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| Perfume: The Story of a Murderer | 
 enlarge | Author: Patrick Suskind
Publisher: Penguin
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy Used: £0.40
You Save: £7.59 (95%)
New (17) from £2.97
Avg. Customer Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 4722
Media: Paperback
Edition: Film tie-in edition
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 0.8
ISBN: 0141029048
EAN: 9780141029047
ASIN: 0141029048
Publication Date: November 30, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: very slight shelf damage, otherwise in new unread condition
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| Customer Reviews: Read 12 more reviews...
 It stinks October 28, 2008
What surprises me about some of the other reviews for this book is praise for the prose.
Whether the blame lies with Suskind or his translator I am unsure, but I found the writing clumsy and cliched.
Suskind deserves praise for the ambition of the novel and as a handbook on the perfume-making process it has considerable merit.
The plot is nothing special and many of the ideas are unbelievable even in a fantastical sense - people mistaking an alluring smell for physical beauty, or people only noticing the protagonist when he smells for example. I think if you write a novel that depends upon magical realism then it has to be watertight and, for me, this novel just isn't clever enough. It feels like a second draft that could have been excellent if it had been rewritten a couple of times more.
But, as I said at the top of my review, it is the writing that really stinks.
 Partial Beauty. (SPOILERS) July 6, 2008
It is rare for me to say I preferred the film to a book.
However, in the case of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, I clearly admit to preferring the movie adaptation. In the film we follow a young man brought up in terrible conditions, with an acute sense of smell which he puts to bad use in his attempt to create the most beautiful perfume: purely made of human innocence. After murdering 25 beautiful virgins, and capturing the adoration of a town's poplice through the most beautiful scent, he experiences the revelation of how wrong he has been. That love is the highest power. Hence, in repentence, he pours the rest of his perfume over his body and lets some townspeople ravage him to death.
Unfortunately, in the book the protoganist is cold-hearted and entirely unlikeable. You do not feel for his situation whatsoever, and truely begin to despise him. Furthermore, there is no revelation for him. He kills himself in exactly the same way but merely because he has created the best perfume in the world and he no longer has a purpose in life. No remorse, no regret. An utter bastard.
That aside, however, Suskind has written a beautiful detailed narrative, rich with thought and eloquence and capturing the world of scent in perfection. (although occasionally he does wither on too long about a character's thoughts and feelings).
A good read, but I'd say watch the film instead.
 Beautifully written April 20, 2008
This is one of the most beautifully written books I have ever read. It looses nothing in the translation...
One of my favorite books April 7, 2008
This book is truly unique. It was hard to get into but once you get used to the style of writing you cannot put it down. What is so different about it is not so much the story telling. The main enjoyment was that it really did making me think of my sense of smell. I have never read another book like it. Must buy!
Random but unique tale March 14, 2008
A totally obscure topic; bizarre, but absorbing.
The story follows a nobody, with a remarkable sense of smell, who is prepared to do whatever it takes to become somebody.
Baffled as to the point of the tale in the grand scheme of things! Still, a light-hearted, fun read, despite its macabre themes of pungent pongs, and frivolous killings!
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