A deep breath in and a half breath out. The mixture of oils, tallow and herbs- that aroma of the world around us. So many sweet fragrances that it would be a shame to exhale them. Intoxicated by the balms of 18th century Paris, Jean-Baptise Grenouille is holdfast on becoming the master perfumer of France, an obsession that ends in a murdering spree. Patrick Süskind’s twisted, depraved novel, “Perfume,” is a classic, dark masterpiece that should be on any reader’s bookshelf, tattered with annotations and re-readings. “Perfume” is not a passive indulgence, but should be consumed and digested with complete indulgence.
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille was brought up in the slums of Paris, treated like a dog more than a human. His uncomfortable upbringing left him with a distaste for humanity, or people – everything was displeasing to him. What sets Grenouille apart from others, however, is his unique and acute sense of smell. Overcome by the aromas of Paris, he found solace in smelling the brass door knobs and wooden bookshelves. Even though he relishes in the scents of the world, he himself is completely odorless. Grenouille discovers his new passion when he walks by a young girl and becomes enraptured in her scent. Defeated by his impulses, he strangles her and holds her dead body close to intoxicate himself in her aroma. He finds the perfect scent in the skin of virgins, to which he sets out to become a top Parisian perfume maker.
“Odors have a power of persuasion stronger than that of words, appearances, emotions or will. The persuasive power of an odor cannot be fended off, it enters into us like breath into our lungs, it fills us up, imbues us totally. There is no remedy for it,” Grenouille said.
Under the apprenticeship of the perfumer, Baldini, Grenouille concocts a recipe to extract the corporeal scent of a virginal girl. Using the classic method of enfleurage, a process that uses scentless fats to extract aroma compounds and oils from plants, he adapts the basics of this practice into preserving scents off of young women. He murders women, following them by their fragrance, then rubs and spreads fat over their skin, hair and clothes. He lets the engulfed bodies sit in the adipose for weeks, collecting their redolence. Grenouille uses the scents of 25 women, creating his ultimate potion. He pours it over himself, capturing the allure and love of the town.
“For scent was a brother of breath. Together with breath it entered human beings, who couldn’t defend themselves against it, not if they wanted to live. And scent entered into their very core, went directly to their hearts, and decided for good and all between affection and contempt, disgust and lust, love and hate. He who ruled scent ruled the hearts of men” Grenouille says.
This book– while containing hard themes and times of vulgarity– is a story about love at its core. Grenouille is an outcast, hungry to be adored but only seen as a domesticated animal. He feels the beauty and love of the world through scent, but lacks one of his own. He is a tragic character praying not to become a tragedy. Grenouille shatters any moral device to achieve this goal of being loved. However, he is ultimately still unloved. Not only because his mother has thrown him away or that his associates loathe him, but that the love he manufactures at the end of the story is just that – an animation, a representation of a representation. Even in Grenouille’s capture of virgins, he desperately seeks to seize purity that was deserving of love. Yet, as his notions were tainted in bloodlust and hate, he was unrequited of it. He has found power where he searches for compassion, twisting the notion of love into commerce.
“He possessed the power. He held it in his hand. A power stronger than the power of money or the power of terror or the power of death: the invincible power to command the love of mankind” Grenouille says.
“Perfume” is a horror classic, nuanced with ideas of purity, love, obsession and hate. It argues for the innately flawed state of humanity, though ending its chapters with a level of catharsis for the reader. Patrick Süskind’s understanding of human nature is beautifully explained in this book. For those who are not readers, but enjoy dark and twisted media, there is the 2006 movie, “Perfume: Story of a Murder,” that brings the twists and turns of this book to life. If not a big mystery or horror fan, Alan Rickman’s portrayal of the antagonist, Antoine Richis, is worth any discomfort to visuals of body horror.
