Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
by Patrick Suskind
An acclaimed bestseller and international sensation, Patrick Suskind's classic novel provokes a terrifying examination of what happens when one man's indulgence in his greatest passion—his sense of smell—leads to murder.
In the slums of eighteenth-century France, the infant Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born with one sublime gift-an absolute sense of smell. As a boy, he lives to decipher the odors of Paris, and apprentices himself to a prominent perfumer who teaches him the ancient art of mixing precious oils and herbs. But Grenouille's genius is such that he is not satisfied to stop there, and he becomes obsessed with capturing the smells of objects such as brass doorknobs and frest-cut wood. Then one day he catches a hint of a scent that will drive him on an ever-more-terrifying quest to create the "ultimate perfume"—the scent of a beautiful young virgin. Told with dazzling narrative brillance, Perfume is a hauntingly powerful tale of murder and sensual depravity.
Translated from the German by John E. Woods.
Book Club Questions for Perfume (Fiction)
Book Club Questions for Perfume (for Non-Fiction)
I just rented the movie ‘Perfume’ and watched it last night—-and you know how usually movies based on books disappoint you. They take out all these great parts that you loved or dwell on something you didn’t feel was important when you read it. But this was the most true I’ve seen a movie stay to the book it was made for.
Recommended to me by a German friend, who had read the original, I decieded to order the English translation as my German isn’t that fluent (yet). I got thru it quite quickly as it is a smooth, easy read with lots of fascinating characters, rich descriptions of events and processes leaving you wanting to gorge yourself on the scents described.
I read ‘Perfume’ directly after finishing Tom Robinson’s ‘Jitterbug Perfume’ and if I may suggest, this was an excellent transition. While reading ‘Jitterbug’ I was filled all sorts of ideas and curiosity, researching on the internet things mentioned in the book. For example, the relationship between smell and memories has been fascinating and exciting! ‘Perfume’ just kind of continued on this path of thinking for me and I’ve enjoyed reading them and the information I’ve picked up from them and my own research.
Although, of course, ‘Jitterbug Perfume’ is about long life…and ‘Perfume’ is the act of a murderer….
