Perfume : The Story of a Murderer - Patrick Suskind

“He who ruled scent ruled the hearts of men.” 

This is one of the books which one will not forget soon. Mesmerizing and beautifully written. Most of the readers says this book is a thriller or crime novel but for me the "crime" is a part of the story. Most of the pages were filled with perfumes and various ways to prepare it. I can say its a combination of  "historical, horror,romantic" and an extra "smell". Since smell plays a vital role in the whole story.

 "Odors have a power of persuasion stronger than that of words, appearances, emotions, or will. The persuasive power of an odor cannot be fended off, it enters into us like breath into our lungs, it fills us up, imbues us totally. There is no remedy for it"

I have to admit i never heard of this book till one month back. I first notice this book at the book fair and thought "something to do with perfumes" and it was a translated book .so i did not buy it . Again in another book fair i came across this book and again i though no need to buy it , as i was about to leave , a guy came nearer to me and told that "Perfume  is a great book, just try it".  That was it. I bought and the book made me to read everything in a single sitting.

This is the story of Jean Baptiste Grenouille , a boy with extraordinary gift for smell. He can store thousands of scents and can recreate whenever he wants.  He was haunted by the smell of a beautiful girl and wanted to attain it. The passion for smell leads Grenouille to do unimaginable things including murdering beautiful girls. I was really mesmerized by the pace i.e the slowness of each murder. Kudos to brilliant imaginative writing!  There is a death at every interval , most of the characters who are close to Grenouille dies -naturally or killed, for me that gives the idea about the main character.

"Whatever the art or whatever the craft and make a note of this before you go, talent means next to nothing, while experience, acquired in humility and with hard work, means everything"

The elaborate description of various perfume making was very interesting. The author also brings the 18th century France alive through eyes of Grenouille - the smelly fish market , the epidemic plague, criminal punishment,crowded quarters and nobles hierarchy . Initially the author creates sympathy (Devil's child) towards  Grenouille but slowly as he progress towards his ultimate goal , the sympathy turns into anger .At the end, i did not felt any good feelings towards Grenouille but something in me kept on thinking about his hunger for human love.

The below lines gives the reader an earlier indication of Grenouille's character:

"Impossible! It is absolutely impossible for an infant to be possessed by the devil. An infant is not yet a human being; it is a prehuman being and does not yet possess a fully developed soul. Which is why it is of no interest to the devil. Can he talk already, perhaps? Does he twitch and jerk? Does he move things about in the room? Does some evil stench come from him?"

After everything

“There was only one thing the perfume could not do. It could not turn him into a person who could love and be loved like everyone else. So, to hell with it he thought. To hell with the world. With the perfume. With himself” 

Like the effect of good perfume , the story lingers in me even after i finished reading it long back..!

An unforgettable read!