Interesting Quotes

"The lonely tick, which, wrapped up in itself, huddles in its tree, blind, death, and dumb, and simply sniffs...it could let itself drop. It could fall to the floor of the forest and creep a millimeter or two here or there on its six tiny legs and die-it would be no great loss. But the tick, stubborn, sullen, and loathsome, huddles there and lives and waits" (Suskind 25).

I picked this quote because it was among the first quotes that caused me to want to continue reading. The "tick" represents Grenouille, who survives from the smallest amount of nourishment and gives nothing to the world. He continues to wait and survives simply from believing there will be better times. The descriptive analogies that the author included made the book more engaging and the characters more real.
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"What he had always longed for-that other people should love him-became at the moment of its achievement unbearable, because he did not love them himself, he hated them. And suddenly he knew that he had never found gratification in love, but always only hatred-in hating and in being hated...For after all, he was masked with the best perfume in the world, and beneath his mask there was no face, but only his total odorlessness" (Suskind 292)

This is when Grenouille realizes that everything he's done up until now was a waste of time. He sees that the only emotion he has ever had was hate and he doesn't want to be admired by the people because he is loved solely for his perfume;not himself. I chose this quote because it was a dramatic turn in Grenouille's character. Before, he cared nothing for what reason others would love him;he just wanted power over them. Now, he sees what he has done is wrong and he becomes disgusted with himself.
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"But to eat a human being? They would never, so they thought, have been capable of anything that horrible. And they were amazed that it had been so very easy for them and that, embarrassed as they were, they did not feel the tiniest bite of conscience...When they finally did dare to look upon each other, they had to smile. They were uncommonly proud. For the first time they had done something out of love" (Suskind 310).

I chose this quote because it ended the book with a happy tone after the shocking events beforehand. The quote is explaining that the criminals do not feel sorry for what they did because they did it out of love. Very rarely in a novel does someone say that they ate a person alive out of love. The ending took a disturbing twist which is commendable since the entire book is full of surprises.

About the Author

Patrick Suskind was born in Ambach, Germany on March 26,1949. He studied Medieval and Modern History at the University of Munich. His most famous work is the bestseller, Perfume:The Story of a Murderer;published in 1985. He is also the author of many other novels and plays including The Double Bass, The Pigeon, and On Love and Death. He lives in Munich and very rarely allows interviews.

Summary/Review

Perfume:The Story of a Murderer, by Patrick Suskind is a tale about the twisted life of a man named Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. Born with an incredible sense of smell, he spends most of his time satisfying his curiosity of various aromas. But Grenouille lacks a scent of his own which disturbs the people around him. He dedicates his life to capturing the perfect personal odor, which he believes lies in the scent of young woman. After obtaining the fragrance that is strong enough to manipulate the world, he decides that he no longer wants it. He realizes that the people only love his perfume;they will never love him. And knowing that he will never love or be loved, he loses all hope of living.
I personally enjoyed Perfume because it was different from all the other books I've read. It focuses on the unpleasant side of human nature and how far one can drift from morality. It was an interesting book to read because of its bizarre uniqueness, but it could also be disturbing and questionable. I recommend this book only to those who have an open mind, and to those who are interested in a thrilling tale of a murderer.