He who ruled scent ruled the hearts of men.

           As mentioned in the previous post picking a book for book club was to prove a difficult task. After trawling through my modest collection of novels and much deliberation I finally settled on Perfume by Patrick Suskind. I read it before as a teenager and the little frog like man really spoke to me. Although I’m not sure what that says about me. Does anyone know what I mean? That such an inhumane character who murders for greed and lust can pluck such human emotions as empathy, compassion and something almost maternal. I felt confident that at least half my friends would like the book and those that didn’t would dislike it so much that the discussion would have tremendous depth.
           When the big night came my nerves were ridiculously shattered. Having my friends over for seemed like the most daunting experience in my life to date. Would there be enough chairs? Would there be any uncomfortable moments of silence? Would they like the chicken soup dip courtesy of my sister’s secret recipe? All these worries and more crossed my mind.
            Now I didn’t want my Book Club baby to turn into one of those Eastenders type Book Clubs where they all just sat around gossiping and drinking wine. I didn’t want it to be the subject of eye rolling when I mentioned it to my male friends. Nevertheless people brought wine; I myself was guilty of buying a bottle. And you know what, I think we needed it. It broke the ice, as crazy as it sounds even though they were all my friends it was a little bit awkward to get started. I suppose it was a big change in the dynamic of our usual conversation topics.
           Once the wine flowed the conversation followed suit. I was delighted that my predictions for the responses were correct, some loved the book and others simply hated it. One friend in particular thought there was something wrong with those that identified with it. And perhaps she was right. The book held so many themes that it made for perfect deconstruction. The very essence of Grenouille’s core being was brought into question. Just what exactly was this man, was he an orchestrator of death as was discussed? Aside from the murders that he actually committed it could be argued that he was responsible for the deaths of so many others, just by being in their company. Ironic and filled with black humour, Perfume hinted that Grenouille cursed the people in his life starting with his mother and ending with a village full of people. He took the hate, greed and lust that people felt inside and used it against them (whether intentional or not) and the characters got their comeuppance in the end.
           I won’t talk about the ending simply because I don’t want to ruin it for anyone that hasn’t read it. I will say however that it was as apt as could be. I thought it was perfect, I think even if it grosses you out you’d appreciate how symbolic it was, and frankly the book couldn’t possibly have ended any other way.
And so it was, the pilot meeting of Book Club was a success, as my friends left and the texts rolled in about how much fun it was I felt really proud that I had pulled it off. Well at least I did the next day, the one bottle of wine I had turned into three and I wasn’t thinking much at that stage. I did, however, begin a tradition that the hostess will always end up the drunkest. It’s got to be those bookworms in your stomach.

A great read, let me know what you think!