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Sunday, September 26, 2010

Perfume : The story of a Murderer : Author. Patrick Suskind

Set in 18th century France, "Perfume" tells the story of  Jean-Baptiste Grenouille the 5th child to his mother, but only the first to survive birth. Grenouille's existence was cursed, as the freakish boy was born without a sensory signature, he was born without scent. It was because of this odorless taint that Grenouille was thrown out by his mother and initially rejected by the entire population of France. Grenouille did however hold one talent. His biggest weakness was countered by an ironic strength, as he possessed the greatest nose the world had ever witnessed.

Perfume tells the adventures of Grenouille a genius in the art of smell that works his way up from a low life, to a leather tanner and then into the world of Giuseppe Baldini, an old perfumer who lacks natural talent but makes up for it with years of experience. Grenouille's exceptional and unmatchable ability for dissecting and identifying scents proves an obvious advantage in the world of Perfumery. 

Grenouille uses his gift initially to boost the business of his mentor Baldini, even though his talent with scents is far beyond the old perfumer. Grenouille's nose for dissecting scents soon becomes a tool in his own twisted desires. He uses his talent to gather the most beautiful scents in the world, often destroying the source of these beautiful scents. Grenouille also uses his nose to create a scent for himself, a scent that will change his world

German author Patrick Suskind's lead character is dark and twisted. He paints a beautifully dirty picture of 18th century France and his account of the life of Grenouille is a true master piece.

If this was a real publication and I had to decide how many stars I would give Patrick Suskind's "Perfume", I would say 4.5 out 5 as no one gets 5 out of 5. No one

If you aren't the Book type, the evil TV trolls also made a movie about Grenouille. Also entitled Perfume : The Story of a Murderer. But who watches TV anyway?        

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