Suskind's masterpiece, which sold 20 million copies worldwide

Patrick Süskind's novel "Perfume" is a bizarre story about a demonic genius who was born with a remarkable talent for smell but who himself had no smell.
Set in 18th-century France, restored with Suskind's signature meticulous writing, this thrilling tale unfolds about a man's obsession with obtaining the world's finest fragrance, even committing twenty-five murders.
This work, which combines the unique idea of ​​perceiving the world and dominating others through the sense of smell with Suskind's outstanding literary ability to visualize it, has received praise from media outlets around the world as a rare work that possesses both entertainment and literary value.
In particular, France's 『Le Figaro』 commented, "It is an unprecedented work, unlike anything ever before, and will remain an event in contemporary literature." As if to prove this comment, the book has been translated into 49 languages ​​since its publication in 1985 and has achieved remarkable success, selling 20 million copies worldwide.


The appeal of this novel can be said to come from the author's outstanding imagination and wit, drawn from the unusual subject of smell, or "perfume."
It's so amazing, so fairytale-like, yet so terrifying.
Additionally, it was made into a movie in 2006 and sold 160,000 copies in the same year it was released in Korea.
Readers' evaluation of "Perfume" is [a book you want to read again] and [a book you want to own].
"Perfume," which still resonates across time and generations, will meet readers once again in 2020 with a new design and editing.

He didn't jump to conclusions, pretending to be smart.
It didn't follow the common classification of good smells or bad smells.
I haven't done that yet.
He was very greedy.
The purpose of his scent hunt was to possess everything in this world that could be called a scent, simply and as it is.
The only condition was that they had to be new scents.
To him, the smell of horse sweat was as important as the soft, green scent of a newly blooming rose.

--- p.61

Grenouille became convinced that without this scent, his life would be meaningless.
He had to know this scent intimately, down to the smallest detail, down to the softest last morsel.
It was not enough to simply remember it in a complex state.
He wanted to imprint this sacred scent into his own dark, chaotic soul and study it with great precision.
So from now on, I decided to think, live, and smell according to the inner structure of this spell.

--- p.70

Human unhappiness stems from our unwillingness to remain in the place where we should be paying attention, that is, in our own territory.
Pascal said so.
Pascal could be called the Frangipani of the spiritual world.
He was a great craftsman.
We don't need people like that anymore these days.

--- p.93

Yes! It was his own kingdom! The kingdom of the great Grenouille! Created and ruled by the great Grenouille, a kingdom he could destroy and rebuild whenever he pleased, a kingdom he would never cease to expand, a kingdom he would fight against all invaders with a sword of fire.
Here his will, the will of the great, majestic, and extraordinary man Grenouille, was law.
Having banished all the bad smells of the past, Grenouille now wanted his kingdom to be filled with fragrance.

--- p.198

What Grenouille created that day was a strange perfume.
What is even stranger is that such a perfume had never existed in the world before.
It was not a pleasant scent, but a perfume that had a [human scent].
So, when you smell that perfume in a dark place, it's the kind of perfume that makes you believe there's another person nearby besides yourself.

--- p.233

The human scent itself was of no interest to him.
Even with just his own substitute perfume, he could sufficiently imitate human scent.
What he wanted was the scent of [special] people, those very rare people who evoke love in people.
Those people were his sacrifice.

--- p.291

The moment he succeeded in what he had always longed for, making people love him, it became unbearable.
Because he himself hated the scent rather than loved it.
And then suddenly he realized that he could only ever find satisfaction in hate, not in love.
From hating and being hated.

--- p.368