the smell of the devil incarnate

Jean-Baptiste Grenouille was born with no distinct smell. Despite being thrown in the garbage amidst the stench of rotting fishes, he managed to survive. Despite the absence of human smell, his olfactory sense is a hundred times more active than a normal human being. He can detect a smell within a mile, even the unidentifiable ones, the ones not listed in the dictionary of smells -- if ever there is one. He has mastered the skill of concocting perfumes from a plethora of ingredients. In no time, he was able to surpass the famous perfumers in France. He skips from one town to another to pursue his only dream of becoming the greatest perfumer in the world. So great was this obsession, intensified by his goal to create the most perfect smell which can only be extracted from 24 virgins.

Aside from his unique olfactory gift, his survival is one of unbelievable. At the snap of a finger, he is cured from a rare terminable disease upon hearing that the extraction of smells can also be done by a special process of distillation. After hiding in a mountain cave for eight years, and being literally devoured by earth and decompositors, he still lived. He lives for himself alone and does not feel accountable to anybody. He can only feel hatred. Not compassion nor love. And yet people who bump into him regard him as probably the most innocent man they've ever laid their eyes on.

Das Parfum (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer) has got to be one of the weirdest books I've ever read. But it's a weirdness that leaves you with amazement. Originally written in German, the translation is impeccable. Every page seethes with an obsessive quality, as if the untraceable smells draw you into the same evil obsession. The ending is explosive. It's so amazingly wicked that I'd spare you the details and I want you to read for yourself. But the film adaptation of this novel was released last year, so if you can't find this book in any booksale you can watch the film. But I doubt it would have the same belief-suspending qualities that would make you gasp as with the book.