Sunday, September 9, 2007

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind

First sentence:

"In eighteenth-century France there lived a man who was one of the most gifted and abominable personages in an era that knew no lack of gifted and abominable personages."

Description:

"Once upon a time, in eighteenth-century France, there lived a human monster unlike anything mankind has ever known. Enter the world of an evil genius, a murderer so depraved that only the most hideous of crimes could satisfy his lust...a killer who lives to possess the essence of young virgins...a vampire of scent, whose bloody insane quest takes him beyond the boundaries of love...and death."

My thoughts:

Jean-Baptiste Grenouille - human or monster? Both? Just when I found myself feeling sympathetic to this young man who grew up without human kindness, the monster side of him would emerge and I could sense his scorn for people he fooled with his pretense of humanity. This was a beautifully written book about the importance of smell that we all take for granted and how one man with an incredible gift took advantage of people.

Date read: 9/9/2007
Book #: 82
Rating: 3* = good
Genre: Historical Fiction/Thriller

ISBN-10: 0671749609
ISBN-13: 9780671749606
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Year: 1991
# of Pages: 310
Binding: Trade Paperback
LibraryThing Page

2 comments:

Booklogged said...

Sounds pretty suspenseful! Does the movie have the same name? How was the movie? I just finished a good suspense by Jan Burke - Bones.

krin said...

Hi. Thanks for the comment. The movie does have the same name, but I haven't seen it. I do have it in my Netflix queue to see someday.