Related titles. The Lincoln Highway. The Man Who Died Twice. A Slow Fire Burning. Snow Country. The Promise. The Echo Chamber. Daisy Jones and The Six. Oh William! And kill Patrick Suskind. Patrick Suskind was born in He studied history in Munich and was a writer for television before he wrote Perfume. His play The Double Bass was first staged in Munich in and has since become one of the most performed plays in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. His novella The Story of Mr Sommer has, like Perfume , been a huge success all over the world, and his Three Stories and a Reflection was published in Patrick Suskind lives in Munich.
Search books and authors. Buy from…. View all retailers. The acclaimed bestseller and international sensation, reissued with a new PMC jacket Survivor, genius, perfumer, killer: this is Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. 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. Shelves: modernfiction , recommended. 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. But this is a case where I have to speak out.
I admire lots of books but I wouldn't say this about any old novel. The movie "Perfume" makes an utte I'd like to make something very clear with my review of this book. 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. 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. In short, viewers are left with a paltry, thin gruel that denigrates and shames the original book and its author. View all 17 comments. Shelves: poe-influenced , horror , favorite-books , mystery , thriller , perfume , historical-fiction , gothic. 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 Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer is simply one of the greatest horror novels ever written.
More a modern descendant of Edgar Allan Poe or Robert Louis Stevenson and other great gothic writers of that period than to most writers working today, Perfume , 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. Jekyll And Mr. My highest of all recommendations!!!!!
View all comments. 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 There are some books which can be called unique. 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. View all 14 comments. 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. I read that book a while ago and I'm still thinking abou To be entirely honest I still haven't decided whether I loved the book or hated it. I read that book a while ago and I'm still thinking about it! Nov 27, Annemarie rated it it was amazing Shelves: all-time-favs , read-in-german. 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 n It's hard for me to put into words how much I loved this story. 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. View all 12 comments. Let me begin by telling you that this book is hilarious, and I am mildly obsessed with it.
I loved it. Grenouille is my new favorite literary character. He lurks in the shadows, is mildly hunchbacked, and sniffs the air like a total freak. Anyway, as you may know, Perfume is the story of Grenouille, a man born with the ability to smell every little Let me begin by telling you that this book is hilarious, and I am mildly obsessed with it.
Anyway, as you may know, Perfume is the story of Grenouille, a man born with the ability to smell every little thing in the world, but who has no scent of his own. His nose is his compass; he relies on it more than most rely on their eyes or ears. He lives to smell, to identify each layer of fragrance in everything from a sweaty Paris street to a brass doorknob.
He can deconstruct even the most complex aromas. His early days are spent creating an olfactory map of the world, a vast catalogue of odors which serves as his memory bank and through which he can leaf and re-experience, or invent new experiences by combining, in his mind, fragrances that have never before been layered with one another.
While one might expect a nose like his to be revolted by foul odors, he is actually well suited to dealing with them, and as such is able to endure the most unappealing tasks without much thought. Inevitably, he becomes horrified by his own lack of odor and sets out with an enhanced drive to create the ultimate perfume, the source for which he has managed to sniff out and isolate using that incredible nose of his.
Since this smell becomes what he lives for, he does whatever he must to obtain it. This is a man on a mission, and he is surprisingly determined, crafty, and always successful, without coming off as malicious in any way.
Every page of this book is funny. There is an almost Dickensian charm about the peripheral characters, whose quirks help save this book from ever becoming too morbid.
Suskind does not miss an opportunity to remind us that Grenouille is disgusting to behold. When he is a creepy baby nobody wants anything to do with him.
The author also has this cutely subtle way of letting us know that Greanouille is a bit of a walking curse on people who become involved with him. Suskind clearly delights in describing, in uncomfortable detail, things like oozing, seeping pustules. The ending is utterly fantastic. It is a totally unabashed celebration of freakishness. You've got a pretty acute sense of smell yourself. I've noticed, don't try to deny it. That thing with the toaster. But she persisted. What did you thi "So what did you think of it?
What did you think? That's the point. But you could describe it as It sounded so absurd. You know. I wouldn't have thought he had a smell. She had never seen him so animated. Grease-soaked linen, that's the way to do it. People who are reading Kant have a special aroma.
He looked at her, and now all the excitement was gone. If you're persistent. What was he doing? He had already told her far too much. Actually, I can sum it up in a couple of words. People stink. View all 35 comments. Jul 05, Duane rated it really liked it Shelves: book-challenge , reviewed-books , german , rated-books , historical-fiction , guardian , horror.
If I could only have one word to describe this novel it would have to be "original". What an idea, what a concept Suskind came up with for this story, for this character. Fortunately I have more words available and I have to use them. Words like creepy, disgusting, sick, vile, etc. It's the story of a serial killer in 18th century France.
The victims - young girls, virgins. Predictable you say, well not so much. Sherlock Holmes would have struggled solving this case I believe. Very well wri If I could only have one word to describe this novel it would have to be "original".
Very well written, but difficult to read in some parts. View all 8 comments. This was dark but enjoyable. The story follows Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, a poor soul born in a fish market and abandoned by his mother. His early life is in poverty and as an orphan, and he soon recognizes he has a gift for scent. As Grenouille grows into adolescence and young adulthood, he develops the talent for scent, scent identification, and longs to master creating perfumes. Yet, he is cold, distant, and quite possibly mentally unstable.
Due to his upbringing, he lacked attachment to other This was dark but enjoyable. His quest takes him under the tutelage of a master perfume-maker, Baldini. He learns the fine art of chemistry, lab work, and making perfumes. Grenouille, who is compared to a blood-drinking tick throughout the book, takes a more serious approach to creating the perfect scent he desires.
His lack of emotional closeness to people enabled to murder young girls in order to capture their scent to be used in his perfumes. Charlotte Bronte. Frankenstein, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Ella Minnow Pea.
Monster, She Wrote. Lucky Jim. Kingsley Amis. The Picture of Dorian Gray. The Hound of the Baskervilles. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Hotel Du Lac. Anita Brookner. The Witches of Eastwick. The Go-Between. Shirley Jackson. Mary Shelley. Cold Comfort Farm.
Stella Gibbons. Double Indemnity. James M. Chuck Palahniuk. London Fields. High Fidelity TV Tie-in. The Death of the Heart. Elizabeth Bowen. Under the Net. Iris Murdoch. The Sea, the Sea. Robert Louis Stevenson.
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