Perfume by Patrick Suskind

Perfume

Patrick Suskind

Brilliantly written and compellingly disgusting, this book draws you into an alternative universe of smells which take on an almost supernatural quality. The central character is revolting and unsympathetic, almost inhuman, but such is the quality of the writing that you are drawn into his world and understand with his twisted logic why he is compelled to commit his crimes.

Extract
Grenouille, however, smelled it all as if for the first time. And he did not merely smell the mixture of odours in the aggregate, but he dissected it analytically into its smallest and most remote parts and pieces. His discerning nose unraveled the knot of vapour and stench into single strands of unitary odours that could not be unthreaded further. Unwinding and spinning out these threads gave him unspeakable joy.
Parallels
  • Book of Hours by Kerstin Ekman
  • Hawksmoor by Peter Ackroyd
  • Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
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Violence
Explicit sexual content