El Perfume. Draft of the review. Tatiana and Sara

El Perfume by Patrick Suskind

Review

Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is an uncommon character who is made for people that love different and excellent jobs, Grenouille is a particular and, most of all, a bizarre man whose life is not a banal one and whose desires are not the one that people use to have.

 

In this magnificent book Patrick Süskind go back to the Bildungsroman that is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist, that in this case is called Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, from youth to adulthood and in which change is thus extremely important. El Perfume is narrated with unique and exquisite description, that makes this book one of the best suspense books ever done. 

Coldness is the word that describes Jean-Baptiste that is an abominable man whose mind is a kind of wicked, however with that wicked mind he can do a lot of  astounding things and, the most important fact is that, those things are done by a zealous guy that during all his wretched life is looking for his place in that world that does not seem to be made for him.

This is an unforgettable character was created by Patrick Süskind in El Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (1985) who is a German writer and screenwriter, and who is recognized for this magnificent m¡novel, this novel was made into a film in 2006 by Tom Tykwer and is the only story of his to have reached the cinema to date. With more than 12 million copies sold and translations into 46 languages, he is probably the most well-known contemporary German writer in the world

March 15th

Tasks for today:
*Explore the blog to read what your classmates have posted for both: the metaphors about reading and the hyperlinks for Susan Sontag's text.
*Post a draft of your review (if you have one) and want some feedback.
*Browse the websites of The Guardian and The New York Times for examples of book reviews.

Book Reviews, The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/books+tone/reviews

Book Reviews, The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/review/index.html

The pleasure of reading...

Reading to me is a pleasant activity, I really enjoy it and always I want more and more. To read in Spanish is like when  I open a gift, I want to know what is the content, I'm exciting when I start to read and  when I discover the content, I just enjoy it.

Reading in English to me is like go to travel to unknown place, where there are many things  new for me but I enjoy it and I always want to know more, sometimes I want to return again to understand and get the best out of that place.

Reading in French is like work on jigsaw puzzle with 1000 pieces, you don't know how to begin, but when you start and you see the progress you want to finish and enjoy the final result.It's difficult but is so exciting.

Reading...

To read in Spanish can be to fly without a parachute, it is to feel the air in your face, and those kinds of tickle in your stomach, it is to feel the adrenaline and many other kinds of feelings  running inside your body.

To read in French is like don´t find any oasis in the desert, it is to feel like your body little by little dehydrates but sometimes it is like to  drink a large glass of lemonade in the hottest day.

To read in English is like to float in the middle of the sea, feelings the gentle surf under your body until a big wave appears and it makes you to lose the control, you feel terrified even you swallow water, seawater that produces a bad taste in your mouth, but the time passes and you achieve to recuperate the control and you return to the surface where all is tranquility and peace. 

How is reading in...?

HOW IS READING IN….?

I didn’t understand when people would talk about the pleasure of reading, the whole thing was boring for me, but then I discovered that I was curious person, and that the only way to get to know the things I wanted to know, was by reading, so it all began like that; however there are three different scenarios:

      1. Reading in Spanish

Reading in Spanish for me is like when you go to sleep and you start dreaming, and things can be normal and sane. Sometimes when it is about those stories where everything is relatable the dream appears so normal that I can become meaningful or boring. In the other hand the dream can become chaos and insanity, it can put you through suffering and bliss when you don’t expect it. There can be moments, when you even feel tired. But there are other times when the dream is as surreal as dreams can be, so it feels like place where your mind is getting to another level or is being transform.

I find that reading in Spanish, for me, is like a dream because I can decide what to read as well as I decide when to go to sleep, and in both of them I don’t have control of what could happen, but I can control when to stop…or wake up.

      2.      Reading in English

To read in English is like eating when you’re really hungry, because you want to eat everything that’s in front of you but have to stop and chew and swallow carefully so you don’t choke; and that chewing and swallowing process, is for me the moments when I have to re-read or stop to look for the meaning of a word. Than when I finish reading is like when you’re finally full and the hunger is gone; however, sometimes when you eat after being very hungry, you can feel sick or you regret about eating too much, that’s like when I found I don’t like what I’m reading or that I’m frustrated because I’ve been reading and suddenly I realized that I don’t understand o remember anything I’ve read.

      3.      Reading in French

Reading in French, for me is like writing with my left hand, so giving the fact that I’m a righty, I can tell that it is really uncomfortable. It is like trying to be a lefty because I know it is a good thing for my memory but it’s still hard and frustrating. It’s full of stumbles and those moments when you have no idea what you’ve just written. But even though it’s exhausting, it is a challenge after all.

So that’s what it is, I’ve found that for me, reading in Spanish and English are like a need; while reading in French has become like thing that can help me with another couple of things.