Perfume (book)

From Freepedia

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer is a 1985 literary historical horror novel (originally published as Das Parfum) by German writer Patrick Süskind.

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

Set in 18th century France, Perfume relates the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, "one of the most gifted and abominable personages in an era that knew no lack of gifted and abominable personages".

Born lacking a personal odour (a fact other people find disquieting) but endowed with an incomparable sense of smell, he apprentices himself to a perfumer and becomes obsessed with procuring the perfect scent that will make him fully human. In the process, he creates perfumes - presumably based on pheromones - that powerfully manipulate human emotions, murdering 25 girls to take their scent.

The book features detailed descriptions of the techniques of scent extraction such as maceration and enfleurage.

Adaptations

A film adaptation of the book is currently in production, scheduled for 2006 release.

Scentless Apprentice, a song on the rock band Nirvana's album In Utero, was inspired by Perfume (according to the fan site Nirvana Freak, it was Kurt Cobain's favourite book) [1].