#the quote is from patrick süskinds the perfume: story of a murderer

[psychopompoi]

Odors have a power of persuasion stronger than that of words, appearances, emotions, or will. The persuasive power of an odor cannot be fended off, it enters into us like breath into our lungs, it fills us up, imbues us totally. There is no remedy for it.

[lacantuauthor]

"He possessed the power. He held it in his hand. A power stronger than the power of money or the power of terror or the power of death: the invincible power to command the love of mankind."

From Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind

One of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite books and so true! If a person could make anyone love them on command, he'd be the most powerful of all.

[unnursvanablog]

The books I read in 2020 / part 3.

I read over 50 books this year... so I had to section it off into three parts.

The Subtle knife - Philip Pullman: ☆☆☆☆ I wanted to revisit the story before watching the second series of the TV show. This book was always my favorite in the series, or at least when I first read the trilogy. I just loved the blossoming friendship between Will and Lyra so much. There are lots of answers we get here, but we get far more newer questions than I remembered.

Lyra’s Oxford - Philip Pullman: ☆☆☆ I am so fond of this world that Pullman has created and I always find it so wonderful to visit it again. I really enjoyed this story, I but I also found it just a bit too short.

Perfume: The Story of Murderers - Patrick Süskind: ☆☆☆☆ I really enjoyed this one. It's not a large book, but it's really interesting and very unusual. I had the movie in my head the whole time I was reading the book, which took a bit of the fun out of reading it though. But the writing was beautiful.

Archenemies, Supernova – Marissa Meyer: ☆☆☆, ☆☆☆. All the books that I have read by Meyer have really interesting premise, nice and likeable characters with some great dynamic between them and comradery, which is just so fun to read and this series certainly delivers on that. The romance is cute, and the plot is very fast paced and exciting. It's a very fun and easy read. Now, while I do think this series explores some interesting themes such as abuse of power, challenging your leaders to recognizing that the views that other around you and those you admire aren’t always correct, I also felt part of the last book, and the ending fumbled over some of them or didn't really uphold them well enough or go as hard as I wanted them to go. It almost felt too easy. Just like some of these superhero movies it's very entertaining, but might not always leave a lot behind in the end.

The Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, Oatbringer, - Brandon Sanderson: ☆☆☆, ☆☆☆☆, ☆☆☆. When I first started this story I felt like it was really slow, a bit boring and just sort of dragging it's feet through clunky worldbuilding and backstories. The first part of the Way of Kings was not a fun read to me. Although Sanderson is great at creating a interesting and dynamic worlds and setting for his fantasy story (it's one of the things he's known for) I wish he could do so with a little less info-dumps. It really bored me, there wasn't enough story to hook me and that was the main reason why I switched to the audiobooks for this series. The audiobook finally managed to draw me into the story.

All the books in Stormlight Archive suffer from a similar problems as the first one, in various degrees, although the stakes do increase as you go further into the story and towards the plot has escalated so much that you do not seem to be able to put the book down, it's the start and the meandering middle that kinda suck a lot of excitement out if this story for me. The story is sometimes a little too slow for me, although I find some of it enjoyable. I just personally like a bit more plot. You're constantly learning more about the world and how it works, but I wish there was more rise to the story all throughout the books, and I think Sanderson is extremely weak when it comes to such political intrigue. I want a bit more escalating tension. I experienced very similar thing with Mistborn. There is also the fact that some parts of the books are more interesting than other depending on the POV, but that can happen with a story as big as this one. I just wish there was a little less info-dumps, a bit more suspense throughout the plot and that the worldbuilding could be mixed better in with the actual plot.

The Burning God – R. F. Kuang: ☆☆☆☆ The Poppy War series is one of the most stand out series I have read in a while! I flew through the first two via audiobooks earlier this year and then I picked up the last book in the trilogy as soon as it came out. It is very dark and does not shy away from the gruesome details of war and what it can do to people and how it can just break them and the aftermath that it leaves behind. Even with all the magical powers that some of characters have things never get easy. They only seem to get worse.

I admired Kuang's use of real history as inspiration for this series and how she did it, as I read a little bit more about the Chinese civil war and the opium wars in the process, and how truly morally gray the characters were (the term morally gray gets throw around a lot) and how everyone could turn on each other at any given moment, the characters are someone you can empathize with but they are also so flawed and unlikeable at the same time. You are supposed to be conflicted on these characters and I think Kuang manages to do that so well and I enjoyed reading a whole lot.

The story surprised me at almost every turn, and it was so satisfying when every piece fell into place and we got to the ending that this story deserves. The writing itself is quite straight forward and to the point and not very flowery, which I think suits the story and the subject matter quite well. It does have some pacing issues, especially in the second book for me, which can sometimes be a bit of a drag. But the overall story is super strong. It is not for people who want to have a light, fun fantasy read or cannot stomach a lot of violence. This is an adult grimdark after all. Lots of trigger warning for this one like substance abuse, self-harm, rape, death, violence etc. I can personally handle a lot, but even I found it hard to read at times. But the way these things were handled or written about in the story and how it was handled did usually not bother me. It was not done for sheer shock value.

The Bear and the Nightingale - Katherine Arden: ☆☆☆☆ I actually sort of knew before I read this book that this would be something I would really enjoy. And I was right. I loved the atmosphere, the feeling of it, and this world that was brought to life by this book. It felt like reading a folk tale by the fire, it had that feeling, as it is some sort of retelling of Slavic folktales, I think. The story is rather slow and I felt it dragged its feet in some places. Especially towards the middle. But I always found it really fascinating and captivating read.

The Polar Bear Explorers ’Club - Alex Bell: ☆☆ This story never really captured my attention. I often found it rather confusing, a bit vapid and even a bit all over the place. There was not enough danger, not enough conflict and the main character got on my nerves a bit as I thought she was this typical 'I'm not like other girls' female character that you meet from time to time. Although I associate it mostly with YA books.

Daemon Voices - Philip Pullman: ☆☆☆☆ I did not read this book page by page, but when it comes to such a collection of essays and so on, I personally don't think you need to. I often have a hard time reading non-fiction and I usually find it more fun to listen to them. It's not a straightforward story that really pulls me forward as there is no plot. I am a plot driven person. So reading it did take some time, but I still found a lot of interesting thoughts and ponderings about what it means to tell stories, write them and publish them. It really made me ponder at least. And I also found a lot of great quotes as well.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S.Lewis: ☆☆☆☆ I just wanted to reread one good and short classic that gives a little Christmas feeling. However, I was not always in the mood to re-read books and I didn't always find myself in the mood for it this Christmas. But that is not the fault of the book. I've read it before and loved it. I just do not re-read books often and I just often am not in the mood to read books during the Christmas holidays for some reason.

[misunderstoodnotevil]

“Eight People I’d Like To Know Better”

Tagged by @uneassasymphonie (thank you, Lou)   

I’ll tag (not as a method of intimidation but playful banter meaning ignore at will) @bitletsanddrabbles, @oleander4, @naevery, @lifeisjuicy92 (and no! I haven’t forgotten your oppositions tag game, it takes a bit more time to think about it and add pics in the end), @panicsheerbloodypanic, @sillyboithomas, @singingman55, @mr-barrow

About me

Name: Anastasia

Zodiac Sign: Cancer

Height: 1.65 cm

Hobbies/Interests: I think it's the usual. Reading, listening to music, watching movies (even though I used to do that a lot lot more when I was a teen. It somehow stopped after finished uni). I don't know if I should say writing is a hobby. If I have my way I'll do a master in creative writing some time soon. I'm learning spanish these days. Baking too.

Favorite Color: Either burgundy red, or cypress green

Favorite Book: I don't think I can pick just one. Or even ten. Just to give some different kind of authors though Arturo Perez Reverte - The Flanders Panel Charlotte Bronte - Villette (Yes, Jane Eyre is a favourite too & everything from the Bronte sisters) Mikhail Bulgakov - The Master and Margarita Naguib Mahfouz - Arabian Nights and Days Patrick Süskind - Perfume the Story of a Murderer Umberto Eco - The Name of the Rose Irvin Yalom - When Nietzsche Wept

Last Song: Antonio Banderas - Oh What a Circus (Evita soundtrack) As I'm writing this, I turned on the radio and Zaz's Qué vendrá is on, following by LP’s Lost on You

Last Film/Show: Actually, I watched Downton Abbey last night As for tv show it was the last season of Grantchester 

Inspiration: For writing? It's music, favourite quotes & lines etc for edits just an interesting character & face (I'm no graphic designer, let's face it!)

For example, Life with the Edges Taken Off and Survival were originally inspired by Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis play.

Story Behind URL: misunderstoodnotevil is what Rob James-Collier calls Thomas Barrow and tbh I was surprised when I saw no one had used it in the last decade prudencean (main blog) is taken by the heroine of Mary Webb's novel "precious bane" Prudence (Prue) Sarn and the first two letters of my name. I think I have used either prudence or the Greek word for it (synesis) as my handle as long as I have social media.

[fragiledewdrop]

Ohh how about P for that bookshelf/stacks on the floor ask thingy??

Hello! How are you?

Ah yes, of course. P is a wonderful letter.

How about "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer" by Patrick Süskind?

It's been one of my favourites for years, and I always try to rec it but because of the subject matter it's not everyone's cup of tea. Warnings include violence, torture, cannibalism and inappropriate behaviour towards corpses.

That said, I love it for a couple of reasons.

It is about a man with a miracoulous sense of smell, which means that the novel is built around sensations that are not easy to evoke in writing, and yet the author manages it with scary accuracy. It made me realize just how powerful the written word can be. (By the way, there is also a movie inspired by the book. It's not bad, but I think here is where it fails: no masterful rendition of odorous sensations.)

Secondly, it is a thriller written with the culprit as a protagonist, which is highly unusual. I had never encountered this before when I first read it. Plus, there are little - if any- redeemable qualities in him:he's not an antihero, he's the antagonist, a vicious one at that, and you know this, yet you get drawn into the story, and if you are like me you end up holding your breath with him, hoping he doesn't get caught.

And then the story is just formidable. Gripping. It's one of those books you don't want to put down and that don't make you sleep at night.

You also end up learning a lot about how to make perfume in the 18th century, which is always useful.

I absolutely recommend it if you are into this kind of thing.

As for why I have it, it was actually my father's copy. I took it out of a shelf when I was thirteen, intrigued by the title and the opening lines, and I was changed by it in a way I can't define. It's on my shelf now.

A couple quotes:

"For people could close their eyes to greatness, to horrors, to beauty, and their ears to melodies or deceiving words. But they couldn't escape scent. For scent was a brother of breath. Together with breath it entered human beings, who couldn't defend themselves against it, not if they wanted to live. And scent entered into their very core, went directly to their hearts, and decided for good and all between affection and contempt, disgust and lust, love and hate. He who ruled scent ruled the hearts of men."

"…in that moment, as he saw and smelled how irresistible its effect was and how with lightning speed it spread and made captives of the people all around him—in that moment his whole disgust for humankind rose up again within him and completely soured his triumph, so that he felt not only no joy, but not even the least bit of satisfaction. What he had always longed for—that other people should love him—became at the moment of his achievement unbearable, because he did not love them himself, he hated them. And suddenly he knew that he had never found gratification in love, but always only in hatred—in hating and in being hated"

"This scent had a freshness, but not the freshness of limes or pomegranates, not the freshness of myrrh or cinnamon bark or curly mint or birch or camphor or pine needles, not that of a May rain or a frosty wind or of well water... and at the same time it had warmth, but not as bergamot, cypress, or musk has, or jasmine or daffodils, not as rosewood has or iris... This scent was a blend of both, of evanescence and substance, not a blend, but a unity, although slight and frail as well, and yet solid and sustaining, like a piece of thin, shimmering silk... and yet again not like silk, but like pastry soaked in honey-sweet milk - and try as he would he couldn't fit those two together: milk and silk! This scent was inconceivable, indescribable, could not be categorized in any way - it really ought not to exist at all. And yet there it was as plain and splendid as day."

See what I mean?

Thanks for asking, E. 🌺

It occurs to me that I found this kind of wonderful description of a sense different from sight in another book: "Gourmet Rapsody" by Muriel Barbery, which revolves around taste. Definitely worth reading too, and a lot less murdering to go around.

[kalliope-amorphous]

This quote is from the book Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer by German writer Patrick Süskind. The film adaptation of the novel is what pushed my interest in the art of perfume forward over a decade ago. It’s a gorgeous gothic horror film which explores the sense of smell and its relationship with the emotional meaning that scents have. I find this quote particularly beautiful because it speaks to the power of perfume and its magical presence. I wasn’t finding that magical and evocative presence in department store perfumes, so I had to create my own, which is how Black Baccara began. -Kalliope http://www.blackbaccaraoils.com

[punkophile97]

Quote from my favorite novel; "Perfume; the story of a murderer" by Patrick Süskind