I don't love dark and disturbing books but this WAS compelling. ( )

the most unusual book one ever reads. Start sniffing! Excellent translation from the German original (publ. 1985) ( )

Jean-Baptiste Grenouille or Grenouille is born without a scent. He is also an orphan with an incredible sense of smell. Unfortunately he is consistently under the care of the most apathetic people imaginable. He survives every bullshit they throw at him to become a master perfumer and ultimately a serial killer. This is literally the entire rundown of the book. There are endless details about the process of making various perfumes etc., descriptions of every single scent he comes across, and the horrible people he encounters but its mainly about his ascent into crafting the perfect perfume out of his victims. The pacing is clunky and leaves a lot to be desired. Most of the characters only exist to propel Grenouille's story forward and not by much. Grenouille is a empty husk of an individual devoid of any real ambitions outside of making the ultimate scent. It drags on for far too long, especially during "suspenseful" moments of the story, which are not suspenseful at all. Because they offer no real consequences. Towards the ending of the book the author forgets he did not paint Grenouille in any sympathetic light but in the most absurd manner possible, undercutting any point being made. Was there even a point? ( )

I was not impressed with this book. I think something was lost in the translation into English. It just felt very odd and stilted to me. Of course, I pushed through and kept reading until the end. Just a very, very odd book to me.

What a book! I read it once, more than a decade ago, but it definitely stayed with me. The protagonist is appalling but his quest to find the perfect perfume is disturbingly overwhelming.
A great tribute to the sense of smell. ( )