Goodreads | Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (Paperback)

Anca rated it:

(review of isbn 0140120831)

07/19/08

bookshelves: cu-film, favoritele-mele, in-vacanta, vacanta-2008

Read in July, 2008

recommended to Anca by: the_movie

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Though this is one of my favourites, this one didn't give me the chills I like to have will reading a scene and make me name a book "my fav". Still, it had something else.
Basically, I finally found a book with a plot that makes me forget about what time is it, what am i going to read next, whether i like it not; the type of book I used to read when I was young. When I was young I use to devorate books, I was less organised, read in a jumble and with that passion of a kid discovering ...more Though this is one of my favourites, this one didn't give me the chills I like to have will reading a scene and make me name a book "my fav". Still, it had something else.
Basically, I finally found a book with a plot that makes me forget about what time is it, what am i going to read next, whether i like it not; the type of book I used to read when I was young. When I was young I use to devorate books, I was less organised, read in a jumble and with that passion of a kid discovering reading. I used to love plots and characters, get attached more, that's why I remember characters I read about when I was young clearly than those in books read recently. And I find harder books I love because I'm more pretentious now, I want the writing to be good-to-excelent, I want good plots, well-built characters etc. I didn't want that when I was young, I wanted a book to meet my preferences, have no sex scenes:)), drive me in the plot and that was pretty much all. :D

OK.Let's cut to the chase now. I get boring.

Suskind made me want Jean to make that awesome perfume even if he was in arrest. But he also made me want to make Richis know that he's in the stable!, be careful, don't be so relaxed! and that's silly, and not the point of the book.

When Jean gets to the part he takes that detour to the cave, I was a little pissed. I couldn't wait for him to get to Grasse. I was wrong, though. The cave passage was brilliant, esspecially the part with the lavender palace and the library with books about smell. I think that was my favourite passage.

I didn't think Jean will be so disturbed about his lack of smell or personal fragrance, since he had that amazing gift. It turned out that was the most important thing. Grenouile stumbled at this point: couldn't get who he was, his personality and this led to his disaster, to that massive disgust for the hole world and wish to die.

As for the writing, good job here too. The smells were sometimes out of the book, Paris was so stinky even I could smell it! Then, it was clear Suskind was well-informed about the perfumes' world. On my edition of book, it said the years spent in Aixen-Provences, 1968-1974, were the years he learned about the techniques of making fragrances. I was absorbed by their detailed description. Not at all boring; by contrary, it made you pay peculiar interest. I bet it's Suskind talent, not my interest in the perfume industry.

The victims of Jean-Baptiste's obsession are so coldly 'killed' by the author, you don't even feel sorry for them. And I'm not sure that's a good thing. Of course, for the book it's excellent-it perfectly describes the inhuman nature of Grenouille that justifies his lack of interest for the money he could get with his power [thank God it didn't go that way! would have been boring.], the indiference for the unjustice he was bearing at the perfumerie in Grasse and in Paris, the patience and obedience he endured everything.

A good book. Made me think what power has over people the most neglected sence in the race for power. For no reason the most neglected because, as he said in his book, the fragrances cannot be avoided-you have to breath-they enter you system along with the subtance you need for survival.

" Desigur, mirosul omenesc, in sine, nu exista, dupa cum nu exista, in sine, chipul de om. Fiecare mirosea altfel, nimeni nu stia asta mai bine decit Grenouille, care cunostea mii si mii de mirosuri personale si era in stare sa deosebeasca datorita lor oamenii inca de la nastere. Si totusi- exista o temelie comuna mirosului omenesc, una destul de simpla, de altfel: ceva transpirat-unsuros,acru-brinzos, un fundament tematic in general destul de respingator, dar care parea lipit de toti oamenii; abia deasupra ei se individualizau, cu finete, norisorii vreunei aure personale."

"Voia sa fie omnipotentul Dumnezeu al miresmelor, asa cum era in fanteziile sale; de data aceasta insa, intr-o lume reala si pentru oameni reali. Stia ca ii sta in putere. Fiindca oamenii ar fi putut inchide ochii la maretie, grozavie, chiar frumusete, si-ar fi astupat la nevoie urechile, sa nu mai auda melodii sau cuvinte ametitoare. Dar de mireasma nu era chip de ferire. Caci ea era geamana respirarii. Patrundeau impreuna launtrul omului si nimeni nu avea cum sa se apere, daca voia sa traiasca. Mireasma patrundea drept in inima, deslusind acolo definitiv inclinatia de dispret, placerea de sila, dragostea de ura. Cine devenea stapin peste miresme, stapinea si inimile oamenilor."

-cap. 32, in Romanian...less

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Federica rated it:

(review of isbn 0140120831)

06/19/08

bookshelves: favourite-books

Read in June, 2008

recommended to Federica by: Giorgio

Have you ever recognized something by the smell of it without even looking at the object in question? Has ever a particular smell made you recollect some episode in the distant past or a person you have met long time before? I have to admit that I have always been very sensitive to perfumes, my sense of smell is pretty highly-developed and Grenouille, the main character in Patrick Süskind's book “Das Parfum”, made me even more aware of the power of perfumes.

Grenouille knows the world a...more Have you ever recognized something by the smell of it without even looking at the object in question? Has ever a particular smell made you recollect some episode in the distant past or a person you have met long time before? I have to admit that I have always been very sensitive to perfumes, my sense of smell is pretty highly-developed and Grenouille, the main character in Patrick Süskind's book “Das Parfum”, made me even more aware of the power of perfumes.

Grenouille knows the world and the people around him only by their smell and loves and hates places and human beings just according to it. After many adventures and a life dedicated to the improvement of his life conditions - helped by his incredible sense of smell (he becomes the apprentice of a formerly famous perfume maker who lost his intuition for new good perfumes and Grenouille helps him to bring back the shop to the glory of the past) - he realizes that he doesn't like people and decides to go and live an isolated life in a cavern where he suddenly discovers he doesn't have a smell of his own. This leads him to an identity crisis and in a few seconds his enchanted world only made of scents falls into pieces and he suddenly sees the real world as a place where to escape and find his own identity, and this is where the quest for the creation of his own smell begins.

He goes to Grasse and starts working at a perfume shop where he creates his own smell. As soon as he finds his identity he falls in love with the smell of a little girl Laure Richis who becomes his obsession. When the girl is 15 he kills her (in order to keep the good quality of her smell she has to be still a virgin) takes her essence and creates the perfume he will wear as it is his own one. This perfume has an incredible power, it makes people love madly the person wearing it. That is why after having been caught and condemned to death, Greanouille is set free by the same people who accused him and also from the father of Laure Richis himself.

Nevertheless, the same element that saved Grenouille his life, Laure's smell, ends up to be the reason of his death. Back in Paris Grenouille realized that he doesn't like to be loved and he cannot love anybody, he then pours all the perfume made with Laure's smell on himself (in an attempt to erase his new identity which has made him loved and popular with the people around him) and immediately the crowd goes crazy with love and in an access of love and passion tears him apart and cannibalizes his body.

In my account of the novel I have not made any reference to the murders except for Laure's one, which is to be narrated as it is very important for the consequences it has on the story. I am aware that a lot of emphasis has been put on the killings of the many young girls performed by Grenouille in many other reviews, but according to me the killings are not so relevant. It is the incredible description of smells that is relevant. We end up smelling the world in the same way Grenouille does. The smell becomes suddenly the primary sense – even more important than sight – it is the sense that allows us to get to know the characters of the novel and the settings of the different episodes in Grenouille's life. The smell becomes the core of things and the core of people, the smell becomes identity and Grenouille does not have one.

To me the entire novel narrates the attempts of Grenouille to fill his immense sense of lack taking form other people's lives. Taking away the smell from other people and pouring it down on himself Grenouille tries to get what he has never had in life - love, respect, consideration, importance, etc. - an identity, but after a long and meticulous quest for the perfect smell (perfect identity) he realizes that he is still not happy with what he has achieved because he still does not know who he is and what he wants. To me this amazing and almost surrealistic novel points out that it is only in ourself that we have to find the resources and the energy to understand who we really are and what we want from life because if we look for those things in other people's lives we will end up making mistakes and not being happy....less

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Patrick rated it:

(review of isbn 0375725849)

04/11/08

Read in November, 2006

recommends it for: anyone willing to enjoy something...different

This book was different and brilliant. The story of an orphaned boy born without a scent, but with an incredibly refined sense of smell, the book drags a bit in parts, but the ends justify the means, in more ways than one.

All things considered, the book is a valentine to the beauty, elegance, and power of smell. A truly underrated sense, Suskind reminds the reader of just how powerful an effect our sense of smell can have. Although Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (one of the great names in contempo...more This book was different and brilliant. The story of an orphaned boy born without a scent, but with an incredibly refined sense of smell, the book drags a bit in parts, but the ends justify the means, in more ways than one.

All things considered, the book is a valentine to the beauty, elegance, and power of smell. A truly underrated sense, Suskind reminds the reader of just how powerful an effect our sense of smell can have. Although Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (one of the great names in contemporary fiction)'s amazing sense of smell seems the sort of thing that is unquantifiable in most any medium, Suskind makes it work perfectly. His vivid descriptions almost evoke the smells he is describing into reality, and his characterization of Grenouille is nothing short of perfect.

Grenouille is, of course, an abhorrent, vicious, loathsome character, and Suskind takes great pains to point this out literally at various intervals throughout the story. However, despite his actions and the way he is described, Suskind cleverly says one thing and shows another, presenting Grenouille as the unquestioned hero of the story, allowing him to come across as, at the very least, sympathetic (if not pitiable), and at most, a man whose single-minded drives and desires leads to the reader outright rooting for him to succeed in his horrific acts.

As the subtitle of the book is 'The Story of a Murderer', I don't think it gives anything away to say that the book climaxes in the brutal murders of 25 women that Grenouille uses to create the most perfect smelling perfume the world has ever known. Despite all the difficulties Grenouille encounters, all the opposition and roadblocks (and it's indisputably true that Grenouille was dealt a bad hand in life), he still takes his lumps admirably and never wavers from his pursuit of his dream, which, at its heart, is something I think everyone aspires to be able to do. Furthermore, when Grenouille finally does achieve his dream, he is heartbroken to discover that, after everything, it was not what he'd envisioned. Sadly, I think that is something people can relate to as well. And so it is that the story of a murderer ends up as something everyone can relate to.

One of the ways Suskind is able to so perfectly pull this off is to disassociate Grenouille from these abhorrent acts. Throughout the story, we see only Grenouille striving and working hard to achieve his goal. Then, at the cusp of putting it into motion, the story suddenly changes perspective from the actions of Grenouille to their aftermath and the perspective of the local townspeople. It's a jarring and effective method that allows the reader to still root for Grenouille, as they still are very much aware that Grenouille is responsible for these horrific actions, but disassociates him from the brutality of them by only speaking of them in an offhand manner (i.e. the chaos they create, rather than the actual detailed acts themselves).

All that said, the end of the book is insane, but wonderfully so. It's completely out of left field and it's almost hard to accept that what is happening is real and not some sort of dream (which it isn't). The reader is left waiting for the moment when Grenouille opens his eyes and we're told what really happened, but it never comes. Compared to the climax, the end of the story almost makes perfect sense, when in any other story it would be seen as equally insane, if not more so. But don't let it detract you from reading the book. It's true, you'll either love it or hate it, but no matter what you'll be unable to say it wasn't worthwhile....less

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Martine rated it:

(review of isbn 0140120831)

02/02/08

bookshelves: continental-european, crime, film, historical-fiction, magic-realism, modern-fiction

Read in January, 2006

A cross between The Silence of the Lambs and a period drama. That's how I would describe Perfume, the great German classic of the 1980s. Basically, it's an eighteenth-century murder story, except that it doesn't focus on the victims and the hunt for the killer, but rather emphasises the life and times of the murderer, who is an unusual protagonist to say the least.

Perfume tells the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, an eighteenth-century Parisian with a unique gift: a pr...more A cross between The Silence of the Lambs and a period drama. That's how I would describe Perfume, the great German classic of the 1980s. Basically, it's an eighteenth-century murder story, except that it doesn't focus on the victims and the hunt for the killer, but rather emphasises the life and times of the murderer, who is an unusual protagonist to say the least.

Perfume tells the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, an eighteenth-century Parisian with a unique gift: a prodigiously well-developed olfactory sense which allows him to recognise pretty much any scent or smell. After a childhood full of hardship, he is apprenticed to a perfumier who teaches him all he knows about distilling smells. Unbeknownst to the perfumier, however, Grenouille isn't in it for the fashionable perfumes. Rather than extracting scents from flowers and petals, he wishes to extract smells from living objects -- more specifically, from the beautiful virgins he comes across every now and then, who smell like heaven to him. And so he plies his trade, hoping to learn that elusive trick which will enable him to trap the scents of the lovely young ladies he covets from afar, so that he can create the perfume he really wants -- essence of maiden.

Perfume is a riveting look into the mind of an obsessed man -- a murderer whose immorality and eccentricity put him on a par with Thomas Harris' unforgettable serial killers. As unlikeable and depraved as Grenouille is, you almost sympathise with him. He may be a monomaniac, but his perseverance and creativity and the originality of his quest are such you almost wish him to succeed, or at least to see how far he will get before he gets caught. Suskind does such a great job describing his obsession that you simply keep turning the pages, waiting to see what fate has in store for this horrible yet ever so original murderer.

The writing on display is beautiful. A tremendous lot of research went into Perfume, and it shows. The descriptions of the various perfume-making techniques are rich, detailed and thoroughly impressive. Suskind frequently devotes whole pages to explanations of parfumiers' secrets; it is testimony to the quality of his writing that they never get tedious. He also does a marvellous job evoking the odours of Grenouille's world and the way in which they affect him. With its many powerful descriptions of odours (both pleasant and unpleasant), the book is a veritable smellscape which makes you increasingly aware of the smells surrounding you. However, it is not without its problems. The middle chapters are a bit of a drag and the ending is so over the top that many readers will be put off by it. I was a bit put off by it myself, yet I can see why Suskind went for the grotesque touch. For all its scientific detail, Perfume is essentially a fairy tale, and anything but a strange ending would have been a betrayal. It's weird, but if you read the story as if it were fairy tale, the ending makes sense. It's a fairy tale with a fairy-tale ending, and then some.
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Laura rated it:

(review of isbn 0140120831)

04/02/08

bookshelves: fantasy, fiction, history

Read in April, 2008

I am convinced that this is what happens when a white guy does what magic realism writers do. Magic realism is generally a spanish-language thing, I think-- or this is what I have been told-- but Suskind here does something very similar to that. The ending, especially, has the kind of mood and behaves the way I expect a book of magic realism to feel and to behave.
I liked it. It was highly unusual. I wouldn't say that it's 'a fable of criminal genius', like the front cover says, or a 'horror ta...more I am convinced that this is what happens when a white guy does what magic realism writers do. Magic realism is generally a spanish-language thing, I think-- or this is what I have been told-- but Suskind here does something very similar to that. The ending, especially, has the kind of mood and behaves the way I expect a book of magic realism to feel and to behave.
I liked it. It was highly unusual. I wouldn't say that it's 'a fable of criminal genius', like the front cover says, or a 'horror tale,' as the back cover does. Most of the book doesn't concern criminality. It's more about obsession, inhumanity, the insanity of the truly-alone, and the wickedness of excess, I think, than it is about crime. Crime is what Grenouille does to achieve the realization of his obsession.
On a writerly level, the book's description of the power of smell is AMAZING. There is NO OTHER BOOK which handles the concept of smell this well. I have never read another book which came close. In fact, after reading this one, most other descriptions of smell seem flat. The chief stone in the crown of this book is Suskind's ability to write about scent.
If I could give this a 3.5, I would. The only reason I'm withholding a four is out of personal preference. I simply don't enjoy so much reading books where people sniff the genitals of dead virgin girls. I'm sure the revulsion I reacted with was designed by the author, and he does indeed inspire some pretty good revulsion. But I bet there are those who are gleefully revolted, and these would be the people who adore this book-- I, however, was not. I was just filled with a queasy revulsion, is all. And that's that. I have a history of not appreciating being revolted. It's just me.
The book is filled with flat caricature characters but this is ON PURPOSE, and it works to achieve an intended effect. What I liked best about this story was the way it was told like a real tale-- like many other magic realism stories are. It was told like a reported tale, and this sense-- the sense that a hunched old man is telling you this absurd and disgusting story in front of a fire on a cold night-- is, I think, what really makes the tale. The plot plays out like an old orally-recounted quest tale, and all the characters are those friendly old hateful archetypes you get in a spoken story-- the priest, the nervous charlatan businessman, the rich bourgeoisie merchant. There are actually remarkably few characters-- indeed, in the last twenty chapters there is nearly no dialog whatsoever. But it works, because of the tone.
If you want to read a story about a disgusting and obsessed and craven little man, read the book. If you don't, don't. No one will detest this book, I think, unless they're being a literal ass who can't stand a touch of magic realism. If you want a story full of historical fact about the eighteenth century, you might feel let down. There's an extraordinary amount of detail about the perfumery business, but that's about it. But if you want to be disgusted, you enjoy a little suspension of reality, and you don't mind carrying around a book with a massive naked woman on the cover, then read it. It's really all up to you-- the book's definitely written well enough to grab anyone's attention....less

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أروى rated it:

(review of isbn 0140120831)

12/09/07

Read in January, 2007

قرأته بالعربية
(العطر..قصة قاتل)

مذ قرأت هذه الرواية وأنا أشعر أن حاسة جديدة لدي قد تيقظت إلى أقصى مدى ..

ولعلي منذ زمن مولعة بذلك الأثر الساحر المخفي المربك لمجرد "رائحة جميلة"..

دعوني أبدأ قصة هذا الكتاب من البداية..!

كنت أضع هذه الرواية ضمن قائمة طويلة من الكتب...more

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Ferina rated it:

(review of isbn 979397205X)

06/08/08

bookshelves: fiction, mystery-thriller

Read in March, 2006

Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, lahir di warung ikan, dari rahim seorang wanita yang akhirnya dihukum mati karena dianggap sengaja membunuh anak-anaknya yang lain. Jadilah Grenouille anak yatim piatu. Grenouille selalu berganti-ganti ibu susu karena tidak ada yang tahan dengan dirinya. Penyebabnya, selain karena nafsu minumnya yang besar, juga karena ia dilahirkan tanpa bau badan, tanpa bau khas bayi, khas manusia. Para ibu susu itu menganggap Grenouille sebagai anak yang aneh, monster. Sampai akhirny...more Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, lahir di warung ikan, dari rahim seorang wanita yang akhirnya dihukum mati karena dianggap sengaja membunuh anak-anaknya yang lain. Jadilah Grenouille anak yatim piatu. Grenouille selalu berganti-ganti ibu susu karena tidak ada yang tahan dengan dirinya. Penyebabnya, selain karena nafsu minumnya yang besar, juga karena ia dilahirkan tanpa bau badan, tanpa bau khas bayi, khas manusia. Para ibu susu itu menganggap Grenouille sebagai anak yang aneh, monster. Sampai akhirnya, Grenouille dibawa oleh pendeta gereja ke rumah seorang wanita yang tidak memiliki indera penciuman karena hidungnya rusak dipukul, bernama Madam Gaillard.

Di rumah Madam Gaillard inilah Grenouille belajar mengenal benda-benda di sekitarnya, bukan berdasarkan nama-nama, tapi dengan memakai penciumannya. Ya, Grenouille dikarunia bakat penciuman yang luar biasa.

Sampai akhirnya ia merantau pun, ia belajar mengenal arah dengan mengandalkan penciumannya. Penciumannya pula yang mengantarkan Grenouille ke rumah seorang pembuat parfum yang hampir bangkrut, Baldini. Di sini dengan suka rela, Grenouille membantu Baldini, sekaligus diam-diam menyerap semua ilmu Baldini. Dan Baldini sendiri, akhirnya menjadi bangkit kembali. Parfum racikan Grenouille menjadi terkenal di mana-mana.

Selepas dari tempat Baldini, Grenouille ‘merantau’ lagi, ia ingin menemukan cara penyulingan demi mendapat formula untuk parfum yang selama ini mengendap di kepalanya, yaitu parfum aroma ‘perawan’. Mulailah serangkaian pembunuhan terhadap 25 gadis remaja, semua tewas dengan cara yang aneh.

Sekilas, akan terkesan kalau tokoh Grenouille adalah seorang psikopat, pembunuh berdarah dingin, atau bahkan seperti monster. Tapi, sebenarnya tokoh Grenouille adalah seorang tokoh yang mandiri. Terbiasa hidup dalam tatapan aneh orang-orang di sekitarnya membuat ia juga tidak tahu apa namanya cinta. Grenouille sendiri adalah sosok yang cerdas, dan mampu mempengaruhi orang lain.

Novel ini adalah kisah perjalanan hidup Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. Ritme di novel ini bisa dibilang naik-turun. Ada sedikit ketengangan di awal, kemudian turun lagi, sampai bisa merasa bosan karena datarnya cerita, lalu di bagian akhirnya mulai menanjak lagi. Atau mungkin bisa juga jadi penasaran menunggu kapan cerita pembunuhan 25 gadis perawan itu tiba.

Sebenarnya kisah pembunuhannya sendiri tidak disajikan dalam porsi yang banyak, malah terkesan singkat. Jadi, jangan berharap kisah pembunuhan yang berdarah-darah, karena semua itu dilakukan dengan cara yang ‘dingin’, a la Jean-Baptiste Grenouille.
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Jacob rated it:

(review of isbn 0375725849)

01/05/08

This book was lent to me by a friend. This friend was really a great writer and kind of a genius but also an asshole. I should have known about this friend. Her name means sadness and she carried herself either in awkwardness or fierceness or hipper than you savagery or a combination of all of those or none of them and I’m just constructing a mythic version of her. Her writing was amazing. It was zany, rich, violent and grotesque. It would reach down into intense emotional depths and then get ...more This book was lent to me by a friend. This friend was really a great writer and kind of a genius but also an asshole. I should have known about this friend. Her name means sadness and she carried herself either in awkwardness or fierceness or hipper than you savagery or a combination of all of those or none of them and I’m just constructing a mythic version of her. Her writing was amazing. It was zany, rich, violent and grotesque. It would reach down into intense emotional depths and then get completely silly but even that was colored with a sort of darkness that was irrepressible. But that friend and I had a falling out, which involved a writing project a mutual friend of ours was putting together, of all things to cause a falling out but I guess some of us are more serious about some subjects than others, that led to a poisonous blog entry that she wrote on myspace and then there was a drunken party where she head-butted me in the nose and then she vanished and by vanished I mean moved to Ohio at which point we were no longer friends and I never got to return the book. To be fair, about the whole head-butt thing, according to several people at the party not only did I egg her on and say repeatedly, go ahead, do it, go ahead, but she also tried once and missed, and I being the genius I was at the time, still courted danger like a sucker. When her head did connect my nose made a crunching noise. I think it was broken and it hurt for a long time afterwards but again it was kind of my fault.

I held off on reading Perfume for months and months partially because of my hurt nose and partially because it looked like a cheesy piece of shit. Then I read it and I read it quickly. It was funny, romantic, revolting, and very something I would like and I liked it. At dinner at my apartment one night, I lent it to a friend of my girlfriend. That girl never returned the book but as far as I know she hasn't read it. My girlfriend and I broke up and her and the friend are no longer friends. This makes me think that Perfume, or at least this copy of it, has some weird mojo. Well people, I will say this, if a really little, partially Jewish, partially hip, girl, with red hair, and a big sexy nose, tries to lend you a battered copy of Perfume, think twice about it. Say, to yourself, Do I want my relationships to be tested? Do I want to be head-butted?
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Tedb0t rated it:

(review of isbn 0375725849)

05/29/08

bookshelves: modernfiction, recommended

Read in January, 2007

recommended to Tedb0t by: someone (?) via Matt
recommends it for: people who eschew irritating film adaptations

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. the book" argument because I'm not interested in making people's decisions for them, even though I'm strongly opinionated about the subject. But this is a case where I have to speak out. Süskind has created here a work of literary art in prose, and I take that seriously. I admire lots of books but I wouldn't say this about any old novel. The movie "P...more

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Madeline rated it:

(review of isbn 0140120831)

05/28/08

bookshelves: the-list

Creepy, amazing, beautifully written, with another dose of creepy.

Perfume is the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, who is born into absolute poverty, but is gifted with an extraordinary sense of smell. The book describes his life, beginning with his birth in a fish market (his mother gives birth to him under her fish stall and then leaves him there) to his totally bizarre death. In between, Grenouille becomes obsessed with preserving scents - human scents in particular, because Greno...more

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Tippi rated it:

(review of isbn 0140120831)

06/28/08

Read in June, 2008

recommends it for: horror/fantasy fans

Grenouille is born in Paris in the early 18th century, an inhuman, amoral creature with an extraordinary sense of smell, but with no odor of his own.

He is the Mozart of scent, and frustrated by his inability to express all the genius he has within him; preserving the aroma of glass, for example, is initially beyond his scope. So he travels to the south of France in search of advanced methods of isolating certain aromas.

Along the way, he takes a seven-year detour to live inside a cave, fa...more

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will rated it:

(review of isbn 0375725849)

03/27/08

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer - Patrick Suskind

I started this book with a lot of fear. It is one of Maria's favourites and so there was a certain amount of pressure involved in the reading of it. I hated the first three pages - really hated. I don't know if it was the fear or I just didn't get into it but...well, it just didn't seem to be my thing. And then, suddenly it took off.

I don't like talking too much about books. They are personal things, they either work for you or don't. If ...more

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La Petite added it (review of isbn 0140120831)

06/14/08

bookshelves: frenchie_stuff, sucked

Read in June, 2008

recommends it for: People Who Don't Read While Eating

I only finished this book for 2 reasons, 1)my brother recently paid for it for me when we were travelling in German Switzwerland because I lost my ATM card, and 2) to review it on this (suddenly addictive) site.

So, we have here a German author who, from page 1, likes to beat us over the head with nouns: "streets ... of manure ... courtyards of urine ... rat droppings ... spoiled cabbage and mutton fat .... greasy sheets, damp featherbeads .... congealed blood." Is this German creat...more

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Uwi rated it:

(review of isbn 0140120831)

09/06/07

Pembunuhan berantai yang misterius. Dua puluh lima gadis perawan tewas mengenaskan. Pakaian beserta rambut dan kulit kepala mereka hilang. Tubuh mereka benar-benar layu, seolah tak pernah hidup sebelumnya. Seakan seluruh daya hidup yang pernah ada telah terisap tak bersisa. Semua pembunuhan identik. Dilakukan dengan amat rapi dan terencana. Masterpiece seorang seniman genius.

Jean-Baptiste Grenouille lahir tanpa bau tubuh namun memiliki indra penciuman yang luar biasa. Ia mampu memilah-milah ...more

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-syl- rated it:

(review of isbn 0140120831)

05/25/08

bookshelves: fiction

Read in May, 2008

recommended to -syl- by: Roos

Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, terlahir tanpa bau badan, namun memiliki kepekaan terhadap aroma disekelilingnya. Hidungnya yang super tajam mampu mengendus bau dan mengenali benda dari aroma yang dikeluarkan oleh benda tersebut bahkan dari jarak jauh.

Kejeniusan Grenouille membuatnya menjadi pembuat parfum yang sangat hebat. Tapi dia merasa tercekik oleh kenyataan bahwa dirinya tak mempunyai aroma tubuh, kemana-mana dia pergi tak ada orang yang menyadari karena tubuhnya tak mengeluarkan bau badan....more

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Jennifer rated it:

(review of isbn 0140120831)

02/02/08

Read in August, 2004

recommended to Jennifer by: Amazon.com

I was on Amazon.com and saw that they would recommend books for me if I typed in a book that I liked. So I typed in Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins and Amazon came back with Perfume: The story of a Murderer. Seriously, Amazon? The only thing these books had in common was the word "perfume." I normally don't like murder mysteries, and was about to dismiss this recommendation when I read that it was Kurt Cobain's favorite book and it was on his nightstand when he died. Hmmm? Kurt...more

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Don't rated it:

(review of isbn 0140120831)

10/23/07

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in October, 2007

recommends it for: Aspiring monsters

I read the book because I loved the movie beyond any reason. If I had to describe the movie in a single word, that would would be 'lush',

Lush: # Extremely pleasing to the senses: a lush scent; lush fruit; the lush sounds of an orchestra.
# Voluptuous or sensual.
1. drunkard; alcoholic; sot.
2. intoxicating liquor.

When I watched the movie I was with a friend who was of no real consequence and in a small uncrowded theater and I had no idea what it was about - at first I assumed it was a chick ...more

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (Paperback)

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