Play Book Tag discussion

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind - 3*


What a weird book! I struggled a bit with this as it was so, so weird..

(view spoiler)[The story begins so well when the odor-free Grenouille is born under the table in the fishing booth. "When the labor pain began, Grenouille's mother stood in a fish bun in Rue aux Fers and harvested fish ... a fishodur that already smelled so intense it drowned out the odur of the corpses ".

The place is Paris, and what an odur Paris has; it’s a stench of all the nastiest things you can imagine; a mixture of rotten melons and burned bones. We follow the unsympathetic Grenouille, who’s only mission is to create the most perfect odur following his brilliant nose. He is barely portrayed as human, but rather some kind of animal.

I didn’t particularly enjoy the novel, it was quite unpleasant. There are some highlights in the book that were quite good though. How he convinced Baldini, one of the city's oldest perfume makers, about his incredible odor and "smelling" nose. Here he was finally allowed to work with his passion; mix all imaginable and unimaginable odors for goodies and perfumes and change stench to perfume.

He was an effective odur maker, as he had all his perfume recipes in his nose. I also enjoyed following him when living in the cave up in the mountains, and how he returned to a "normal" person after 7 years in the mountains, having survived smelling his way to “food. When he arrives at Grasse and begins to work there, he eventually also performs creative crimes, concerned with the young women's body odors and their smell. A woman seeks refuge, but is traced by his extreme sense of smell.

Overall I found the book sometimes interesting and creative, but my overall reading experience is left with a smelly aftertaste. Definitely lots of magical realism though! (hide spoiler)]

Yes, it is weird! I liked it a little better than you, I think. It was certainly creative, and I was glad I read it just for the experience. But the character was most unpleasant.

I agree, it was interesting and very different from anything else I have read! I think I need to see the movie as well, curious to see how the story is told on the big screen.

This was a strange book and I got my book club to read it with me.

Absolutely a good book to read with a book club.

I love this book, though it isn’t at all my usual thing - it is so weird, and downright creepy. But the writing is so beautiful and the use of scent as a theme is very cleverly done. I also admire the skill with which Suskind can get the reader to vaguely understand Grenouille’s motivations and even feel a twist of sympathy from time to time despite the fact that he is the most unattractive and freakish character imaginable. I read it in German first (when my German was a lot better than it is now!) and was blown away, and then I equally enjoyed it in English a few years ago. I’ve no particular desire to read it again but it’s a book that’s stayed vividly with me.

You make some excellent points, Kate! Glad you enjoyed it:)

I appreciated it a bit more than you as well - the book, not the main character.

BTW: glad I read the book before your review. I feel there is a bit too much of the story line revealed. I would label it as spoiler.

Thanks Suchicat, I have labeled it now.

I read this book when it first came out, many years ago, and it blew me away! It was nothing like anything I'd read before. . . or since actually. I remember that I found the writing to be terrific and the story very clever. Of course the protagonist wasn't loveable but it was actually, amazingly, easy to sympathize with him but not like him. The closest thing I ever found to it would be Interview with the Vampire.

I can relate to that, definitely not like anything I read before - very creative! Glad you enjoyed it :)

I did not like this one at all!

I couldn't finish this book ~ it was too weird and creepy for me.

I didn't particulary enjoy this either, though it had some redeeming qualities 📚