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A review by jesskosf
The Story of Mr Sommer by Patrick Süskind, Jean-Jacques Sempé, Michael Hofmann
3.0
I can't believe this book was in the children's section of my library! I would never have guessed it dealt with topics as difficult as suicide. On the other hand, I do know Süskind and I'm not surprised this story doesn't end on a hopeful note. It's not my favourite book of his, but I still loved the prose, the humour and symbolism. Süskind is a clever, intentional writer and I truly admire his writing skills (and the translator's as I'm reading the French translations). It seems, however, I should have much more to say...
Süskind is fascinated by solitude, mental health issues and death. This book follows that path, but in a way I wasn't expecting at all. After reading it, I just feel sad, really. And I wish we'd known what really made Mr Sommer so desperate. But I'm sure Süskind would tell me that not knowing is the point. Also, I feel like the unnamed narrator's compassion for him made sense as he once thought death better than life. It's a truly depressing story, but yet I laughed, because these characters were so ironically comical. That's the paradoxical experience of reading Süskind, I guess. His humour's quite dark, as always. Just do us all a favour: don't read that to your children! And I'm not even sure about teenagers. It's that deep.
Süskind is fascinated by solitude, mental health issues and death. This book follows that path, but in a way I wasn't expecting at all. After reading it, I just feel sad, really. And I wish we'd known what really made Mr Sommer so desperate. But I'm sure Süskind would tell me that not knowing is the point. Also, I feel like the unnamed narrator's compassion for him made sense as he once thought death better than life. It's a truly depressing story, but yet I laughed, because these characters were so ironically comical. That's the paradoxical experience of reading Süskind, I guess. His humour's quite dark, as always. Just do us all a favour: don't read that to your children! And I'm not even sure about teenagers. It's that deep.