Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

Author: Patrick Süskind

Rating: ⭐ 4/5

Date Read: 2014/09/04

Pages: 263

Perfume has the potential to be awesomely bad. Consider the plot: dude has preternatural sense of smell and goes on a killing spree in an attempt to create the perfect perfume. People are onto him, and can tell that he’s evil, because he doesn’t have any body odor at all. In other words,



However, it’s also on the list of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, so I figured I’d give it a shot.

Tangentially related: I don’t pay too much attention to scents, at least not most of the time. I mean, put a glass of wine in front of me and, like any good oenophile, I’ll easily be able to tell you if it’s overoaked and I’ll pick out berry or citrus or stone fruit notes, and I might even be able to guess where it’s from, but that happens when I’m actively trying. In my workaday life, scent means little to me.

For a book with such a strange concept, Perfume is surprisingly gripping. Grenouille, the main character, is a particularly effective anti-hero. He’s creepily inconspicuous: he passes through his world mostly unseen, and commits his crimes with little notice. He’s not one of those anti-heroes that the reader roots for, either: as I read this book, I felt as if I were watching a snake from behind glass, feeding on some unassuming (and probably cute and cuddly) prey. The books makes you disgusted, but unable to turn away.

I felt that I should dislike this book: it’s strange, it’s creepy, it’s far outside of my comfort zone. If you’ve seen American Hustle, you likely remember Jennifer Lawrence’s character saying “Well, he must like it on some level. He must want it, because he keeps coming back for it. It’s like that perfume that you love, that you can’t stop smelling even when there’s something sour in it. Can’t get enough of it.”

Which, I think, is also a good way to sum up this book.