Ugh. One of the most despicable characters in literature: Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, an illegitimate poverty-stricken infant placed in a home for children of his kind. Ugly, unpleasant, but with a sense of smell unmatched. His caretaker binds him out to a tanner where he must spend his days using chemicals that are horrible and he is clever enough to work his way up the ladder within the business as he tries to figure out how to get a foot in the door of the perfume trade in Paris. Along the way, Grenouille casually commits murders, all rationalized in his twisted mind that we are in for the vast majority of the book.
This odd, single-minded man with a belief system born of being an outcast, largely invisible to others, inconsequential, yet ambitious and driven by his desire to make scents that speak only to him and his weirdness. But… he has the ability to make quite pleasing and successful scents as well. He does not care about material things, but about continually improving and learning the different methodologies of drawing out scents and combining them, not just from flowers and herbs but from odd choices that cannot be revealed till you read the book.
Along the way, though one never doubts that he is evil incarnate and he should not be permitted to remain free on this earth, the reader inadvertently starts to feel understanding of Grenouille and an interest in seeing how he will succeed in achieving his very clear goals that involve a lot of murders, among other things. And we know that he will succeed. Truly a fascinating, virtually perfectly spun and bizarre tale that warrants its place on many best books lists. Ick. Wow. The audible narrator, Nigel Patterson, did a delightful job all around with the many characters who have the misfortune to encounter our hero. Highly recommend but beware it is troubling as anything too.
They Called me Bookworm 