I'm very close to the end of the book now, I've had to slow down because I don't want to depart this lush writing style yet. For me it's been a real 'page turner'. Suskind has clearly studied the history, the period, the making of perfumes, alchemy. I love his descriptions of scent and stink, the skilful descriptions render scent visual and evocative. Guillame is a fascinating character, a touch of Steerpike (Gormenghast) - a man not there, a dead soul, but weirdly sympathetic. The story and the writing style has the dark, gothic allure of fairytale, I love it. I'll be reading this book again, and again.
