Perfume by Patrick Süskind it set in the 1800’s Paris. the main character of the book is named Jean-Baptiste Grenouille because of his gifts and sole ambition were restricted to a domaine that leaves no trace in history, the fleeting realm of scent. Where this story takes place it seems as if the whole world smells, the river stunk, the market stunk, the churches stunk, the people stunk, everything smelt awful even the king himself stunk. The king like a rank lion and the queen an old goat. the worst stench in the city was between the rue aux fers and the rue de la ferronnerie. for 800 years people had been brining dead bodies here to be hidden or disposed of. on July 17th 1738 Grenoullie was born, it ended being the hottest day of the year when he was born, his mother worked at a fish stand in the market when she was in labor and just wanted the pain to leave quickly. Grenoullie was one of 5, she wanted the birth to be over when the final contraction came she squared over and gave birth to Grenoullie. His mother bent down with a butchers knife to cut the cord but under the heat she passed out while people crowded around her
by stander 1 – what happened to her
by stander 2 – nothing
by stander 3 – what is she doing with the knife
by stander 2 – nothing
by stander 3 – where’s the blood on her skirt coming from
by stander 2 – the fish
I chose this quote because its one of the only conversation in the first 2 pages of the book that I’ve read