Patrick Ziusskind: biography of the writer

Patrick Zuskind is a famous German writer, playwright and screenwriter. He was born in Germany, in the city of Ambach, near Munich, on March 26, 1949. The author is known for his stories, plays, as well as performances, which are regularly staged on the stages of European theaters. But his business card is undoubtedly the novel "Perfume." Patrick Zuskind, whose biography still has many gaps, and today attracts millions of readers around the world.

Early years of the writer

His future childhood was spent in a small village Holzhausen. Here he studied at a local school and a gymnasium, and also received a music education. He demonstrated the mastery of piano playing in the evenings, which his father regularly organized at home - a well-known Bavarian publicist and journalist.

After receiving secondary education, he served in the army, listened to courses in France and studied at the University of Munich history. During this period, he earned his living in many different ways: working in a bar, a table tennis instructor and an employee of the patent department of the Siemens corporation.

The beginning of the writer's career

Patrick Ziusskind began his career as a writer around 1970 and positions himself as a free prose writer. He writes short stories and screenplays, which he calls "unpublished" and "not delivered."

After graduation, the creativity of Patrick Zuskind begins to bring him income. He writes a variety of scenarios for cinema and theater, and in 1984 the solo performance "Contrabass" brings him first popularity.

Legendary "Perfume"

To write his novel, Suiskind came very carefully. He traveled around the place of action of his future creation, raised a large number of authentic literary and cultural sources and studied perfume craft in a cosmetic company.

A novel about the genius and terrible Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is published in 1985, bringing the world recognition. Top positions in the bestselling rating for almost ten years and translating into about fifty languages, including even Latin, is not a complete list of merits that the book Perfume has.

Thanks to the novel, Patrick Ziusskind becomes one of the most successful writers of not only national German, but also modern world literature. In the same year, the author says that working on the book was simply awful, and that he doubts that he will start something like this again in his life.

The novel was printed by the publishing house Diogenes. It was initially cautious about the work that Patrick Syskind gave. Books were issued in the amount of only 10,000 copies, but in a few months this figure increased more than 10 times with an annual reprint.

Regarding the history of the publication of "Perfume" there is a whole legend. According to her, the secretary of the head of the publishing house accidentally got into the production of the play "Contrabass", which he liked very much. He told his boss about it, and he read the play. During the meeting with Suskind, the publisher asked if the author still had something unpublished. To which the writer replied that he has a novel, which, most likely, is not worth special attention ...

"Perfume" and to date is one of the most popular and sold around the globe novels. On its basis was written a rock opera and the film of the same name was shot, for which the most famous world directors fought.

Other popular works

After the publication of "Perfume" the author starts working on his next creations. In 1987, the book "Golubka, Three Histories and One Observation" appears, which describes the loneliness of a person both in society and in private, and in 1991 the autobiographical work "The History of Mr. Sommer" is published.

The protagonists of these works, as well as in the novel "Perfume", have common distinctive features. As a rule, these are people who can not find themselves in modern society. Fearing communication with others and the world as a whole, they hide from prying eyes in close rooms and shut themselves off from the society in every possible way.

Characteristic features of the works of Patrick Zuskind

In addition to alienation from society, the author's work has other distinctive characteristics. First, it's autobiographical influences. This is the echoes of musical education, and the question of the genius and his merciless collapse. His first setbacks in his writing career, his contradictions with his father and protest against the depth of the works, which the critic insists, are affected here.

The author outlines situations that could happen absolutely with everyone, and also points to the contradictory nature of human nature. In his works, brave people are afraid of pigeons, and scientists believe in fantastic forms of creation and collapse of the world.

Patrick Ziusskind pays special attention to the psychological state of his anti-heroes, tries to know their soul. In addition, in most cases, his characters are people with physical or mental disabilities, which gives the author simply unlimited resources for creativity.

Personal life of the author

Like his characters, the writer is quite a peculiar person. Patrick Zuskind, whose biography was collected by enthusiasts literally bit by bit, leads a rather hidden and reclusive way of life. He never gives an interview and did not appear at any ceremony, where he had to get various literary awards and bonuses. He practically does not happen in crowded places and lives in Munich, then in France. For such behavior, he even received the nickname "a phantom of German entertainment literature." Until now, it remains unknown whether the author is married and whether he has children. Despite world popularity, only three of his photos have been officially published.

Patrick Zuskind is a world-famous writer and screenwriter. He is the author of a number of well-known novels, plays, plays and the legendary novel Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. Despite world popularity, he leads a rather shut-in and secretive way of life and practically does not show up before the public.