“The Perfume Collector” Book Discussion at Jackson Library | Ocean County Library

“The Perfume Collector” Book Discussion at Jackson Library | Ocean County Library

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Throughout the novel, Grenouille is likened to a tick. In what ways does Grenouille behave like a tick? What does this analogy reveal about his character that a more straightforward description would not?

Grenouille is born with a supernaturally developed sense of smell. He can smell the approach of a thunderstorm when there's not a cloud in the sky and wonders why there is only one word for smoke when "from minute to minute, second to second, the amalgam of hundreds of odors mixed iridescently into ever new and changing unities as the smoke rose fromthe fire" [p.

He can store and synthesize thousands of odors within himself and re-create them at will. How do you interpret this extraordinary ability? Do you think such a sensitivity to odor is physically possible? What motivates Grenouille to commit his first murder?

What does he discover about himself and his destiny after he has killed the red-haired girl? Do the descriptions of life in eighteenth-century France—the crowded quarters, the unsanitary conditions, the treatment of orphans, the punishment of criminals, etc. How are these conditions related to the ideals of enlightenment, reason, and progress that figure so prominently in eighteenth-century thinking? The perfumer Baldini initially regards Grenouille with contempt.

He explains, "Whatever the art or whatever the craft—and make a note of this before you go! And yet Grenouille is able to concoct the most glorious perfumes effortlessly and with no previous experience or training. What do you think the novel as a whole conveys about the relationship between genius and convention, creativity and destruction, chaos and order?

The narrator remarks, "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" [p. Do you think this is true? Why would an odor have such power? In what ways does Grenouille use this power to his advantage? How do you respond to the critical reactions outlined above?

Grenouille is introduced as "one of the most gifted and abominable personages in an era that knew no lack of gifted and abominable personages" [p. Or do you find him wholly repellent? How might you explain Grenouille's actions? To what extent do his experiences shape his behavior? Do you think he is inherently evil? When Grenouille emerges from his self-imposed seven-year exile, he is brought to the attention of the marquis de La Taillade-Espinasse, whose theory that "life could develop only at a certain distance from the earth, since the earth itself constantly emits a corrupting gas, a so-called fluidum letale, which lames vital energies and sooner or later totally extinguishes them" [pp.

This theory also contends that all living creatures therefore "endeavor to distance themselves from the earth by growing" upwards and away from the earth [p. Grenouille becomes, toward the end of the novel, a kind of olfactory vampire, killing young women to rob them of their scents.

These were his victims" [p. Why does he need the scents of these people? Latarsha I came here looking for an answer to the same question!

It would seem that on a second printing of this book that the typo and a few others would ha …more I came here looking for an answer to the same question! It would seem that on a second printing of this book that the typo and a few others would have been corrected. Unless, as a commenter below said, maybe Eva was so concerned about discretion that she made the appointment with the attorney under Madame Hiver's name. That seems odd though considering the real Madame Hiver is indeed alive.

If this is a typo, what a huge one to make. I figured that there were enough hints early on "she likes you, it should be easy" amd then there's the drama, she leaves, and he wins the 20, francs, sends her the info re grace, and dies. And then the actress gets in the car wreck, face destroyed, goes back to mn. I get that she was the prostitute from ny, but where was the revenge?

How did Eva orchestrate it? Lea This answer contains spoilers… view spoiler [I assumed Lambert slept with her and gave her syphilis. It left me hanging at the end in regard to the husband.

It seemed that we don't know if he would try to get some of the money. Did that frustrate anyone else? Joyce Meyer Yes! There could have been an entire chapter on that. I wanted details of their split. I was worried he would take her money, etc. Yes, frustrating. I …more Yes!

   

 

Perfume collector book club questions free.The Perfume Collector



   

Стратмор тяжело дышал. - Меган? - позвал он и постучал. До выхода было метров тридцать.



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