In the slums of eighteenth-century France, the infant Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born with one sublime gift — an 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" — the scent of a beautiful young virgin. Told with dazzling narrative brillance, Perfume is a hauntingly powerful tale of murder and sensual depravity.
Spoiler-free review
My expectations were high with this book, having heard so much about it from friends who had already read this book and, of course, the controversy about the story.
The writing was extraordinary. The choice of words was versatile and a little old-fashioned (at least the German version is), but this fits the story perfectly, since it is set in the 18th century. It is informative, it talks a lot about perfumes and the origin of certain smells and how to capture them to make them into a perfume.
The story itself is basically a coming-of-age story concerning Jean-Baptiste Grenouille who has had an awful childhood and has been rejected and disrespected all his life. The author shows us how the things that have been done to him contribute to his murderous mind and bad character, but also gives insights into the mind of a first-class psychopath.
Patrick Süskind made his characters believable. Every single one that is mentioned more than two times has their own backstory and character and traits that are unique to them. And even though Grenouille isn't a character that the audience is supposed to like, Süskind gets the reader to follow the story even though disliking the main character (that the whole story evolves around, I may remind you!) so much.
When gruesome things start to happen in this book, though, there aren't many detailed descriptions. Having watched the film trailer I would've expected the murders to be described expilcitly. Still, the unexpected turning in the end and the unlikeliness of the ending gave a twist to this book that I couldn't have imagined.
I have read this book for the #2016ClassicsChallenge.
WHEN I Discovered This Classic
I discovered this classic when I was getting into horror fiction, but I chose to read it because of the many positive reviews about it despite its gruesomeness.
WHY I Chose to Read It
I chose to read it because I am of the opinion that I haven't read as many German classics as I should have as of now.
WHAT Makes It A Classic
Definitely the language. The voice is perfectly in-tone with the setting. It sounds just like Hermann Hesse at his peak.
WHAT I Thought of This Classic
Read this review - I loved it!
WILL It Stay A Classic
Yes, I think so - the style of writing are (as I have already mentioned, I guess) extraordinary and the amount of research that the author went through to create such an awesome story must have been enormous.
WHO I’d Recommend It To
Not the faint of heart, actually. There are many things that grossed me out about this book, but since I am into such things that was a plus for me. I'd recommend it to people who like to be surprised and people who enjoy some well-described characters and long-term observation of one character in particular.
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