Based on an extremely unusual and haunting premise, Perfume narrates the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille - an man born in one of the smelliest markets in 18th century Paris. However, there is a rather macabre twist to this seemingly ordinary phenomenon. Jean-Baptiste Grenouille does not possess any sort of personal odor whatsoever but has an almost superhuman sense of smell enabling him to explore the world of scents like an open book. The author skillfully guides us through his life, his introduction to the world of scents and his obsession to create the ultimate perfect scent that can manipulate the very fabric of human emotion and which will set him apart from all the perfumers in the world. However, as is soon observed, the perfect scent is not to be achieved via the conventional sources of perfume and requires going that extra length ( I guess you can justify the full title of the book now).The obsession and struggle of a man to achieve his life's desire and the complex relationship between scents and human emotions forms the basis of this book.
I do not wish to divulge any further details lest it spoil the reading experience but I would like to complement the author as of the five senses, the sense of smell is most difficult to translate onto prose but to a large extent, you can almost feel the different scents described in the book. Although a tad repetitive and abstract at times, the book is an enjoyable read and it will change the way you perceive scents forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment