Perfume

I've never seen the film but clearly, at some point, have seen a trailer or read a synopsis of the plot, and so this novel was slightly spoiled for me. This is the story of a young boy (later man) who has a particularly well developed sense of smell. He becomes an apprentice to a perfumer and begins to learn the trade. As it says on the spoiler of a front cover - he is also a murderer...

It may sound funny but I do think that my own sense of smell was enhanced whilst reading this novel.

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

I finished this over a weekend - that's a weekend during a term! What a luxury to reclaim a weekend.
I like reading Murakami novels, there is something about the pace that I find reassuring.

Tsukuru Tazaki is suddenly cut off from his childhood friends (who's names all have colours in tthem) with no explanation. Over a phonecall he finds out that none of his friends ever want to see him again, or speak to him again. In his confusion and shock Tsukuru agrees to this without finding out why his friends have made this drastic decision. This novel follows Tsukuru's 'pilgrimage' to try and understand his adulthood following his traumatic experience. He travels back to his home town to see some of his former friends and then on to Finland to catch up with another.

The book itself was lovely. I've put a picture up of the sleeve as well as the book cover. The colours are beautiful, and my version also had a number of stickers in there which means that you can personalise your cover should you want to. I didn't. Stickers remain intact and unopened.

American Pastoral

This is my first Philip Roth novel. It took me a while to finish, partly as I've had a lot to contend with over the last couple of months, and also because of the amount of detail in the book. I got a little bit confused at some point as I realised that the narrator had changed but I don't recall any particular indication that this was going to happen.

American Pastoral is the story of a Jewish entrepreneur and jock and his life that outwardly looks perfect, but inwardly is in turmoil. The book explores the difference between different generations and their attitude towards America 'the land of opportunity'.