Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Ratings215
Average rating3.9
*Das Parfum*, a contemporary novel, which at first sight stands out for the extensive and astonishing descriptions it contains, hides behind it the story of a young man who lives submerged in the misery of his own being due to his inability to love and the profound social and family rejection that has accompanied him throughout his life. The existential emptiness, the craving for power, the loneliness, the identity problem of the subject and many other aspects emerge from the work in a discreet but at the same time shocking way, where in any case it is not difficult to end up feeling.
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Note: added for the request of a book where it is difficult to distinguish fiction from reality.
This was one of the most clever tales I've had the fortune of reading - but also one of the most contrived.
From the very beginning, the author makes it clear that Grenouille, the antagonist, is nothing to root for - he has no semblance of a conscience, for starters. And while you want to explore such an original character further (a person with a supernatural sense of smell), his character development is diluted in favor of showing the reader how perfumes are made, imitated, and even reverse-engineered - which tends to get on your nerves after a while.
If you can stand a linear narrative, and don't mind reading up on a completely new subject (because let's be honest - who has ever read up on how, exactly, the smell of jasmine flowers is imbibed through oils?), then this book is a must read. The plot idea alone is worthy of praise - the plot is just icing on the cake.
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