Perfume

The Story of a Murderer

By Patrick Suskind, J.E. Woods (Translated by)

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Average Rating: (See all 9 reviews) Format: Paperback, 272 pages, New edition Edition Published In: United Kingdom, 26 January 1989 Quantity Available: 2 24 hour shipping Survivor, genius, perfumer, killer: this is Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. He is abandoned on the filthy streets of Paris as a child, but grows up to discover he has an extraordinary gift: a sense of smell more powerful than any other human's. Soon, he is creating the most sublime fragrances in all the city. Yet there is one odor he cannot capture. It is exquisite, magical: the scent of a young virgin. And to get it he must kill. And kill. And kill. About the Author Patrick Suskind was born near Munich, in 1949. He studied medieval and modern history at the University of Munich. His first play, The Double Bass, was written in 1980 and became an international success. His first novel, Perfume became an internationally acclaimed bestseller. He is also the author of The Pigeon and Mr. Summer's Story, and a coauthor of the enormously successful German television series Kir Royal. Patrick Suskind lives and writes in Munich. Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd ISBN: 0140120831 EAN: 9780140120837 Dimensions: 19.0 x 128.0 x 1.0 centimeters

An interesting concept and told brilliantly. While the characters are not likeable and the hero is anything but, the scents of 17th Europe arise from the page and put the reader in France at that time. when reading this novel I experienced the strange sensation of wanting to be where the main character was and wanting to close the book and be as far away from him as possible. The author pushes the boundaries and succeeds in creating a truly unique and riveting novel

A devilishly good tale employing an very unusual theme: perfume. The main character is born without any scent of his own, and thus developes an abnormally heightened sense of smell. He eventually becomes obsessed with discovering the perfect scent-which he finds in the form of a certain girl. Many murders ensue before the final, terrifying ending in which I was disgusted yet mesmorised by the superb writing.

Worth a read!

To read this book was a surreal experience. From the first pages of the book, the lavish descriptions almost made it possible for you to smell everything as described. From aromatic scents to pungent odours, this novel painted a picture in your head, not with what you see, but what you smell. Also the isolation of the character and genius yet frightening mind left a strong impression in my head. Definately worth reading, this story will make you pay attention to smaller details in life. Smell-wise.

The fact that this book has been translated from German to English makes it even more brilliant that it is so well written. The descriptions of scent are wonderful and I found this book very hard to put down. No wonder it’s on the Whitcoulls top 100 books list! Best book I’ve read in ages.

this is a terrifying book, simply because every thing about it is so methodical. from the moment the murder jean baptiste is born (graphic details thanks to the genius suskind) to his first murder (sneaks up behind the girl, kills her, sniffs her of all her scent and leaves) to the end, this is fantastic

Perfume is an arch stylish and compellingly repellant tale about a monster. The protagonist was born without any scent of his own and he dedicates his life to the pursuit of fragrance to the point of murdering young women for their delicate aromas. Twisted and really quite extraordinary in its impact.

a book that is a great story of obsession and has a very twisted nature to it which i must say i do appreciate. um yeah i guess you can say its only about a serial killer going around killing virgins but theres a little bit more to it than that. theres many themes like isolation, lack of identity and obsession to comform to society running through it, a great book well worth a read.

Hmmm....I'm not sure what to make of this book. There were parts that were boring to me, like the manufacturing processes, I know it was probably integral to the story, but I really wasn't particularly interested in how perfume is made. Towards the end, I felt it got a little bizarre; it got so over the top, and while I know that this is fiction and I've certainly read other stories which don't fit within reality, this felt a little incredulous and left me scratching my head! I thought it was a fitting end though, very weird, but it kinda capped it off pretty well.

This book is pretty sick. The premise behind it is that our 'protagonist' goes around murdering young virgins to extract their 'essence' for perfume. Basically, we follow him through a series of murders, watching his obsession increase with each one. The theory is marginally interesting, and the book is quite well written, but the premise behind it all is so disturbing that I did not really enjoy the book.