Perfume by Patrick Suskind

I have such old-fashioned reading tastes that I think every book should have a point, a reason for existing. Sometimes the point can be as simple as telling an exciting or scary or romantic story, and as long as it is done well that can be enough. Some more complex books examine their characters and convey a picture of human nature under certain conditions. Others are more theme driven and perhaps attempt to portray trends in society as a whole. Although this novel has an interesting premise, I suppose, for the life of me I cannot see that it has any point.

The central character is born without any scent; he doesn't have that human odor that is unique to each individual. Ironically, however, he has a supernaturally keen sense of smell, even more developed than that which we are told dogs possess. He becomes a perfumer, learning the methods of distilling the essences of plants and combining them to create fragrances. But then he discovers that a few young virgin girls have a natural scent more alluring than the best perfume, and he proceeds to try to distill their essence and bottle it, hence the subtitle of the novel: "The Story of a Murderer."

This brief summary makes the book sound more interesting than it actually is. Suskind's method of telling his story robs it of any vitality or suspense or horror or believability. This is a translation from German, so that might be part of the problem; maybe it comes alive in the original, but I doubt it. It has something of the tone of an allegory, but if so, his point is lost on me.

This was evidently a best seller in its time (1985). I welcome comments from any who appreciate it to explain to me what I missed.