#suskind

Perfume (2021)

Il profumo - The perfume (movie)

I cannot say I am not frustrated by this novella. This is the first book I have read by Suskind, who is best known for his book ‘Perfume,’ and though its existentialist crises and dispassionate attitude to a pathetic man, only attached to his room is certainly comical in its dark way was an entertaining play on the typical pathetic man, I personally cannot be at peace with this ending. ‘The pigeon’ is a timeless book which sets up in a ‘One day in the life of ---’ format, with Parisian bank security guard, Jonathan Noel having an existentialist crisis and panic when a pigeon stands in front of his room. Noel is a caricature in his neuroticism, often worrying himself as he overthinks all events surrounding him, and becomes terrified by the smallest inconveniences: in this instance, a pigeon. Noel’s day progresses, becoming more and more certain that this minor inconvenience is too large for him, and that its existence means he must depart his beloved room forever, so as to never see this horrible bird again.                                    *SPOILERS START HERE* However, leaving his room with this untrustworthy bird agitates him, as it is the only connection which he is still attached to, and upon realizing this, figures his pointless life is not worth living. He later checks into a motel, and claims he will kill himself the following morning after some sleep. Instead, he wakes up in the middle of the night, where the very existence of his life is torn apart, and reveals that this 50 year old man who has wasted 30 years working and sleeping was merely a dream. Then, the now 20 year old Jonathan Noel ventures into Paris, swearing to avoid this fate.                                      *SPOILERS END HERE* I must admit, without looking at the ending, this book is a funny portrait of existentialism in everyday life. The ‘One day in the life of a nobody’ works so well on top of this, as every boring detail is highlighted to show how pathetic Noel’s life is. In particular, the detail of his lack of connections to any living people makes everything around him look alien, and vile. A homeless man representing Noel’s worst nightmare, and a pigeon spreading filth and dirtying his otherwise perfect home. Everything that is offered in the book is described with entire detail, from the description of his home, to Noel’s dinner containing a can of sardines and a glazed pear. His life is incredibly boring, which makes the writing so clever, as everything is described to show how little there really is, and honestly makes you bored of his existence just as he is of his own.  As a result, I won’t denounce it, it is still a good book, and very worthwhile just reading some of it. It draws out existentialist angst and apathy through intelligent writing and the perfect narrative of spending one day with this pointless man. However, for those who have read it, or spoiled themselves, what do you think should have happened? Tell me your thoughts!

Patrick suskind - Il profumo

The aide said that guys like me were "in what we call the reality-based community," which he defined as people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. "That's not the way the world really works anymore," he continued. "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do." —Ron Suskind, Faith, Certainty and the Presidency of George W. Bush (2004)

“Death as a subject? Is not death the non-subject par excellence? However cheerfully we may chatter about love, there is little to say about death. It leaves us speechless. Once, we are told, in the good old days, in ancient times it was different, Death was more loquacious and affable, was part of society and the family, encounters with him were not avoided, and if he was not a close friend at least he was on familiar terms with mankind. There has been a fundamental change over the last two hundred years. Death has fallen silent and commands our silence, and we are happy to comply; indeed, we preserve a deathly hush. And not because we know nothing about it - that, as everyone knows, is no reason at all to keep one's mouth shut - no, it is simply because death is the spirit of the eternal negative, a spoilsport, literally a killjoy, and we want nothing to do with such characters today.” - Patrick Süskind, ‘On Love and Death’ (2006) [p. 39, 40]