Perfume
by Patrick Süskind.
This was another book that produced a fairly unanimous reaction – unfortunately at the opposite end of the critical spectrum.
Most agreed that the book was nasty, brutish and, sadly, not short enough.
Many of us found the book offensive – a horrible book about a horrible person – verging on the pornographic.
There was nothing in any of the characters to evoke sympathy or empathy.
“Normal” human reactions were totally absent.
Without doubt the book is not a novel in any conventional sense but rather a very dark, sinister, bizarre fairy tale to rival the grimmest of the Grimms.
There were suggestions of religious allegory or symbolism and political satire but the significance was lost in the general nastiness.
Most people thought the book was well-written but this aroma-obsessed book left the reader doubting the sanity of the author.
NS June 2011
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