After about 20 pages, I nearly put the book down, unsure that I wanted to be dragged through that particular breed of muck. But the story quickly picks up steam - and as Grenouille gets older and brings order to the scents, the pervasive rotting quality of the story subsides.
There wasn't much in this book that wasn't somewhat disturbing. When Grenouille (the single overwhelming personality in the book)is happy, it is for truly abberant reasons, and so I found myself bouncing between being happy with him (he's a sympathetic character in a few small ways) and horrified at what he is. Its that bond, being at the same time attracted and repulsed by this character, that was at the root of the spell-binding quality of the book.
In addition to the story itself, the craftsmanship of the writing, even in translation, is remarkable. It is a completly uninterrupted narrative flow, written so well that I barely noticed it was written at all. It felt more like I was observing Greunille than reading about him.
In all, this was a quick, engrossing, but not exactly light read. I recommend this book as a piece of really classic recent literature.
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The Willing Suspension of Disbelief
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| Review Date: February 14, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Fantome Bizarre, Albuquerque, NM United States |
First let me start by saying that this is a most excellent and disturbing book, and that everyone I have lent it to or bought it for has loved it. It is nearly flawless with a brilliant and creatively original story. So let me rather than describe the story or give it even more praise address some issues I have found in 1 or 2 star reviews:
1) To read fiction, especially weird or challenging fiction, you need a willing suspension of disbelief. Saying you didn't "believe" the characters or stories or events is not a valid criticism. Most fiction books contain things that most or many people haven't experience, but to enjoy a book you need to suspend your disbelief to really get into it and examine what makes it valid in terms of human experience and interest. If you can't do that then read non-fiction, you will find it more gratifying, and PLEASE don't give great books bad feedback because you can't "understand" or "believe" them. Keep it to yourself.
2) What in God's name is everyone's insistence on having to symphatize or emphatize with the main character in a book? Why can't we concede that not everyone is likable? Why must we ike characters? If Grenouille had loved puppies, or raised legless orphans to be jugglers in the circus, would the book be better for you? Zounds people, its much more difficult to write an absorbing creative novel that does not fall back on the concept of the hero or likable lead character than it is not to cave to this sort of plot device. Now this is not to say I don't enjoy many fine books that employ it, I'm just acknowledging that it is an interesting and direct challenge to readers to not like the main character. Grenouille is despicable and single-minded. Why must you like him? Without a story revolving around a moral main character it again forces the reader to examine human behavior and morality without there being defined a definite wrong or right. Enjoy books with solid heroes, but enjoy books without them as well.
Please read this book. |
The novel for all perfume afficionados
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| Review Date: October 16, 2000 |
| Reviewer: Rosengarten, London, UK |
| The novel for all perfume afficionados to read is 'Perfume - The Story of a Murderer' by Patrick Suskind. It is a masterpiece, a prowl of the streets and alleys of eighteenth-century France, the period in which Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI reigned. It is the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, the finest nose in Paris. Süskind describes the atmosphere in the quarters of the Sorbonne and the faubourg (suburb) Saint-Germain where the rich people lived. This is where Grenouille first smelled perfume in the literal sense...a simple lavender or rose water, with which the fountains of the gardens were filled on gala occasions....and costly scents...of musk mixed with oils of neroli and tuberose, jonquil, jasmine or cinnamon, that floated behind the carriages like rich ribbons on the evening breeze... |
dark & delicious
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| Review Date: September 9, 2005 |
| Reviewer: sandra papas, Brisbane, Australia |
| This is one of my favourite all time reads - especially in the catergory of what I call 'modern fables'. It is dark & creepy but beautifully written with rich prose and almost hypnotic style. I love this whimsical 'nonsense' type genre - escapism at its best. I can see why some people believe the author overdoes it at times but feel this is common with novels translated from foreign languages. Wonderful stuff. |
Scent of a genius
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| Review Date: January 21, 2000 |
| Reviewer: , Budapest Hungary |
| I first noticed the book in the hands of my best friend, in July 1996. I shall never forget that occasion - I virtually tore the book out of her hands and could not put it down. I do not know whether the landslide effect this novel worked on me is traceable to its ingenious style&story or to the warm midsummer days and nights (full of spicy fragrances) during which I've been reading it... Still, this is the case, I am a devoted fan of it ever since. Got it in German, French, Hungarian - plan to have it in English... Absolutely fascinating book. I have browsed through the reviews and found an overall impression similar to mine. It's great to see so many of you share my delight over this wonderful reading. My own parents find the book disgusting and kinky, others criticise other aspects. Let them have their points, I remain an admirer. So do you. So should you. |
Scentless Apprentice.
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| Review Date: December 5, 1999 |
| Reviewer: Ricardo, São Paulo, Brazil |
| I would like to say that I have read this amazing book twice.I have known about it on a Nirvana's leader (Kurt Cobain)interview and there was written that he could not stop reading this book and it was the theme for a song called Scentless Apprentice.I was really impressed by this fact as I am a great Nirvana's fan.Firstly,the place that Grenouille was born called my attention. It was in a dirty city without any hope because of its misery.Suskind created an atmosphere that is very unusual for me.The boy was born with a gift and for this reason he could seduce anyone.It is an excentric book,different from all I have ever read or imagined.Some friends of mine have read the book and were impressed too.Grenouille is not a human as we are.He has no feelings.He is cold,physically weak,weird,but he knows exactly what he want and knows how to get it and does not matter if somebody gets hurt in this process.The book made me think a lot about what caused the author to write it,where has he had such idea. |
Megalomania or self loathing ? A fairy tale of horror
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| Review Date: July 23, 2000 |
| Reviewer: , |
| Hailed as a tour-de-force of creative writing, Patrick Suskin's "Perfume" is a classic fairy tale of horror. Is it any wonder that a human society so filled with putrifying rot, disease and sickening body odours should produce a specimen of pure evil as Jean-Baptiste Grenouille ? As I followed the development of Grenouille's personality into the monster he became, I found my feelings toward him becoming increasingly ambivalent. Is he the inexplicable human embodiment of evil we are asked to believe or the refracted image of a distorted humanity that is estranged from and therefore seeks love ? There are shades of Caliban in the murderous Grenouille. He is both perpetrator and victim. His panic on discovery of his lack of body odour is truly pitiful because it becomes the shameful emblem of his perceived rejection by society. The denial of his humanity is what drives his self loathing and megalomania which must run its tragic course. There is enough evidence in Suskind's tale to support this reading. Just in case I give the impression that "Perfume" is laden with heavy messages which might detract from your enjoyment of it, well, it needn't, as Suskind's prose is as fluid, supple and intoxicating as the scents he writes about. It's a stunning piece of work that will be enjoyed by all. It doesn't come more highly recommended. |
Absorbing, Astonishing, Appalling
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| Review Date: July 9, 2000 |
| Reviewer: , |
| Although the idea of Perfume being related to something as base as murder is an interesting twist, it is nothing compared to the fugue that Sueskind creates in this book. The story grabs you from the first sentence and it keeps you turning the pages. Perfume vividly portrays eighteenth-century France from a viewpoint not often considered - and definitely omitted from history books - while recounting the story of a man with a nose for unsavory things, such as murder. Highly readable, highly enjoyable, highly recommended! |
Great Book, nevermind Lori Dee
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| Review Date: July 16, 2004 |
| Reviewer: , |
| This is a book not quite like any other you've read. That alone makes it worth reading, but you'll also love the character development, the intriguing personalities, and some of the most interestingly depicted settings I've ever read. However, this book didn't quite make the grade for one Ms. Lori Dee, who basically panned it in her spotlight review. Look closer, though: she gave five stars to Rosie O'Donnel's memoir. Hmm. Well, I guess this highly original novel isn't quite as gripping as, say, the thoughts of a daytime talk-show host. I guess the intimate psychoanalysis of a killer is somehow a little less interesting than what K-Mart's spokesperson had to say. Nothing about Suskind's beautiful prose can match the awesome talents of a woman who filled lulls in her broadcasts by flinging koosh balls at her audience. I guess if you're so deeply into daytime talk shows that you are compelled to give five stars to a host's memoir, this might not be the novel for you. Maybe you'd rather read Maury Povich's thoughts on life. Or Jerry Springer's. |
Weirdly fascinating tale centered around the sense of smell
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| Review Date: November 20, 2004 |
| Reviewer: Linda Linguvic, New York City |
First published in German in 1985, this intriguing novel has a unique perspective. Set in 18th century France, it's a weird and wonderful story about a murderer and his obsession. And it's a lot more.
We first meet Jean-Baptiste Genouille when he is birthed and left to die in a filthy fish stall in the slums of Paris. Miraculously he survives but there is something different about this child. He had no body odor at all. This frightened people although they couldn't really understand why. But even though he had no smell of his own, his own sense of smell was so well developed that he could distinguish the nuances of the thousands of odors that surrounded him constantly. And, after a harsh apprenticeship at a tanner's, he meets a perfumer and begins to learn the art of perfume.
One day, during his adolescence he was attracted to a very specific odor. It belonged to a young girl. This was his first murder.
This is not a simple story however. Genouille is a strange person and is not capable of any emotion other than hate. He is portrayed sympathetically though and I soon began to understand his inner thought patterns and the way his mind worked.
We then follow his life. He lives in a cave for seven years, in sensory depravation. Later a rich scientist tries to use him to demonstrate his own strange theories. Even later he finds employment as a perfumer. It is then that his obsession gets stronger and he develops a method where he can capture the essence of his murder victims in perfume.
This story is more than just this plot though. It is a deeply analytical study of the social and economic mores of the time. And, most of all, it is a study of human behavior.
This book can be read on many levels. The mood and the lessons in perfumery and history are outstanding. And the religious symbolism cannot go unnoticed. After a while though I got a little impatient with the story as it became more and more unrealistic. However, this is a fine book. And I know that it made me start to think about my own sense of smell in such a way that it has changed my perception of the world forever. I therefore I give "Perfume" a high recommendation.
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