If asked to describe this book in a word, the word that I would choose is ‘eccentric’.
This is one of the few books that I have read that has been intriguing from literally the first sentence to the last. Patrick Süskind has managed to create a character that you simultaneously feel in awe of, pity for and disgusted by. The beauty of this book lies in the simplicity of its details and the ease with which raw human nature is neatly expressed.
The book revolves around a calloused man— Grenouille who has an unusually heightened sense of smell and uses it to his advantage to murder and trap the “essence” of certain people. It involves how one associates smell with emotions and what an underrated sensory experience it is. I admire the way the author gives short bursts of engaging information to captivate the readers’ attention. As the leaves of the book turn, you get an increasingly better insight into the mind of Grenouille and as you close in towards the end, right as you think that you have finally understood this loveless, remorseless man, he does something unexpected and severely out of character of the image painted by the author. It is unexpected because you are given the impression that you, the reader, know why Grenouille is doing what he’s doing, until it is too late by the time you realise that you have had the premise of the plot completely wrong.
I thoroughly enjoyed this read and it is definitely a book I would read a second time just to look at the murderer’s actions after knowing his real motive. I have a strong feeling that I would like the book just as much, if not more.
This is one of the few books that I have read that has been intriguing from literally the first sentence to the last. Patrick Süskind has managed to create a character that you simultaneously feel in awe of, pity for and disgusted by. The beauty of this book lies in the simplicity of its details and the ease with which raw human nature is neatly expressed.
The book revolves around a calloused man— Grenouille who has an unusually heightened sense of smell and uses it to his advantage to murder and trap the “essence” of certain people. It involves how one associates smell with emotions and what an underrated sensory experience it is. I admire the way the author gives short bursts of engaging information to captivate the readers’ attention. As the leaves of the book turn, you get an increasingly better insight into the mind of Grenouille and as you close in towards the end, right as you think that you have finally understood this loveless, remorseless man, he does something unexpected and severely out of character of the image painted by the author. It is unexpected because you are given the impression that you, the reader, know why Grenouille is doing what he’s doing, until it is too late by the time you realise that you have had the premise of the plot completely wrong.
I thoroughly enjoyed this read and it is definitely a book I would read a second time just to look at the murderer’s actions after knowing his real motive. I have a strong feeling that I would like the book just as much, if not more.