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tamarinning_around 's review for:
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
by Patrick Süskind
Going into Perfume, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Murder stories aren't normally so sensory and alluring. They don’t often conjure up the grimy scent of the Seine on one page and orange blossom the next. Smell is, perhaps, one of the most underutilised senses in storytelling. I never considered humans to be particularly olfactory creatures. I never could distinguish the scents that make up sweat and human skin. Alas, I am not Jean-Baptiste Grenouille.
Süskind has created an incredible story of a sociopathic artist. Oh, Grenouille, what a strange man he is. You find yourself rooting for him, even when you’re repulsed by him. You find yourself charmed by how clever he is, yet disgusted by his manipulation. His story is not an empathetic one; it’s one you read purely out of a desire to understand. The more you learn about him, the more inhuman Grenouille becomes.
My one misgiving is that the ending was quite bizarre. It took me briefly out of the immersion, as it was quite far-fetched, even for a story surrounding a man with a superhuman sense of smell.
Most importantly, did the book smell good?
Yes.
8/10, would smell again.
Süskind has created an incredible story of a sociopathic artist. Oh, Grenouille, what a strange man he is. You find yourself rooting for him, even when you’re repulsed by him. You find yourself charmed by how clever he is, yet disgusted by his manipulation. His story is not an empathetic one; it’s one you read purely out of a desire to understand. The more you learn about him, the more inhuman Grenouille becomes.
My one misgiving is that the ending was quite bizarre. It took me briefly out of the immersion, as it was quite far-fetched, even for a story surrounding a man with a superhuman sense of smell.
Most importantly, did the book smell good?
Yes.
8/10, would smell again.