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A-red-lipstick-wearing bibliophile extraordinaire. Word nerd & Joss Whedon fangirl; Literature lover & book reviewer. Lady Libertine; Tea collector; Potterhead.

Friday 7 September 2012

Review: Perfume


Review: Perfume 

For me, when it comes to literature, there are two things of which I am absolutely certain; a little magic goes a long, long way and I have a definite penchant for the brooding anti-hero of a story.

*CoughSeverusSnapeCough* 
Patrick Suskind's gives me an abundance of both.
Here we have the life and times of murderer and master perfumer, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. (Just Grenouille, for short.)
Grenouille has the best nose in the world, with the unparalleled ability to catalogue and remember every smell in existence, be it the individual smells of wood, objects and people.
However, by a cruel twist of fate, we discover that Grenouille does not possess an odour of his own. Unable to identify himself olfactorily (and therefore not at all) he ventures out to create the perfect human scent, even if he has to kill to get it.

Although a born villain, Grenouille is a lovable old rogue. You feel gut wrenchingly sorry for him, witnessing him growing up as he tries to 'see' and understand the world through his extraordinary sense of smell.
He is perfectly aware of who he is, an evil opportunistic vagabond and makes no excuses for it. He's a perfect abomination; his brutal honesty and his complete loathing of the world around him only makes you love him that much more.

You only have to look at Suskind's writing style to really capture the beauty of the story and it's definitely where the magic comes in. This author has a magnificent way with words, at times the wording was so romanticised, at one point I had to stop and take a second to remind myself that I was reading a description of sewage and fecal matter and not a rose. In a way, the imagery reminds me a lot of Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha. It's so beautifully romantic.

If that's not enough to sway you to read it, there is the most astoundingly, exceptionally messed up hanging scene I have ever read in my life. Ever. You need to trust me and read the book to see what I mean.

Absolutely brilliant!

RATING: ★★★★★ 

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