Introduction
“If you had to lose one sense, which one would you choose?”
That was a question on Quora and the most answers on it were about the sense of “smell”. We all know the importance of smell but how your life would be if you lost it?
In our novel the main lead “Jean-Baptiste Grenouille” did not lose his sense of smell, on the contrary, he had an extraordinary ability to smell, he was a disliked vagrant in 18th-century France who is born with an extraordinary sense of scent, competent of recognizing an endless extend of fragrances within the world around him. But his ability is not capable of one thing. it is not able to make him smell himself. Grenouille gets to be a perfumer but afterward gets to be included in kill when he experiences a youthful young lady with a superb wondrous fragrance.
The story investigates the relationship between the emotional connotations that certain odors may have and our sense of smell.
“But by using the obligatory measuring glasses and scales, he learned the language of perfumery, and he sensed instinctively that the knowledge of this language could be of service to him.”
About The Author
Name - Patrick Süskind
Date of birth - 26/3/1949
Works -
1. The double bass
2. The perfume- a story of a murderer
3. The pigeon
4. The story of Mr. Sommer
5. On love and death
There is not much information about him as he did not allow Interviews
About The Novel
The perfume- a story of a murderer (Das Parfum: Die Geschichte eines Mörders in German)
First published in 1985
Genre - Mystery, Horror, Fiction.
Page Count - 263 pages
This novel was translated into 49 languages. It was one of the best sellers in the 20th Century and remained there for nine years.
It is said that this novel maybe takes the story of "Tallow man", a serial killer who killed several women and children and made soap from their body fat.
This novel was made into a film in 2006 with the same title.
Characters (In order of appearance)
· Grenouille’s mother
· Jean-Baptiste Grenouille
· Jeanne Bussie
· Father Terrier
· Madame Gaillard
· Children at the Boarding House
· Grimal
· The Plum Girl
· Giuseppe Baldini
· Chénier
· Pélissier
· Marquis de La Taillade-Espinasse
· Madame Arnulfi
· Dominique Druot
· Antoine Richis
· Laure Richis
Summary
The newborn Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born in the slums of eighteenth-century France with one sublime gift: an unwavering sense of smell. He apprentices himself to a renowned perfumer who teaches him the ancient technique of blending priceless oils and plants since as a young child, he lives to decode the scents of Paris. But because of his exceptional talent, Grenouille is not content to stop there and develops an obsession with smelling things like freshly cut wood and brass doorknobs. Then one day he smells a scent that inspires him to embark on an increasingly perilous quest to make the "ultimate perfume."
My Opinion About The Novel
I first heard of this novel from a podcast, and it really attracted me, so I went along to read the novel, and I liked it. The novel expresses scents most uniquely and unforgettably. That is going to take you on a tour of Paris to smell its streets and live with the main lead on his journey through sudden turns in his life. The novel shows the childhood, teenage years, and youth of Grenouille in a way that makes you sympathize with him.
Grenouille wanted to create the perfect scent that would allow him to control humanity, and he succeeded in that. And the novel ended with the most unexpected end ever.
For me, I was not satisfied with that end. I kind of wanted a happy ending which was impossible to happen.
What Do People Think About “The Perfume”?
With 423,722 ratings and 20,997 reviews on Goodreads, and 7,472 global ratings on Amazon. You can understand how much this novel is liked by people.
'The Perfume' Movie (2006)
Director: Tom Tykwer
Writer: Andrew Birkin, Bernd Eichinger, Tom Tykwer
Stars: Ben Whishaw, Alan Rickman, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Dustin Hoffman
Genre: Drama
Length: 147 minutes
Cinema: 22 December 2006
Country: Germany/France/Spain
Written by: Heba Salah
2. The perfume- a story of a murderer
3. The pigeon
4. The story of Mr. Sommer
5. On love and death
There is not much information about him as he did not allow Interviews
About The Novel
The perfume- a story of a murderer (Das Parfum: Die Geschichte eines Mörders in German)
First published in 1985
Genre - Mystery, Horror, Fiction.
Page Count - 263 pages
This novel was translated into 49 languages. It was one of the best sellers in the 20th Century and remained there for nine years.
It is said that this novel maybe takes the story of "Tallow man", a serial killer who killed several women and children and made soap from their body fat.
This novel was made into a film in 2006 with the same title.
Characters (In order of appearance)
· Grenouille’s mother
· Jean-Baptiste Grenouille
· Jeanne Bussie
· Father Terrier
· Madame Gaillard
· Children at the Boarding House
· Grimal
· The Plum Girl
· Giuseppe Baldini
· Chénier
· Pélissier
· Marquis de La Taillade-Espinasse
· Madame Arnulfi
· Dominique Druot
· Antoine Richis
· Laure Richis
Summary
The newborn Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born in the slums of eighteenth-century France with one sublime gift: an unwavering sense of smell. He apprentices himself to a renowned perfumer who teaches him the ancient technique of blending priceless oils and plants since as a young child, he lives to decode the scents of Paris. But because of his exceptional talent, Grenouille is not content to stop there and develops an obsession with smelling things like freshly cut wood and brass doorknobs. Then one day he smells a scent that inspires him to embark on an increasingly perilous quest to make the "ultimate perfume."
My Opinion About The Novel
I first heard of this novel from a podcast, and it really attracted me, so I went along to read the novel, and I liked it. The novel expresses scents most uniquely and unforgettably. That is going to take you on a tour of Paris to smell its streets and live with the main lead on his journey through sudden turns in his life. The novel shows the childhood, teenage years, and youth of Grenouille in a way that makes you sympathize with him.
Grenouille wanted to create the perfect scent that would allow him to control humanity, and he succeeded in that. And the novel ended with the most unexpected end ever.
For me, I was not satisfied with that end. I kind of wanted a happy ending which was impossible to happen.
What Do People Think About “The Perfume”?
With 423,722 ratings and 20,997 reviews on Goodreads, and 7,472 global ratings on Amazon. You can understand how much this novel is liked by people.
'The Perfume' Movie (2006)
Director: Tom Tykwer
Writer: Andrew Birkin, Bernd Eichinger, Tom Tykwer
Stars: Ben Whishaw, Alan Rickman, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Dustin Hoffman
Genre: Drama
Length: 147 minutes
Cinema: 22 December 2006
Country: Germany/France/Spain
Written by: Heba Salah
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