The Final Perfume

When Grenouille finally creates his masterwork and wears it in public, it causes mass ecstasy — an entire crowd falls into rapturous worship. But Grenouille himself feels absolutely nothing. He has produced the ultimate emotional response in others while remaining permanently empty inside.

In the novel's stunning finale, he pours the remaining perfume over himself. The crowd, overwhelmed by inhuman beauty, tears him apart and consumes him in a frenzy that is simultaneously religious ecstasy and cannibalistic horror.