This book is a gripping tale of an olfactory genius: a youth with an extraordinary sense of smell, transforming it from a perfectly tuned instrument of perception to a source of inspired creativity and intellectual delight. Physically unattractive and paradoxically odorless, Jean-Baptiste was doomed to grow as an outcast from birth. This fact allowed him to nurture his two greatest passions, the search and collection of new scents and the gradually increasing aversion from humanity. The conflict between the two turns him into a ruthless monster. The protagonist unconditionally sweeps off all moral barriers in the way of his goal to create a divine perfume that would subjugate the world. The final result is as destructive as it is self-destructive. Patrick Suskind's classic novel vividly portrays the temptations and dangers of extreme isolation and self-aggrandizement - and it is both a guide and a warning.

خلصتهاااا :)

قريتها ببطء شديد متعمد .... كنت مستمتعة بتفصيلات ممكن تبان غريبة لبعض الناس وخيالي بيسرح في حاجات أغرب ... بس النهاردة مقدرتش ابطأ نفسي في القراية ... كان لازم أخلصها وتقريبا أكلت صفحاتها بعيني ومن غير ما أفوت كلمة واحدة

ودلوقتي حاسة بإحساس غريب يتلخص في كلمة واحدة هي "واااو"
Woooow
:D

منين جاب الفكرة دي؟؟!! والتفصيلات العجيبة والنهاية الغريبة دي؟؟!! أي شيطان كان بيتنطط في خيال الكاتب وإداله الفكرة

لازم أعترف إن للرواية مغزى أخلاقي من وجهة نظري فـ "چان بابتيست جرينوي" كان نتاج المعاملة اللي تلقاها والظروف المحيطة بيه من معتقدات سخيفة لناس بسيطة ومعاملة سيئة في أغلب الوقت وإن تحسنت المعاملة بيكون لسبب وهو المنفعة الشخصية من موهبته مع النفور التام من شخصه وأكيد دة بيسبب تشوه نفسي لأي حد فما بال الكل بطفل بيكبر بدون حب واهتمام حقيقيين؟؟

باتريك زوسكند كان هايل في إنه أوجد فيا إحساس التعاطف مع جرينوي كطفل رضيع وفي أول سنوات حياته وحتى مع أول جرائمه لأنه كان طفل بوعي ديني وأخلاقي أقل من الطبيعي واعتقد بشدة إن الوعي دة بيتم اكتسا��ه من التربية في عائلة محترمة .... وبعدها لقيتني مترقبة جدا لنجاحاته .... مرعوبة من جموحه وأفكاره وجرائمه التالية ومتعاطفة من جديد موقفه مع نفسه في الآخر

وصعب عليا جدا والد لور ... قطع قلبي

من الحاجات اللي سرحت فيها إنه فكرني بقطتي اللي طول النهار بتشمشم في اي حاجة جديدة تيجي في سكتها :)

وسرحت في إزاي لما كنت باشتري عطور من المطارات والمحلات في الأماكن اللي سافرت لها كانوا بيجربوها بالرش على ورقة مستطيلة ويهزوها في الجو قبل ما يناولوهالي ... بينما هنا في مصر البياعة بترش لي على رسغ إيدي وتقول لي ماتشميهاش دلوقتي واستني لما تهدا ... وبصراحة بحب الطريقة التانية اكتر وبتخليني احدد اللي عايزاه بشكل أدق وفهمت من الرواية سر الطريقتين في تجربة العطور

سرحت في مكونات العطور اللي ذكرها الكاتب وترجمها المترجم بمعظم الأسماء الأغرب والأقل شيوعا، واللي عندي فكرة عن اغلبها بسبب دخولها في بعض العطور اللي استخدمتها في حياتي واستخدمها زوجي واللي أعرف تماما معنى تواجدها في العطر وهل هيبقى تقيل للمساء ولا خفيف للنهار ... وافتكرت النصيحة الجامدة جدا " وانتوا بتعملوا انترفيو شغل وحياتكوا ماتعموا الناس ببرفانكم لأنه لو معجبهمش ممكن يأثر على تقييمهم لكم" :))

سرحت في إني بحب ريحة البحر وإن كنت - بعد تفكير- وصلت لفكرة إني ماحبش الإحتفاظ بيها وأحب أشتاق لها :)) وبحب ريحة البن في المحمصة والحبهان في مطبخي واللب الأسمر السخن والكتب .... وبحب ريحة المواليد فعلا ... بحب ريحة مخدة واحد من ولادي (ابني الكبير) وساعات بابدل معاه مخدتي لو أنا مش عيانة عشان دة بيحسسني بسلام نفسي وساعات هو بيكتشف ده ويبوظ التخطيط :)) وباكره بعض روائح لجمادات ونوع من الخضار المطبوخ وفعلا مابطبخهوش

سرحت في إن يا ترى لو كان فيه حد كدة فعلا كان هيعرف يعيش لحد سن جرينوي ولا استقباله للروائح بخاصة الخبيث منها كان ممكن يجننه ويمرضه؟؟

رواية مجنونة وجننتني ومختلفة فعلا عن كل حاجة قريتها أو يمكن اقراها مستقبلا
:))

ترجمة كاميران حوج بشعة ومحتاجة ترجمة أساسا بس تجاهلتها أحيانا وتقبلتها أحيانا كنوع من التغيير وطبعا لم تقلل من تقييمي للرواية

قرأتها و شاهدتها فيلما ..

كاتب متميز فكر خارج الصندوق و أنتج فكرة عجيبه لا أدري من أي مكان جاء بها من تلك الوديان البعيده التي يأتي للشعراء و الكتاب جميعا منها الإلهام ..

A master piece ..

لطالما احببت الأعمال الفنية اللتي تترك في فمك مذاقا ما ..
التي لا تعود الحياة بعدها كما كانت , منها العطر ..

رأيت أثناء قرائتي البطل طفلا يشم كل شئ في جشع
أشفقت عليه طفلا بالرغم من نفور جميع من حوله منه..
و هو يقوم بخلط العطور بدون قواعد .. رأيته و هو يري الفتاه قتيلته الأولي في منامه .. يتذكر شذاها , يحاول الإمساك به الإحتفاظ به للأبد و من ثم يراه كالزئبق ينسل من بين يديه ... فيصرخ
و يستيقظ

رأيت ذلك الجنون في عينيه و هو يستخلص مكونات سحره , العطر ..

انتهيت من قرائتها و من ثم شاهدتها فيلما , كان أفضل مما توقعت من الأفلام ألا تكون بمستوي الروايات دوما ..

النهايه رائعه ..

عمل لن أمل من إعادة قرائته , و رؤيته علي الشاشه ..



العطر ..
أنصح بها بشدة , علي مسئوليتي الشخصية :))

The focus on smells is great. I'll keep this around for whenever I need words to describe scents.

The story is ok. A bit unnecessarily grim. A bit dated and sexist. There's some great biting humor and some clunky dialogue.

But stinky Paris and the world of smells? Fantastic.

This book was different and brilliant. The story of an orphaned boy born without a scent, but with an incredibly refined sense of smell, the book drags a bit in parts, but the ends justify the means, in more ways than one.

All things considered, the book is a valentine to the beauty, elegance, and power of smell. A truly underrated sense, Suskind reminds the reader of just how powerful an effect our sense of smell can have. Although Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (one of the great names in contemporary fiction)'s amazing sense of smell seems the sort of thing that is unquantifiable in most any medium, Suskind makes it work perfectly. His vivid descriptions almost evoke the smells he is describing into reality, and his characterization of Grenouille is nothing short of perfect.

Grenouille is, of course, an abhorrent, vicious, loathsome character, and Suskind takes great pains to point this out literally at various intervals throughout the story. However, despite his actions and the way he is described, Suskind cleverly says one thing and shows another, presenting Grenouille as the unquestioned hero of the story, allowing him to come across as, at the very least, sympathetic (if not pitiable), and at most, a man whose single-minded drives and desires leads to the reader outright rooting for him to succeed in his horrific acts.

As the subtitle of the book is 'The Story of a Murderer', I don't think it gives anything away to say that the book climaxes in the brutal murders of 25 women that Grenouille uses to create the most perfect smelling perfume the world has ever known. Despite all the difficulties Grenouille encounters, all the opposition and roadblocks (and it's indisputably true that Grenouille was dealt a bad hand in life), he still takes his lumps admirably and never wavers from his pursuit of his dream, which, at its heart, is something I think everyone aspires to be able to do. Furthermore, when Grenouille finally does achieve his dream, he is heartbroken to discover that, after everything, it was not what he'd envisioned. Sadly, I think that is something people can relate to as well. And so it is that the story of a murderer ends up as something everyone can relate to.

One of the ways Suskind is able to so perfectly pull this off is to disassociate Grenouille from these abhorrent acts. Throughout the story, we see only Grenouille striving and working hard to achieve his goal. Then, at the cusp of putting it into motion, the story suddenly changes perspective from the actions of Grenouille to their aftermath and the perspective of the local townspeople. It's a jarring and effective method that allows the reader to still root for Grenouille, as they still are very much aware that Grenouille is responsible for these horrific actions, but disassociates him from the brutality of them by only speaking of them in an offhand manner (i.e. the chaos they create, rather than the actual detailed acts themselves).

All that said, the end of the book is insane, but wonderfully so. It's completely out of left field and it's almost hard to accept that what is happening is real and not some sort of dream (which it isn't). The reader is left waiting for the moment when Grenouille opens his eyes and we're told what really happened, but it never comes. Compared to the climax, the end of the story almost makes perfect sense, when in any other story it would be seen as equally insane, if not more so. But don't let it detract you from reading the book. It's true, you'll either love it or hate it, but no matter what you'll be unable to say it wasn't worthwhile.

يعتقدون أنهم يشاهدون كل شيء بعيونهم "

.
.

أكان شيطاناً ، مسخاً أم شبحاً لانسان؟ جسده الضئيل قد يوحي بذلك
هذا الكم الكبير من اللامبالاة ، البرود والحياة وحيداً هي ما تشير لذلك

.
هل كنا في يوم ما نهتم بحاسة الشم أكثر من النظر
أو اللمس أو التذوق ، هل كنا نرى الاشياء بعدة حواس
أم نكتفي بتكثيف حاسه واحده فقط ؟
كان "غرينوي" يشم ويرى ويتذوق بأنفه
استنشق كل شيء ما عدا أهم شيء
وهذا ما صنع منه هذا الشخص البالغ في الهزال
واللامبلاه والغيبوبة الانسانيه
.
التفاصيل الدقيقه افكاره حياته تشوقه المستمر لاستنشاق كل شيء
خلقت جواً فلسفياً من نوع آخر لم يتطرق له في أي روايه سابقه
منذ بداية ولادته الغريبه الى المشهد الاخير
حين حول العامه والنبلاء والبرجوازيين ذلك التفصيل الاخير الى
محفل كما فعل هو تماماً عندما امتص رحيق خمسة وعشرين صبيه جميله
طريقة غريبه لأن يهتم الانسان بالتفاصيل مهما اختلف الغرض أوالسبب
انانيه اتقاما او تشفي فإن الانسان يغدو شغوفاً بما يريده وبما يؤمن به مهما كان غريباً أو مُداناً ..
ُ.
باختصار انها روايه لا تقرأ فقط بل تُستنشق !

على كل من يريد كتابة رواية أن يقرأ هذا الكتاب، عله يتخلص من شيء من بلاهة المؤلفين، رواية عظيمة، بل تقترب من الكمال

It's hard for me to put into words how much I loved this story. The pacing, the characters, the overall plot - everything was perfection. However, the most amazing thing for me was the writing style. So much eloquence and beauty, without ever being over the top. I've seen some people complaining about how "simple" some of the heavy plot points were treated. I do understand and respect those opinions, but I especially liked that aspect.
Yes, this is a book about a murderer, but it isn't a crime novel. It's much more than that. To me, it was a wonderful exploration of a man I loved to hate and hated to love.

I want my last 2 weeks back. I dove into this book expecting a hell of a lot more than I dragged out of it. From the very beginning I did not like the author's writing style and should have known then that this book just wouldn't be for me.

This book is set in the mid-1700's France and centers around a horrid man who has no redeeming qualities other than the fact that he has likely the most perfect sense of smell in the history of mankind. But he uses this skill for selfish and evil purposes and we get to come along for the story of his life - if you could call it that.

The premise of the story seemed interesting enough, and of course the title tells us that there is going to be murder so that always makes for interesting reading. But I just found it to be extremely boring and tiresome.

The author obviously did his research relating to all things perfume - the methods involved in it's creation - both chemically and artistically - and the importance of it's purpose in that point in history. But he goes overboard with list after exhaustive list of ingredients or steps within a process or varieties to be found. He can't help but describe every minute detail, not just of perfume, but of the landscape or the people. I love descriptive writing - I truly do - but I do also like to have an exciting plot to keep me involved. By the time he finished describing a scene I forgot why we were there.

This book lulled me to sleep and caused me to welcome distractions rather than turning the page so it took me a lot longer than a book of this length normally would. I know that it is loved by many and was recommended to me by several whose opinions I value. But this one just didn't cut it. Even when the action picked up in the last 50 pages or so, it became extremely bizarre and made me wonder what the heck the point was exactly.

To say this book is just a book of murder is to confine Patrick Suskind's words to banality.
It is a story of love and obsession. Of one destined to be a captive of the senses.
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is a slave to scent. As some people are captivated by the scent of roses or lilacs, so Jean-Baptiste is captivated by the scent of women. In his dementia, in his lonely mind, he seeks to forever hold this scent of innocence and beauty, so much so it drives him to the brink of insanity, forcing him to commit the utmost atrocities as his mind takes him down a path of darkness from which he will never return. Perfume is a story of the dark recess of the mind, where some madmen dwell for moments, and some dwell forever.

Original story, well-written, a bit creepy, a lot silly, morality turned on its head for sex and drugs, it put me in mind that it was the Pied Piper in reverse. Not an exact analogy, just what it put in my mind.

I've just downloaded the film. It will be interesting to see how much humanity is allowed Grenouille.

This book had me like...


Unlike anything I've ever read, but I loved it. Especially the whole last chapter had me laughing morbidly at scenes the author probably did not intend to be satire. The circumstances of Jean-Baptiste's birth and upbringing were also hilariously awful to me.
During the rest of the book my general reaction was this:


I wasn't sure if I was gonna be sent straight to hell for rooting for the main character so I tried to keep my opinion out of the general reading process. (I say this because Jean-Baptiste murders several innocent people and despises every person he meets in the entire story. Not a role model.)

Overall, good book, not for the faint of heart.