The sense of smell in all its glory (Perfume - Patrick Suskind)

Member Name: leanne8686

Product:	Perfume - Patrick Suskind
Date:	30/09/08 (294 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: original, great writing

Disadvantages: strange

First published in German as 'Das Parfum' in 1985, the English translation was first published in 1986.

ISBN: 978-0-141-02904-7

263 pages.

Author: Patrick Suskind.

£6.99



This book was also released as a film 'Perfume: The story of a Murderer' in 2006, I remember going to see the film after having read this book but I really remember nothing about it so I'm guessing it wasn't as enjoyable as the book.



It is set in the 18th century in Paris. The beginning is quite disturbing; A woman is giving birth as she works on her fish market stall and just tosses the baby onto the pile of fish guts and leaves it to die (as we learn she has done with her previous babies!!)
This baby is saved when it cries out and grows up in orphanages brought up by nuns, he is a strange child and nobody wants anything to do with him as they say he doesn't have a smell like a human child should.

Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (the child) grows up working for his keep and discovers he has an extraordinary sense of smell, he can smell things through glass bottles and walls, and can point out anything in the dark by it smell!
He becomes obsessed with learning the scent of everything in the city of Paris. He separates out the smells in a superhuman way, in the street he can pick out individual smells from far away.
He finds a job working for a Perfumier and exploits his gift by making world famous perfumes, perfectly concocted.

The Perfumier gets hold of a distilling machine and Jean-Baptiste gets to work distilling everything to find its scent; from glass to his own hair.
He thinks he has every scent he could imagine but then he finds one scent, never smelt before which he wants to own: The scent of a virgin girl, how far will he go to own this, he needs this ingredient and to get it he must capture it, but at what cost?



This book is very strange, that's for sure. But it is such a different and original story, it really is worth a read.
The writing is brilliant, the descriptions of the scents throughout are so detailed you can almost smell it along with Jean Baptiste!

Summary: forget the film, but read the book