Customer Reviews

Mr. Summer's Story

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My latest out of print Suskind book finally arived today and I tore through the packaging which I let fall to the floor and I sat down and would not get up until it was finished. I had to stop every couple pages and pound the table and laugh and shake my head. When I got about halfway through, I had to get up and walk around and compose myself before continuing. I was walking around wiping my tears of joy and wondering why there aren't more people going insane over Suskind like me. I had just gladly spent 60 bucks on this out of print book. As soon as I save up more I'm going to fork over 200 more to get The Double Bass to finish my collection of his literary efforts. I wonder why everyone just stops with Perfume, they seem to like that one enough.
I'm still young and there's a lot more books beyond Suskind to be read. Maybe he won't seem so brilliant after I've more, but for now, man he's good. I've never laughed so hard at reading anything in my life as the piano lesson part of Mr. Summer's Story. This book is so beautiful. I hope Patrick Suskind continues to publish more in the future that will blow more people's minds and influence publishers to reprint these wonderful books.

A man tells the story of how he met Mr. Summer when he was a kid and how this peculiar man changed his life, starting with stopping him from committing suicide. The narrator was at the time planning to jump from a tree, and Mr. Summer was in one of his usual walks that constantly took him around town with his distinctive walking stick and carrying his backpack. Nobody knew much about Mr. Summer, and he never talked with other people, but he took the time to dissuade our storyteller from ending his life at such a young age. As we get to read more about the relationship with Mr. Summer, we notice that the story may really be about something else, but I will let you figure that one out on your own.

Suskind shows how good a writer he is through various aspects present in this story. First, this is a book that can be read by children and adults alike, even though some of the finer symbolisms may be hard to understand for kids. In this aspect, I find Suskind similar to Snicket and Rowling, whose books appeal to all ages. But Suskind's writing has a more serious tone and aims at a broader topic. Another aspect that really surprised me is how the author can infuse the story with such level of emotion and make it complete in such a brief number of pages. He accomplished what few can, one of the examples off the top of my head being Ira Levin with her novel "The Stepford Wives". Finally, I love the way in which Suskind writes, how he describes people and places, and how he builds up the momentum of his stories. I was extremely pleased with his famous novel "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer", and was rewarded for deciding to search for some of his other works.

Besides the great writing, this book has a set of illustrations by Sempe that complement the story nicely and that give it a liveliness not usually seen in other places. Of course, kids will certainly appreciate this feature. I am now planning to continue exploring Suskind's work in the hope of finding more reading of this same quality. In the meantime, I highly recommend this book, along with "Perfume..." to those that love good literature.

This is one brilliant book. I've read it in a library about four years ago, and I still a lot of it. Read it, you'll love it. Also read The Double Bass