The Story of a Murderer (Penguin Modern Classics)

The voice of this book is very strong, confident, and clear. The descriptions of such horrors occur in blissfully beautiful detail. The irony of such strength in imagery in a book which focuses on scent gives me great respect and admiration for the author. Highly recommend.

Upon reading the synopsis for this novel, I was very excited to read it. I am an avid reader and I can breeze through a book a week, but this particular book took me 3 weeks to finish. It was slow and just not my style. Granted I am all for odd/bizarre/weird books, this one just didn't do it for me. The ending was absolutely not expected and just not...good (for lack of better words and for not giving away any spoilers) I am not one to not finish a book, and I am glad i finished to see the outcome. Those of you who did enjoy it....to each his own.

I was first interested in this book because it inspired Kurt Cobain to write the song "Scentless Apprentice" on In Utero. As a lover of XVIII century French history, I had the welcome surprise to discover that the novel was set exactly in this period and nation. The prose is intense, hits your memory and your senses and makes this unforgettable character come alive and haunt you. Not for prudish, hypersensitive or bigot readers.

This was a fun and interesting read. The author does a great job of creating a sensual experience that vividly communicates the main character's unique sense of smell. On the whole, the book was very well written. The main character is fully developed and you can really understand his motives (even if they are twisted and misguided). There are a couple of sections of the book that I felt dragged on a bit and were pretty much unnecessary to the plot. They were long enough that i had to flip ahead to see how much further I had to read until the story moves forward again.
This book was translated from another language (German, I think?) but the translation was very good. There wasn't the clunky dialogue that I have seen in many books that have been translated into English.

I read this book on the recommendation of a friend who is well read. This book did nothing for me for 3/4 of it. There was a lot of nothing but fun, antiquated language. I understand that it was set up and process, but the editing of it was also heavy handed and obvious. True most of the 3/4 could have been handled more economically but with much more finesse. However, the final 1/4 of the book was a good read with the final line being quite excellent. It would have had much more power had we known as much about the crowd to which it referred as we had the first crowd in Grasse. This, again, I think was the problem with the editing and not so much the writing. It's not enough for a character to be "weird" or outcast and for bizarre events to happen. The story also has to work. For me, the unevenness of its telling and the editing ultimately didn't work for me.

This book can be read and enjoyed on several levels. A "story of a murderer" is just one of them. A sensual, beautifully written immersion into 18th century France is another. Fundamentally, however, it's a fairy tale with Evil itself as the main character. Suskind uses scent as a metaphor for life, Grenouille as a metaphor for Evil, and traps the reader behind the eyes (and nose) of Evil looking out. Evil can perceive, appreciate, lust for, and even imitate life, but it cannot experience it. As Evil "grows up" in this fairy tale, it moves from childish self-absorption to extreme narcissism to murderous megalomania on its soulless quest to "possess" life and love, and finally to the "tragic" realization that its obsession is meaningless and unrealizable.

The start of the book is extraordinary. Its descriptions of Paris and its people are so vivid and well researched that I sometimes read a chapter or two to my students of French. Unfortunately, the story slows down and I find myself skipping several chapters to get to the end. Too bad because it has such a great start.

This book is one of my favorites. It is supremely decadent in nature, and is prime in the subordination of the whole to the parts. Perfume has a rich dark nature classic of the gothic style of literature and fills your senses with poetry and bizarre pleasures. I had to read the book because I had seen the movie in my French literature class and was hooked. If you like a little intensity and appreciate the sensually bizarre then this book is for you.

PERFUME reads like a grotesque fairy tale - but you can't put it down! If you have a taste for the bizarre AND a well-written novel, give it a try. But you've got to be able to stomach a little ickiness . . .

PERFUME reads like a grotesque fairy tale - but you can't put it down! If you have a taste for the bizarre AND a well-written novel, give it a try. But you've got to be able to stomach a little ickiness . . .