Patrick Susskind...The Perfume

[Yelena]

I just finished P. Susskind's The Perfume.........I must say it's an amazing book, very unusual, grotesque and interesting. Has anybody read it? What did you think about it?

[Alexei]

Not only I have read it, it is one of my most favorite books. It is a masterpiece, indeed. I still remember it very well, and especially the last chapter. I still remember that after i read the flast few sentences I was staring almost blindly in the window. I almost couldn't believe evrything was so real in the book and still so unreal in the reality. It was a bit scarry. The first thought of mine after that was that I am probably going mad. I think my favorite moment of the book was when, after he killed Laura and while he was getting the last part of his Perfume, accidentally he touched her leg and he just didn't pay any attention of this. I picktured it so vividly in my mind, while I was reading.

[booksandtea]

yesss, i loved that book. did you see the movie? it came out just recently. it didn't nearly do the book justice, especially the ending which was absolutely horrific (yet wonderful). it was much more diluted in the movie. also, whenever i go to specific parts of paris mentioned in the book, i would get chills. especially porte d'orleans....

[Yelena]

Booksandtea, I haven't seen the movie, but I found a web page of it online. it's pretty cool..........
Did anyone feel actually sorry for Jean-Baptiste? I did! I know it's strange.....He was both a genious and a miserable, pathetic creature!

[booksandtea]

i also sort of felt sorry for him. that's what made the book so great was that here was this guy who is basically a murderer and did all these horrible things and yet, you can't help but feel that it's not entirely his fault. you end up being sympathetic toward the villian!

i recommend that you see the movie just to see it but it's most certainly not a masterpiece in my opinion. but the boy who plays grenouille in the movie is cute though. :-)

[flor]

I so wanted to enjoy this book but just found Grenouille inauthentic as a character. The plot seemed thin as well. I had heard that the ending was quite astonishing, but I was profoundly disappointed and aggravated. I read the old thread here from 02 headed Das Perfum and am intrigued at the notion that the novel somehow forms a history of philosophical thought. Would love to read that analysis of such dismal fare as Perfume. I felt that Suskind had an opportunity to really capture the reader by developing the notion, posed by Grenouille, that the women he killed were women who elicited love. Suskind threw that thought out there, but didn't allow anything to come of it, imho.

[aydin]

I read the book a while ago so my memory might not be so accurate. I loved it, apart from the part where he kills the last girl with the almost perfect scent which I thought seemed rushed somehow. So is the movie worth seeing? Really wanted to see it but never got around to it, although I have to say movies rarely do books justice. Perhaps not fair to compare though.

[Tuesday]

I read it in the summer of 2005 and enjoyed it very much. I think I will be reminded of this time for the rest of my life whenever I hear the word "olfactory" ;)

[Yelena]

I thought it was interesinting how every single human odor is described as disgusting and horrible. In the novel, Paris is filled with every bad smell you can possibly imagine. It seems to me that Susskind chose to show the "abnormality" of Jean -Baptiste in such a way - he despises pretty much everything that has to do with humans, and their smell(=soul?) above all.

[booksandtea]

paris is still filled with lots of bad smells.

[Alexei]

yesss, i loved that book. did you see the movie? it came out just recently. it didn't nearly do the book justice, especially the ending which was absolutely horrific (yet wonderful). it was much more diluted in the movie. also, whenever i go to specific parts of paris mentioned in the book, i would get chills. especially porte d'orleans....

I watched it a month ago, I think. I really liked it. It was really good, thought it was as good as the book of course. I think it was a good interpretation.

[Alexei]

I thought it was interesinting how every single human odor is described as disgusting and horrible. In the novel, Paris is filled with every bad smell you can possibly imagine. It seems to me that Susskind chose to show the "abnormality" of Jean -Baptiste in such a way - he despises pretty much everything that has to do with humans, and their smell(=soul?) above all.

Hmmm, I am not sure, that the smell was the soul, though it is a good idea. I think it is really the smell, just because in this case Jean-Baptiste is without a soul himself and I don't think he is. I think the smells are just the world. I think about the scene where he is reading of the book with the smells, that's one of my favorite moments in the book.

[PeterL]

I thought it was interesinting how every single human odor is described as disgusting and horrible. In the novel, Paris is filled with every bad smell you can possibly imagine. It seems to me that Susskind chose to show the "abnormality" of Jean -Baptiste in such a way - he despises pretty much everything that has to do with humans, and their smell(=soul?) above all.

I read it quite a while ago, but I had a very different take on it. I considered it in a more straight-forward way. Humans don't think much about the sense of smell, but it is the semiotic system that communicates the most fundamental and non-intellectual feelings. Sexual attraction, mother child bonding, and other relationships that are related to our survival as a species are communicated through smell. And those things are so important that we don't think about them; scent isn't necessarily communicated to the frontal lobe.

[Alexei]

I read it quite a while ago, but I had a very different take on it. I considered it in a more straight-forward way. Humans don't think much about the sense of smell, but it is the semiotic system that communicates the most fundamental and non-intellectual feelings. Sexual attraction, mother child bonding, and other relationships that are related to our survival as a species are communicated through smell. And those things are so important that we don't think about them; scent isn't necessarily communicated to the frontal lobe.

I think so too, while I was reading it I was apprehending it in the same manner. But now when I am reading this post I have the feeling that this book is supposed to be written by a scientist (I hope you understand what I mean) and in fact Susskind was a historian (that's way the book is so historically true in almost every aspect of the descriptions). But still I think that the author have on his mind just the smells.

[PeterL]

I think so too, while I was reading it I was apprehending it in the same manner. But now when I am reading this post I have the feeling that this book is supposed to be written by a scientist (I hope you understand what I mean) and in fact Susskind was a historian (that's way the book is so historically true in almost every aspect of the descriptions). But still I think that the author have on his mind just the smells.

I was thinking the same when I read some of the posts here, and Susskind may have been trying to say more than that scent is important, but I don't see the novel as especially allegorical, although I think that it was intended to be universal in appeal, or lack thereof. Perhaps as a historian he was trying to point out that scent was more important in former times, or that even though scent isn't as strong now, it is still as important.

[Erna]

I read the book some months ago and really liked it. And I also felt sorry for Jean-Baptiste, somehow you have the idea that he's not completely wrong, although he is. And I liked the way smelling is used in this book, as being so important.

[Alexei]

I was thinking the same when I read some of the posts here, and Susskind may have been trying to say more than that scent is important, but I don't see the novel as especially allegorical, although I think that it was intended to be universal in appeal, or lack thereof. Perhaps as a historian he was trying to point out that scent was more important in former times, or that even though scent isn't as strong now, it is still as important.

I am not sure, but I remember that someone have told me that this books could be use as a "textbook for semiotic". May be there is something after all. But the scents were too much and too different, so I can't find something that could combine all of them in one meaning. But if we try to analyze it, may be we should start from the fact that the two red-haired girls have almost identical smells. The other common things were the hair and the freckles and the gender, of course. The other key fact I think is that Jean-Baptist himself doesn't have a smell. Firstly that makes him extraordinary on other level (on the level of smells, otherwise as a human with gifts he is already extraordinary with his good nose). Probably the lack of smell indicates his other gift - the exceptional sense of smell. And in this way the read-haired girls smells is just a sing for their appearance. Than the smell just indicates their personal characteristics, but this is already said in the book and I didn't find out anything :bawling: :bawling: :bawling:

[PeterL]

I am not sure, but I remember that someone have told me that this books could be use as a "textbook for semiotic". May be there is something after all. But the scents were too much and too different, so I can't find something that could combine all of them in one meaning. But if we try to analyze it, may be we should start from the fact that the two red-haired girls have almost identical smells. The other common things were the hair and the freckles and the gender, of course. The other key fact I think is that Jean-Baptist himself doesn't have a smell. Firstly that makes him extraordinary on other level (on the level of smells, otherwise as a human with gifts he is already extraordinary with his good nose). Probably the lack of smell indicates his other gift - the exceptional sense of smell. And in this way the read-haired girls smells is just a sign for their appearance. Than the smell just indicates their personal characteristics, but this is already said in the book and I didn't find out anything :bawling: :bawling: :bawling:

Yes, certainly it is about semiotics. Scent is one of the six semiotic systems that humans use. Everything is a sign of something, but I don't know whether Susskind's associations are accurate, and my nose isn't good enough to determine that. There isn't a lot of material about semiotic systems that humans use except for speech and writing, but one of the more notable people in that field did work with animals' semiotic systems, and he probably considered scent. If you want to learn about semiotic systems, I would suggest that you start with Umberto Eco (probably the most readable in the field) and read authors to whom he refers.

I'll have to make note of whether all red-headed women smell the same; I would bet that they don't, because personality, diet, behavior, background, and other things come into play.

[bazarov]

It's very interesting book (although nothing special), but probably I liked it because of it's unusual theme and that Jean Baptiste is really interesting character, I felt sorry for him in the end.

[EAP]

A limited but very well crafted novel. Jean Baptist is probably the most amoral character I have ever came across in literature, Anasurimbor Kellhus is the only one who can give him competition in this regard.

[Scheherazade]

After reading all these comments, The Perfume has moved up in my 'books-to-read'. Thanks everyone!

*gazes into her crystal ball*

Yes, I see a trip for me... To the nearest library... Tomorrow...

[Alexei]

After reading all these comments, The Perfume has moved up in my 'books-to-read'. Thanks everyone!

*gazes into her crystal ball*

Yes, I see a trip for me... To the nearest library... Tomorrow...

Hehe, I think you would really like it. It is amazing, thought sometimes a bit scary.

[Asa Adams]

I would like to read this very much! In time. It is on my list!

[Scheherazade]

I would like to read this very much! In time. It is on my list!Beat ya! I have already got it from the library so starting today! :D

[Asa Adams]

Darn you Scher! :lol:
I might have to make a trip to the library today....That is if you live near me........and have taken the one from under my nose! :goof:

[Scheherazade]

I am almost half-way through and enjoying it very much. It is a compelling read but have to admit, after reading all the comments here, I had prepared myself for the 'worst' and was expecting some more gruesome scenes and descriptions (no, this does not say anything about my personality :p).

In my utter ignorance, I thought the author was French (since the story is taking place in Paris). Live and learn, as they say!

[PeterL]

I am almost half-way through and enjoying it very much. It is a compelling read but have to admit, after reading all the comments here, I had prepared myself for the 'worst' and was expecting some more gruesome scenes and descriptions (no, this does not say anything about my personality :p).


It is about as gruesome as Lolita is pornographic.



In my utter ignorance, I thought the author was French (since the story is taking place in Paris). Live and learn, as they say!

Takes some looking be there are some nasty comments about the French.

[chotiko]

I have to do an essay on Perfume's situational irony and I am not very good with literature. Can anyone please help me pick passages or quotes with page numbers containing situational irony? Or if you have any suggestion please feel free to response