One of my most favorite books ever. The book is not flawless, as the second half is weaker than the first, but the first half is just perfection. 
 I am not really big on books or films that use magic realism, but Perfume is an exception because of the following: 
 1. The prose is goddamn magnificent. 
 2. The descriptions of the disgusting elements of 18th-century Parisian city life and human anatomy is an amazing horrific descriptive feast in the same vein of what you'll find in The Torture Garden. AND I LOVE IT ALL. 
 3. The book is about a sociopathic serial killer. 
 What's not to love?!