Vile-ing away time

I just finished reading Perfume by Patrick Suskind and loved it. It’s not like anything I’ve ever read before. Set in the 18th century France, the story revolves around Grenouille who is a misanthrope, born with a superhuman olfactory sense. His purpose in life is to create the greatest scent in the world which leads him through a series of macabre incidents culminating in what I thought was the perfect (weird but perfect) ending.

What makes the book such a fascinating read is the lead character’s complete lack of morality…he does not even understand the meaning of words “God”, “morals”, “truth” etc., nor does he want to. The tone is non-judgmental throughout…never does the author attempt to create a sense of sympathy for Grenouille, who is a truly despicable character. What the author does accomplish is to make the book intriguing. Grenouille’s character is such that even while committing the most heinous crimes, the author and he are completely unapologetic and are not plagued by remorse subsequently. Apart from the lead character, the book is very rich in its descriptions of scents and landscapes. Other characters, though not occupying too much space, have been etched out well and serve their purpose.

Because I loved the book so much, I really wanted to see the movie. I haven’t got round to seeing it yet but I can’t say I’m as excited since I found out that Ben Whishaw (you may remember him from “I’m Not There”) is playing Grenouille which is ludicrous to anyone who has read the book. Grenouille is supposed to be ugly as hell and here we have Whishaw who looks quite cute. I also have a horrible feeling they would’ve changed quite a few things from the book to make it more Hollywoodesque like maybe a romantic angle. If that happens then it would change the character fundamentally and it would all be pointless. Then again I shouldn’t be so presumptuous before actually seeing the movie.

Anyway I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for something different from the usual riff raff…it’s not too long and worth your time.