The weekend-recap

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© Perfume

My weekend was pretty much filled with family activities. Friday night I went to the movies with Nina, Dirk and my friend Ira. We watched “Perfume”. Have you read the book by Patrick Süskind? It’s one of the most fascinating, yet repugnant books I have ever read. However, the director Tom Tykwer and producer Bernd Eichinger have done a really good job putting this story on celluloid [I have to add, it was a German production :)].

“In the slums of 18th-century Paris a baby is born and abandoned, passer over to monks as a charity case. But the monks can find no one to care for the child – he is too demanding, and he doesn’t smell the way a baby should smell. In fact, he has no scent at all.

Jean-Baptiste Grenouille clings to life with an iron will, growing into a dark and sinister young man who, although he has no scent of his own, possesses an incomparable sense of smell. Never having known human kindness, Grenouille l lives only to decipher the odors around him, the complex swirl of smells – ashes and leather, rancid cheese and fresh-baked bread – that is Paris. He apprentices himself to a perfumer, and quickly masters the ancient art of mixing flowers, herbs, and oils. Then one day he catches a faint whiff of something so exquisite he is determined to capture it. Obessed, Grenouille follows the scent until he locates the source – a beautiful young virgin on the brink of womanhood. As his demented quest to create the “ultimate perfume” leads him to murder, we are caught up in a rising storm of terror until his final triumph explodes in all of its horrifying consequences.”

[quoted from the back of the book]

It has a twist at the end though, so be prepared. If you haven’t read the book, this might hit you from left-field. I encourage you to read the book beforehand though. It will make you appreciate the movie more and you’ll have more of an insight into Grenouille’s personality.

Saturday night, my Mom took me out to a cabaret performance. She and my Dad have a ticket-subscription and since my Dad has left for a school trip last week, I got his ticket :) There were two performances by two comedians, each with his own stand-up comedy program. It was awesome. I do enjoy culturual events like that a lot. Both of the guys were quite talented and they were cracking jokes about stereotypes of us Germans. I wish I could quote some for you, but a) I have a hard time remembering jokes and b) they won’t be funny in English ;)

We also saw my Grandad and great-aunt this weekend and spent some quality time together. I can’t help but think that I have to spend as much time with them as possible as long as I am still here. It somehow scares me realizing that I really won’t be around much anymore in a couple of weeks [hopefully].

Speaking of which, there hasn’t been a letter from the embassy yet. Be assured, I will let you know as soon as there is.

  1. Family weekends are a good thing.

    Perfume sounds intense!

  2. Ooh i absolutely love that book…I wonder if the movie will come out in the states as well? I just looked on my movie site and i didnt see it..

  3. I haven’t read the book but lately I have been thinking I should read it sometime. Syl, moviefone.com says it’s coming out right after Christmas 12/27.

  4. Hey Hun,

    I’ve read the book millions and millions time, just love it. I’m gonna see the movie the next weekend. The embassy should hurry up! :-)

    Susi

  5. i just started reading the perfume and hopefully i will have the time to end it sometime this week. :)
    i love going to cabaret, envy you on this one!
    fingers crossed for that letter coming today!

  6. This sounds like an intriguing book. I never heard about it before, but your little summery definitely caught my interest.

    I do love cabarets as well. I actually got tickets for Jörgens favourite comedian for his birthday on Saturday. This guy is just so strange and fun, a mix of Stand up comedian, varieté artist, magician…really fun. We usually go to his half- an- hour summer show in our local entertainment park Liseberg, but this year we couldn’t make it. So now I found out about his theatre show…I hope J will like the present as much as I do. We are gonna see the matinee in this really cosy old theatre on his birthday and have a dinner with 8 friends in the evening!

    Have a nice day, hun!

  7. Oh you had a culturally enlightning weekend, huh? Going to the theater is always so nice and then the movies, too. Fun!! I have yet to read the perfume but I have always wanted to. So far, the ickiness has kept me away from it ;-)
    *hugs* I hope that letter comes soon!

  8. now i don’t know what to do. i really wanna see the movie but i haven’t read the book [yet]. i bought it in english a while ago but it’s not exactly an easy one to read so i may go with the german version. don’t know if i will manage to read it while the movie’s still in the theatres? oh well, we’ll see. if not, there’s always DVD i guess or i’m just gonna go watch it without having read the book…

    see you on friday, sweety! *smooch*

  9. i never read the book, always wanted though too. sounds like you had a great weekend great. gosh, my fingers are crossed for your letter!!!!!! big hug and a kiss

  10. family meetings are so nice. i originally planned to visit my family this week but since i am ill, we cancelled. once again.. but oh well. concerning ‘das parfüm’ … i didnt like the book when i had to read it at school, so i dont really wanna see the movie, but good that you liked it. :) good luck for your gc. :)

  11. hey sun! oh i wanna see the movie too =) although i didnt read the book! well see =) kann ich verstehen dass du deine family so oft wie es geht sehn willst!!!! kisses&&huggs

  12. i would so love to see the perfume. but i don’t find the time. i am sure it’s a good movie. had good critics. red the book twice. so how was the cabaret thingie?
    see you soon sweetie.

  13. Oh the movie is out! I want to see that. When I was in Germany, I went to the theatre and I saw a preview for that movie. It wasn’t coming out for many months though… so I read the book instead. Now I am ready for that movie! :D

  14. Naja, die “Pickel” sind halt keine Pickel sondern mehr so Bläßchen so ganz seltsam. Also wegen Pickel wär ich ja nu nicht zum Arzt gegangen aber die hab ich auch grad zu hauf :(.
    Bussi!

  15. Don’t you just love Font Garden?! It’s the best ever! I’ve signed her guestbook. Hee hee. I was seriously about to send it in… and thought that it would be fun to do it myself. :) That is so cool that you have fonts too!! Nice!!! :D

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