One of the best books I have read in my life. A genius writer...

Όταν η ποπ κουλτούρα συναντά τραγόμορφους καυλωμένους θεούς, ακόλαστες νύμφες, εκκεντρικούς συνωμοσιολόγους μεγιστάνες, απαθείς βουδιστές, σουλτάνους, χαλίφηδες και μονομάχους, αχθοφόρους, χανούμισσες και μία γαβάθα παντζάρια, το αποτέλεμα δεν μπορεί παρά να είναι απολαυστικό!

I have vacillated between a four and five star rating on this. I LOVE the words. Each page was a delicious treat that kept me on the edge of my seat...what metaphor or simile or pun would Robbins pull out of the treasure chest that is his brain? I fell in LOVE with the language. I know it sounds weird, but the way he wrote about the beet and all vegetables on the very first page sold me. I knew this book would be amazing.

The only thing that keeps me from giving it 100% are the main story lines. They didn't flow as I hoped they would, or intertwine as simply as they were supposed to for me. I lost a little interest in Priscilla, I wasn't all that fascinated with Pan....the French Marcel didn't hold any special place in my heart....thus, the four star rating.

But READ it! Four stars from me is a GOOD, GOOD thing!

You'll never look at a beet the same way again!



HERE ARE SOME OF THE QUOTES I LIKED:

The Middle Ages hangs over history's belt like a beer belly. It is too late now for aerobic dancing or cottage cheese lunches to reduce the Middle Ages. History will have to wear size 48 shorts forever.

In the quiet ache of the evening, Alobar listened to his calluses grow.

I journey to the east, where I have been told, there are men who have taught death some manners.

Louisiana in September was like an obscene phone call from nature. The air - moist, sultry, secretive, and far from fresh - felt as if it were being exhaled into one's face. Sometimes it even sounded like heavy breathing.

To achieve the impossible, it is precisely the unthinkable that must be thought.

4.yıldızı Pınar'dan korktuğumdan verdim. Asli yorumu editle girerken anlatırım derdimi.

This book is fake smart and I am real smart.

Τερατοτσόντα που άργησε να τελειώσει.

I LOVE this book. It is my favorite by Tom Robbins that I have read so far. It talks about SOOOOO much. All in all the message is basically: "lighten up." In other words, be light hearted and just live life. It talks about how science and art, although they tend to oppose eachother, actually intercect and are just two parts of the same thing. It implies that everything is just a part of one big thing. It also talks about living life with a healthy attitude. It even gives credit to "the genius waitress" something that so many people can relate to. It also gives a unique look at religion, different gods, and heaven and hell. It was an amazing read. I loved it.

4.5*

Please note: I read and reviewed this book in 2007; that review is posted here. I have made minor alterations to fit into my current format. The book was a used copy I picked up at Goodwill, and as a result I was not under any obligation to anyone. My opinions and thoughts are my own.

Book Synopsis from Paperback Edition: A story beginning in the forests of ancient Bohemia and ending at nine o'clock tonight, Paris time. The hero is a janitor with a missing bottle which is embossed with the image of a goat-horned god and is said to contain the remaining drops of the secret essence of the universe.

Brief Overview of my Thoughts: Tom Robbins shows in "Jitterbug Perfume" that he is a master with words and not afraid to play with the English language. His similes and metaphors are always good for a laugh or gape of awe...

My Synopsis: This book tells the story of a perfume bottle, a man who started as king, became a peasant, then a wanderer, and finally an immortal. We learn of and follow his journeys, the decline and death of Pan, and various perfumers who are seeking the ultimate fragrance. And let's not forget the unwritten hero of the book - the glorious beet!

My Additional Thoughts: The book is full of twists and turns, mostly created by Robbins' creative use of the English language - he bends rules into all sorts of interesting shapes. If you are a fan of Robbins, a fan of epic stories, or even a fan of books that are a bit different, you will LOVE this one! Don't miss it!

Τομ, Σ' ΑΓΑΠΩ!!! ΕΙΣΑΙ ΤΟ ΑΛΛΟ ΜΟΥ ΜΙΣΟ! Είσαι η μεγάλη μου αναγνωστική καψούρα!

Το πρώτο έργο του Ρόμπινς που διάβασα, στη μετάφραση των εκδόσεων Aquarius, αγορασμένο από έναν πάγκο στην έξοδο του σταθμού της Βικτόριας. Πραγματική αποκάλυψη για μένα, το λάτρεψα όπως λάτρεψα και τον Ρόμπινς του οποίου διάβασα σταδιακά όλα τα έργα.
Το Άρωμα του Ονείρου είναι μοναδικό για τη γλώσσα, το χιούμορ και την πλοκή του, αν και τα βιβλία του Ρόμπινς έχουν φανατικούς φίλους και ασπονδους εχθρούς. Για μένα (το έχω διαβάσει ξανά και ξανά) παραμένει στο top 10 των αγαπημένων μου βιβλίων.

As with anything Robbins writes I find myself hard pressed to find a way to accurately describe his work. Or the plot, or the style or even the characters come to think of it. Perhaps this is why the descriptions on the back of his books are always so obtuse, more like pieces of a puzzle that can only be deciphered upon completion of the book so that we, the readers, armed with our literary decoder rings can go back over them and say "ah, yes so the main character really WAS a janitor the whole time". But I digress.

Jitterbug Perfume is dense, and while I enjoyed the book immensely it was by no means a light read. Coming across Robbins's prose is a printed equivalent of the tunnel in the original 1971 Willy Wonka film. It's a constant barrage of light, sound, taste, smell (and because this is an adult novel) sexual stimuli that, once it gets going, refuses to ever stop until the very end upon which we find ourselves spit out the other end not sure wither we're a little worse or better for the wear.

As for the plot? Oh, what can I say that all the fine folks above and below me haven't already tried and failed to say in their own words. In a literal sense the story is about a 2,000 year old janitor king and his missing bride. In a figurative one it is about the potential within the reader for immortality. And in between all this there are drunken Irish men who love little girls who have their brains bashed out, bees that seek out revenge against city officials with a singular force of will that would do Edmond Dantes proud and plenty of beets.

This is not a perfect novel, it does have some very deep flaws to it, namely the stilted and overly abrupt ending which both fits into the tone of the novel and completely destroys it's pacing. And yet despite this and many other flaws it remains a worth while read, if for no other reason than it is so completely different from anything else out there on the book shelf today.