Patrick Süskind

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Patrick Süskind
Born (1949-03-26) 26 March 1949 (age 75)
Ambach, Bavaria, Germany
OccupationWriter, screenwriter
Period1980–present
Literary movementMagic realism
Notable works

Patrick Süskind (German: [ˈpatʁɪk ˈzyːskɪnt] ⓘ; born 26 March 1949)[1][2] is a German writer and screenwriter, known best for his novel Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, first published in 1985.

Early life[edit]

Süskind was born in Ambach, Bavaria. His father was writer and journalist Wilhelm Emanuel Süskind, who worked for the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and was the co-author of the well-known publication Aus dem Wörterbuch des Unmenschen (From the Dictionary of an Inhuman), a critical collection of essays concerning the language of the Nazi era.[3] His mother was a sports teacher; his older brother Martin E. Süskind [de] (1944–2009) was a journalist and speechwriter.[1][2]

After his qualification testing for university and his mandatory community service, he studied medieval and modern history at the University of Munich and in Aix-en-Provence from 1968 to 1974, but never graduated.[1] Funded by his parents, he relocated to Paris, where he wrote "mainly short, unpublished fiction and longer screenplays which were not made into films".[4]

Career[edit]

In 1981, he had his first major success with the play Der Kontrabaß (The Double Bass), which was conceived originally as a radio play. During the theatrical season of 1984–85, the play was performed more than 500 times. The only role is that of a tragi-comical orchestra musician. During the 1980s, working with the director Helmut Dietl, Süskind was also successful as a screenwriter for the television productions Monaco Franze (1983) and Kir Royal (1987), among others. In 1996 he won the Screenplay Prize of the German Department for Culture for his screenplay of Rossini [de], directed by Dietl. He rejected other awards, such as the FAZ-Literaturpreis, the Toucan Prize, and the Gutenberg Prize.

His best-known work is the novel Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (1985). Perfume was on the bestselling list of the German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel for nine years, has been translated into 49 languages and as of 2019 has worldwide sales of more than 20 million copies.[2] In the early 2000s it was included in the BBC's poll-generated list of the 100 best-loved novels.[5] It was adapted into a 2006 film directed by Tom Tykwer.[1][2][6][7] Süskind has also also published a novella, The Pigeon (1988), The Story of Mr Sommer (1991, illustrated by French cartoonist Sempé), Three Stories and a Reflection (1996), and an essay, On Love and Death (2006).[1][2]

Personal life[edit]

Süskind lives a reclusive, private lifestyle and divides his time between Munich and France. He rarely grants interviews and few photographs of him have been published.[1][2]

Selected works[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f "So flüchtig wie ein Duft". Focus (in German). 28 March 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Burack, Cristina (26 March 2019). "Germany's most mysterious author? Patrick Süskind at 70". Deutsche Welle.
  3. ^ Sternberger, Dolf, Gerhard Storz and Wilhelm E. Süskind. Aus dem Wörterbuch des Unmenschen. Munich: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1962. (in German).
  4. ^ Francke, Eckhart. "Patrick Süskind". Kritisches Lexikon zur deutschsprachigen Gegenwartsliteratur, 42. NLG, 1-8 (in German).
  5. ^ "The Big Read: Top 100". BBC. 2 September 2014.
  6. ^ Smee, Jess (8 September 2006). "Critics sniffy over Perfume, the 'unfilmable' film". The Guardian.
  7. ^ "The book doesn't smell either": Dietmar Kammerer interviews director Tom Tykwer, at Sign and Sight, 20 September 2006 (originally appeared in German in Die Tageszeitung on 14 September 2006).

Further reading[edit]

  • Delseit, Wolfgang and Drost, Ralf. Patrick Süskind. Das Parfum. Erläuterungen und Dokumente. Stuttgart: Reclam, 2000. (in German).

External links[edit]


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