Review by dependsupon - Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

dependsupon 's review for:

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind

4.5

challenging dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

it's rare that i find myself so engaged in a story and wanting to know what happens next without being emotionally engaged at all. the plot isn't particularly surprisimg or gripping, but grenouille is so fascinating in a very specific way i don't normally see in these kinds of characters; his goals and skills and relationship with society change somewhat throughout the book but his core self is very static. also, i tend to be difficult when it comes to suspension of disbelief and small things often throw me off because they're a little too unlikely. however, i did not have that at all with this book. it manages to be set in the real world (or something nearly indistinguishable from it) and set basically one rule (smell is an extremely powerful influencing force, capable of overriding other forces, of whose effects people are mostly unaware) that isn't even necessarily completely fictional, which is sufficiently immersive that i believed everything that happened in this book. which especially at the end is quite a stretch objectively. also it didn't feel repetitive or boring even though the bulk of the book is about producing scents which is a very repetitive process. no explanation of this book is sufficient to express why it's good

Content Warnings