Perfume - The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind

My local library has announced four meetings on the theme "Read the book - Watch the Film". I signed up for all of them, and yesterday was the first meeting discussing the book Perfume - The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind. The book was first published in 1985. I did read it around that time, but could not remember too much, so re-read it for this event. 

"An acclaimed bestseller and international sensation, Patrick Suskind's classic novel provokes a terrifying examination of what happens when one man's indulgence in his greatest passion—his sense of smell—leads to murder.

In the slums of eighteenth-century France, the infant Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born with one sublime gift—an absolute sense of smell. As a boy, he lives to decipher the odors of Paris, and apprentices himself to a prominent perfumer who teaches him the ancient art of mixing precious oils and herbs. But Grenouille's genius is such that he is not satisfied to stop there, and he becomes obsessed with capturing the smells of objects such as brass doorknobs and fresh-cut wood. Then one day he catches a hint of a scent that will drive him on an ever-more-terrifying quest to create the "ultimate perfume"—the scent of a beautiful young virgin. Told with dazzling narrative brilliance, Perfume is a hauntingly powerful tale of murder and sensual depravity."

The Book

Grenouille is a very sad character, an orphan from birth, growing up under harsh conditions in the poor quarters of Paris, his only skill, apart from endurance to all the hard work, is his sense of smell. When he first encounters the smell of a young virgin, his life takes a tur. His goal is to collect and save that smell. Methodically, over several years, he learns the skills how to extract smell via a perfumer in Paris. However, it is only when he comes to Grasse, and starts working for a widowed perfumer that he learns the arts of scent extraction and preservation by enfleurage. Now he knows how to keep the smell from the dead virgins. The perfume he extracts has a power never seen before. 

It is a terrible story in all its ugliness, and one man's drive to satisfy a somewhat strange need. It is very well written, and through the narrator we get into the head of Grenouille. He is a character for which there is no sympathy. You might feel some, considering his sad and hard life, but even he himself does not seem to reflect on it. He can not love or be loved. The only feeling he has is for the smells of the world. And the urge to make the ultimate perfume and see the power of it. 

Wikipedia says that the story might be inspired by real-life Spanish serial killer Manuel Blanco Romasanta (1809-1863) "who killed several women and children, sold their clothes, and extracted their body fat to make soap." It certainly resembles the methods in the book. Another inspiration as regards the name, might be the French perfumer, Paul Grenouille. He opened a luxury perfume house in 1879, and changed his name into Grenoville.  

Perfume (Das Parfum) is the bestselling book of Patrick Süskind. He is a journalist and has written a few other novellas and plays. He lives as a recluse in Germany and France, and does not take part in literary circles, does not want to be photographed, and often refuses awards for his book. 

The Film

I had some worries about the film. There are terrible details in the book, and it is one thing to read about them, and other to actually watch them. In a way the worst thing was when they showed Paris at that time. The stank and the dirt into its very small details. Probably exactly as it was at the time. 

The book is based on narratives and I was curious to see how director Tom Tykwer had solved that. There are some narratives and it works very well. Narration cannot go wrong when someone like John Hurt is performing. A few chapters had been shorten and others taken away for the sake of dramatisation, and it worked very well. Ben Whishaw is very good in portraying Grenouille. 

Most of us did like the film, although not all had read the book. Usually, I do prefer the book to the film, but I think that, in this case, I can say that the film, from 2006, worked well.  There is a German crime-series from 2018 based on the book, and the film, but the story takes place in modern times. I wonder how that story will play out? Airing on Nexflix.

While reading I was wondering what Süskind wanted to say with the book, and this was what mostly occupied the discussion. Was Grenouille an anti Christ? The Devil? An Angel?  Is it about taking power over people? Misuse of power? The story arises many questions? S P O I L E R. A L E R T Grenouille gets the power, but does he use it? He does not, because this is not who he is. He left this world as he came into it, without much ado.