He recognizes the odors of separate stones and of the varieties of water he can locate even the most tremulous perfume from miles away he can separate the simplest stench into its various elements - that of a Outcast - both damned and blessed, pariah and magician. He is an orphan whose absence of body odor turns him, also, into an But the point, the miraculous point, is that he has no smell at all. In its most fetid spot, beside a mephitic cemetery and beneathĪ fish stall, the hero of ''Perfume,'' Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, is born. PATRICK SUSKIND'S novel is a book of smells - the odors of history, in fact - and on the first page 18th-century Paris is anatomized into its component stinks. Section 7, Column 1 Book Review DeskīY PETER ACKROYD Peter Ackroyd's most recent novel is ''Hawksmoor.'' He is the author of ''T. September 21, 1986, Sunday, Late City Final Edition The New York Times: Book Review Search Article
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