anticipation, and more --- on〈Das Parfum〉

"It was not especially difficult for him to stay awake and wait, despite his weariness. He loved this waiting. He had also loved it with the twenty-four other girls, for it was not a dull waiting-till-it's-over, not even a yearning, expectant waiting, but an atendant, purposeful, in a certain sense active waiting. Something was happening while you waited. The most essential thing was happening. And even if he himself was doing nothing, it was happening through him nevertheless... He had never felt so fine in all his life, so peaceful, so steady, so whole and at one with himself..."

if taken out of the context, this passage from 〈Das Parfum〉 described precisely what 'active waiting' had meant to convey. passion was the one word conjured up as i read through this almost demonic passage of Grenouille the sociopath. it was petrifying to see passion's evil twin if you ask me.

Other passages that spoke to me in Süskind's book:

"talent means next to nothing, while experience, acquired in humility and with hard work, means everything."

(while Süskind seemed to loath such saying, i saw it as a self-reminder)

"Ordours have a power of persuasion stronger than that of words, appearances, emotions or will. The persuasive power of an odour 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."

(couldn't help thinking about the power of the Holy Spirit as i read this...*grin*)

"He could do all that, if only he wanted to. He possessed the power. He held it in his hand. A power stronger than the power of money or the power of terror or the power of death: the invincible power to command the love of mankind. There was only one thing that power could not do: it could not make him able to smell himself. And though his perfume might allow him to appear before the world as a god -- if he could not smell himself and thus never know who he was, to hell with it, with the world, with himself, with his perfume."

(this is Grenouille's death warrant, a sad realization of his self-unknowing. throughout the novel Süskind reminded his readers his villain's inability to comprehend the concept of God. i've never imagined such thing possible, but to simply assume its possibility gave me the chills... afterall, love is a gift indeed. and sometimes the joy of an average, un-talented being is more to be treasured than the riches of the world.)


related post: murder --- on〈Das Parfum〉