#BookReview PERFUME by PATRICK SUSKIND #20BooksOfSummer

ABOUT THE BOOK

An acclaimed bestseller and international sensation, Patrick Suskind’s classic novel provokes a terrifying examination of what happens when one man’s indulgence in his greatest passion—his sense of smell—leads to murder.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 brilliance, Perfume is a hauntingly powerful tale of murder and sensual depravity.

MY REVIEW

What a weird yet wonderful book!! A mix of historical & fantasy, it’s disturbing and dark but leaves you with mixed feelings about the main character Grenouille!

He starts life in the most awful of situations – passed from one person to the next, he ends up happy in the isolation and develops an extraordinary sense of smell. His main drive each day is to search out new scents to keep him enthused with life, but he is also plagued by the fact that he emits no smell which leads him further into isolation and avoiding all human contact. When he is around people he finds himself drawn to the perfume shops where he becomes an apprentice and staggers the owner with his ability to replicate the scents of others, but create ones even better.

It’s just the levels he goes to find certain scents are what makes him disturbing and macabre. The levels of pleasure he finds in the act of obtaining the scents! It is not pleasant for the rest of us!!

But his scents gain him notoriety and power and he revels in the adulation bestowed upon – they say power corrupts, and that is clear for Grenouille! It’s an intoxicating story with a very grizzly ending! I loved it!!

★★★★

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