Perfume The Story of a Murderer

From the book blurb

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 frest-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 brilliance, Perfume is a hauntingly powerful tale of murder and sensual depravity

Author

From 1968-1974 he studied medieval and modern history in Munich and Aix-en-Provence. In the '80s he worked as a screenwriter, for Kir Royal and Monaco Franze among others.

After spending the 1970s writing what he has characterized as “short unpublished prose pieces and longer un-produced screenplays”, Patrick Süskind was catapulted to fame in the 1980s by the monodrama Der Kontrabass [The Double Bass, 1981], which became an instant success and a favorite of the German stage. In 1985 his status as literary wunderkind was confirmed with the publication of the novel Das Parfüm. Die Geschichte eines Mörders [Perfume: The Story of a Murderer], which quickly topped the European best-seller list and eventually sold millions of copies worldwide.

What I think

A story of passion and how passion can drive people crazy.

Grenouille, an orphan who has the best nose in Paris… who can smell anything and everything. But, the tragedy is he doesn’t have an odor. The story is all about his quest to make the best smelling perfume for himself that could drive people crazy for him.

The plot is dark, grave rather. It lets shrills pass through our body and at the same time leaves us in awe. The book fairly describes passion, identity crisis, loneliness, moral and family values.

There are a few instances which are over-explained. Some that are redundant. They hinder the flow. But, the unconventional storyline and a psycho as protagonist is different. The treatment of the story is unique. It takes us back to 18^th century France.

The feather in the hat is the unexpected end. It will leave you speechless.

In short

The scent that this perfume leave lingers in the air for a long time.

Try out this perfume!

Rating

3.5/5