post 2

"At age six he had comlpetely grasped his surroundings olfactorily. There was not an object in Madame Gaillard's house, no place along the northern reaches of the rue de Charonne, no persone, no stone, no tree, bush, or picket fence, no spot be it ever so small, that he did not know by smell, could be holding it's uniqueness firmly in his memory" (Suskind 26)

This author writes long sentences. In the plot so far it is revealed that the main character had supernatural senses. this scene gives an example of how he can recognize everything through smell. This ability gives him so much power within the story. It also makes others afraid of him. The setting we began with is now not a mystery because the main character can scope out everything through smell. The passage basically gives one of the themes.

- He knows all (omniscient of his surroundings and more). Is he human?
- He is feared. there is something about him that makes people not be able to stand him. He had no smell of his own. Paradox?? he sees all but no one can see him.

post 1

"She only wanted the pain to stop, she wanted to put this revolting birth behind her as quickly as possible. It was her fifth. She had effected all the others here at the fish booth, and all had been stillbirths or semi-still births, for the bloody meat that emerged had not differed greatly from the fish guts that lay there already, nor had lived much longer, and by evening the whole mess had been shoveled off and carted off to the graveyard or off to the river."(Suskind 5).

Holy crap. i chose this passage because it was the most appalling one so far. although there are some others that come close. this book is a shocker. and i do enjoy it. The above passage illustrates, o so pleasantly how the main character is born. In the worst way possible. It shows how gruesome life is. perhaps the author will use these images for contrast with nicer ones later on. The process in the passage seems like its nothing out of the ordinary. the way the scene is described seems matter of fact. which makes me cringe even more.

-How much does this impact the main character's future life?
-the story happens to follow the one child who lives. is there something special about him?