Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Ratings222
Average rating3.9
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.
The writing is exquisite. The plot though. Second half drags quite a bit & tested my patience. The language kept me going I guess. Also as someone whose olfactory functions are majorly impaired by severe allergy, the plot was a bit too much of a stretch for me, may be.
3.5. Why Goodreads doesn't allow for non-whole ratings is beyond me. There's so much that lies between a 3 & a 4.
I think it would have been more enjoyable if it had been shorter. There were lots of times I felt it dragged on a bit.
Interesting premise, but I didn't really need such in depth info about making perfume. 3 stars because I like the idea and the parts where there is actual action going on.
I- this ending has me so so so confused and concerned for the author HAHAHA but it was actually really good and creative in a twisted way iykwm.
It's so so messed up but also really gripping and impossible to not read all the way through.
nice experience!!
This has been on my list for a while and I'm so happy that I made it a priority. I enjoyed this book quite a lot.
A clear sign of a really great book is when suggesting it resembles a drug deal. With other books you praise the character development, the plot, the use of language, the deeper meaning, but with something as intoxicating as the Perfume by Patrick Süskind, you're reduced to oh man, it's fu***** great, trust me, you have to try it, probably with a crazy look that would make your mother worry about the kind of things you do in your spare time.
link to full review
it was something different. don't really know what to say other than i'd like to smell the perfume Grenouille made.
This book will haunt me deeply for a long time. This book in equal measures disgusted and fascinated me. The descriptions of scent in this novel were so intoxicating and visceral and I loved the originality of using the sense of smell as the frame through which to feed through the story. I loved how when reading this book it had elements of Lolita and Frankenstein, both books I really enjoyed! This book is dark and at times unnerving but I loved the skill of Suskind's writing that he could evoke uneasiness and morbid fascination from his readers. I hungrily devoured this book within two days and found it such an easy and gripping read. I can understand how people might have found the ending a slightly exaggerated ending and the beginning rather slow. However I felt the book was a really well fleshed out story that explained the character and motives of Grenouille properly. A perfectly filled in plot that defies a genre. A guilty yet indulgent read for me. I would highly recommend!
More like 3.5???
I really don't know how I feel about this book. I liked it so much and kind of hated it at the same time. But it was a decent and very dark book.
3.5*
Perfume, en pocas palabras, es la historia de un hombre sin escencia que tiene un gusto profundo por las escéncias del mundo.
Este libro no fue de mis favoritos, pero eso no le quita lo bien escrito y desarrollado que estaba. Patrick Süskind nos logra llevar a la mente de Grenouille con una prosa exquisita. Cada detalle de Perfume esta bien planeado, y la historia se cierra en una muy buena manera.
Las descripciones, por otro lado, las consideraría una espada de doble filo. Estas hacen parte de la mayor parte del libro.Y aunque yo tambien fui embelesada por estas, hubo un punto donde me distrajeron y alejaron de la lectura.
Otro aspecto que no me agrado tanto del libro fue el poco enfoque en las víctimas. Para mi gusto, se sintió un poco acelerado.
En conclusión, este no es uno de los libros que me gustaria releer pero no me arrepiento de haberlo leído en un primer lugar.
Perfume is a wonderfully perverse character study of the dichotomy between being an acutely sensual artisan and a callous sociopath. His descriptions are as vivid, ethereal, and visceral as the scents the protagonist determined to capture.
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“For people could close their eyes to greatness, to horrors, to beauty, and their ears to melodies or deceiving words, but they could not escape scent. For scent was a brother of breath.”
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille - human or monster? Both? Just when I found myself feeling sympathetic to this young man who grew up without human kindness, the monster side of him would emerge and I could sense his scorn for people he fooled with his pretense of humanity. This was a beautifully written book about the importance of smell that we all take for granted and how one man with an incredible gift took advantage of people.