krish_'s review against another edition
1.0
Dreadful. Too much smelling, not enough murdering.
Boo, I say.
Boo, I say.
222veronika222's review against another edition
3.75
Neviem ako sa cita meno toho vraha tak som to len vzdy preskocila ked to tam bolo
giorgiaalx's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
aarobiwon's review against another edition
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
vbroes's review
3.0
To my mind, definitely not a "literary classic". Felt more like a style exercise than anything else. The novel's cinematic appeal is obvious, the language is definitely sumptuous, but it left me largely indifferent.
davidcottington's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing. This may be one of my all time favourite books. So unusual and dark and beautiful.
frizzbee's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sheng's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Picked up this book based on a client recommendation. It took a while for me to pick it up and finish it but it paid that I listened — it is one beautiful classic. I read this as an e-book but would definitely have to have my own copy and hopefully I get my hands on a cover I am eyeing.
This is a story of a boy who is unloved (well this is part of the blurb that got me) and born without a scent. I have to state this bit because I like the scents of babies, so imagine how weird this is. Ironically, this boy grew up with a next level, not sure if I could use bionic, sense of smell which lead him to a perfumer in Paris. The story follows along as he indulge in different smells, started with the typical ones like flowers, wood, leaves, until his obsession lead him to include door knobs, animal poops, sweat, and the distinct smell of human. Grenouille, the main character, was in a quest to have that mix of “ultimate perfume” to which terrifyingly lead him to become the murderer.
This is a story of a boy who is unloved (well this is part of the blurb that got me) and born without a scent. I have to state this bit because I like the scents of babies, so imagine how weird this is. Ironically, this boy grew up with a next level, not sure if I could use bionic, sense of smell which lead him to a perfumer in Paris. The story follows along as he indulge in different smells, started with the typical ones like flowers, wood, leaves, until his obsession lead him to include door knobs, animal poops, sweat, and the distinct smell of human. Grenouille, the main character, was in a quest to have that mix of “ultimate perfume” to which terrifyingly lead him to become the murderer.
“𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜, 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚛𝚜, 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚢, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑. 𝚃𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚝 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜, 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚝, 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝, 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚐𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚞𝚜𝚝, 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎. 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚛𝚞𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚛𝚞𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚎𝚗.”
It was a slow build up for this slow fiction reader. The novel has four parts — parts 1 and 2 were rather slow but important parts of the novel. It was when I got to parts 3 and 4 that made me turn pages quickly.
It’s safe to say that I also have to give kudos to the translator (from German original), the english translation has that distinct classic touch to the writing, it’s beautiful but not too hurtful for my poor comprehension (classics tend to that to my brain lol).
For me, this is a story of extreme indulgence, of obsession and indifference to anything outside these boundaries, and how this combination can lead to eerily disturbing outcome i.e., becoming a murderer. Obviously, that skill or talent would have lead Grenouille to, from my perspective, much beautiful story and ~ending~. On that note though, I would not have wished for another ending than the author’s. That added to the beauty of this story.
A side note: All through out reading this, I was so frustrated. I wanted to truly smell what the scents are. I’m that type of reader lol. And I feel like this attests to how descriptive and effective the writing was?
I would recommend this to someone who’s looking for a combination of something unique, beautiful, dark and mystery thriller.