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Perfume (Read Red)
 
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Perfume (Read Red) (Paperback)

by Patrick Suskind (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New edition edition (26 Jan 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0141023597
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141023595
  • Product Dimensions: 17.6 x 11.2 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 92,629 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #6 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > S > Suskind, Patrick

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Product Description

Product Description
Survivor, genius, perfumer, killer: this is Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. He is abandoned on the filthy streets as a child, but grows up to discover, he has an extraordinary gift: a sense of smell more powerful than any other human's. Soon, he is creating the most sublime fragrances in Paris. Yet there is one odour he cannot capture. It is exquisite, magical: the scent of a young virgin. And to get it, he must kill. And kill. And kill.

About the Author
Patrick Suskind was born in Ambach, near Munich, in 1949. He studied medieval and modern history at the University of Munich. His first play, The Double Bass, was written in 1980 and became an international success. It was performed in Germany, in Switzerland, at the Edinburgh Festival, in London, and at the New Theatre in Brooklyn. His first novel, Perfume became an internationally acclaimed bestseller. He is also the author of The Pigeon and Mr. Summer's Story, and a coauthor of the enormously successful German television series Kir Royal. Mr. Suskind lives and writes in Munich.

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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews
5 star:
 (9)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A stinking good read, 2 Sep 2006
By Sarakani (Harrow United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
When you read this - you want to give it to your friend. When they read it, they want to pass it on. It is by word of mouth I got this, and it was so gripping.

We enter the putrid fetid streets of Paris described with such earthy deliberation - the genius Grenouile is born. How rare - a book all about man's least appreciated and talked about sense - dissected to perfection.

The author seems to have a penchant for young red headed beauties - and it is so improbable, that they could smell the best, but what if the best smell was created? What subtleties lie in smells that we cannot ever articulate as we think it's all because of what we see and hear that we strongly like or dislike palpable stimuli?

Absolutely wonderful stuff and I'm afraid I found myself identifying with the protagonists shy tendencies and his dislike of humanity and its self importance - much as in the last chapter of Gulliver's travels where horses are seen to be superior to us.

Suskind is a shy brilliant writer and this book is now being filmed for a motion picture.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars if i could only own one book., 22 Feb 2006
i have two copies, no doubt i shall end up with more. one copy is for lending and the other so i always have one.

as well as being a well considered comment on the human condition, this book is written with subtle beauty. never before have i got so much bang for my buck, a story that is relentlessly compelling with a haunting conclusion. it caters for cynics, perverts and philosophers.

buy this, give it time to trap you and then give in to it. written so beautifully you'd be cheating yourself.

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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Quite Simply one of the most amazing books ever written, 20 Feb 2006
just read it.

Then you'll want to read the rest of Peter's books.

Incredibly evokative, it's no wonder various top flight film directors have been fighting over who should bring this wonderful book to the screen.

The book tackles the final sense yet to be able to be fully understood. Smell.

Beautifully written and perfect in length, Perfume takes you ona rollercoaster ride through France.

I'd rather not describe anything more about the story, other than to say that all the friends of mine who have read this rate it as one of their all time favourite books.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Exquisitely Descriptive
This is a striking, dazzling read, following the life story of an exceptionally talented, yet somewhat twisted French perfumier named Jean-Baptiste Grenouille... Read more
Published 18 months ago by J. Roberts

3.0 out of 5 stars Olfactory overload
I read this book before I knew they were making the film. My interpretation of the main character, Grenouille, was a sort of emotionless Ichabod Crane from the Sleepy Hollow... Read more
Published on 13 Mar 2007 by Geraldine Powell

5.0 out of 5 stars A truely great book
When this book arrived on a saturday morning I decided to sit down and read maybe the first chapter. This I did but then continued and read the book in one session. Read more
Published on 14 Jan 2007 by Mr. Hywel Thomas

5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping, Chilling and Fantastic!
This book was brilliant! Gothic and erotic, and filled with intrigue from the first page.

The book follows a tick of a human through the olfactory sensations of... Read more
Published on 30 Nov 2006 by Amy

4.0 out of 5 stars A scintillating tale
I loved this book. Started a tad slowly but soon developed into a finely twisted tale,well crafted and with a shocking conclusion.
Published on 31 Jul 2006 by Angellica

5.0 out of 5 stars A nostril twitcher of a novel.
If John Waters (the American director of the film Polyester) was responsible for writing this story he would have provided the reader with a selection of scratch and sniff cards... Read more
Published on 28 Jul 2006 by Room For A View

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it... opened up a new sense
I've got to highly recommend this book - a great read that make you consider and appreciate your most underappreciated sense. Read more
Published on 26 Jul 2006 by Bord na Leabhar

2.0 out of 5 stars I can't see what all the fuss is about...
Perfume is a good, quick read, but the greatest book ever written (as one reviewer thinks it is)? Tosh! Read more
Published on 25 Jul 2006 by Andy Barrow

5.0 out of 5 stars Smell of roses
An absolutely sublime book which manages to evoke not only emotive strengths within the reader, but you can smell the plot.

Short, succinct and powerful. Read more

Published on 13 Mar 2006 by cyrilthemonkey

2.0 out of 5 stars An only okay plot-driven novel with a novel world-view
This is a story of scents, as is hammered home in the opening scene, and in particular a man with an extraordinary sense of smell, but no sense of humanity. Read more
Published on 22 Feb 2006 by T. Watson

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