My first real memory of scent in books is when I read The Tin Drum as a young adult. Oskar said that Maria smells like vanilla, so I used to dab vanilla extract on so I too could smell like vanilla.
Currently I am reading I Capture the Castle, written by Dodie Smith. I cannot remember why I put this book in my 'to read' list on Goodreads. I believe it is because at one of our writers' creativity night get-togethers, we were all asked to talk about some of our favorite books of all time, and this was one member's favorite.
And then, a few months later, Olenska mentions the book in her Soivohle Yin Hao Eau de Parfum review. Don't you just love when that happens!? I sure do.
This book is bursting with scent images - I'm only half way through, but I wanted to share some of these lovely passages with you:
"How well I remember that run through the stillness, the smell of wet stone and wet weeds..."
"The pale grey carpets were as springy as moss and the air was scented; it smelt a bit like bluebells but richer, deeper. 'What does it smell of, exactly?' I said. And Rose said 'Heaven.'"
"There was a wonderful atmosphere of gentle age, a smell of flowers and beeswax, sweet yet faintly sour and musty; a smell that makes you feel very tender towards the past."
"And there was a glass table with at least half-a-dozen bottles of scent and toilet-water on it. (Americans say 'perfume' instead of 'scent' - much more correct, really; I don't know why 'perfume' should be considered affected in England.)"
"I noticed the mysterious old-house smell again but mixed with Mrs. Fox-Cotton's scent - a rich, mysterious scent, not a bit like flowers." (I wonder what the perfume was!? The book was written in 1948 but the story is set in the mid-1930s I believe.)
And finally:
"'And how many things can you smell?' I asked Simon. We counted up:
Wood smoke
A farm smell coming on puffs of breeze (we subdivided this into:
Straw, hay, horse, clean cows: good.
Manure, pigs, hens, old cabbages: bad - but not too awful if only in little whiffs),
A wonderful pie cooking somewhere,
The sweet, fresh smell which isn't quite flowers or grass or scent of any kind, but just clean country air -one forgets to notice this unless one reminds oneself."
Are there any descriptions of scent in literature that speak to you?
Currently I am reading I Capture the Castle, written by Dodie Smith. I cannot remember why I put this book in my 'to read' list on Goodreads. I believe it is because at one of our writers' creativity night get-togethers, we were all asked to talk about some of our favorite books of all time, and this was one member's favorite.
(photo of Manorbier Castle, which was used in the 2003 movie)
This book is bursting with scent images - I'm only half way through, but I wanted to share some of these lovely passages with you:
"How well I remember that run through the stillness, the smell of wet stone and wet weeds..."
"The pale grey carpets were as springy as moss and the air was scented; it smelt a bit like bluebells but richer, deeper. 'What does it smell of, exactly?' I said. And Rose said 'Heaven.'"
"There was a wonderful atmosphere of gentle age, a smell of flowers and beeswax, sweet yet faintly sour and musty; a smell that makes you feel very tender towards the past."
"And there was a glass table with at least half-a-dozen bottles of scent and toilet-water on it. (Americans say 'perfume' instead of 'scent' - much more correct, really; I don't know why 'perfume' should be considered affected in England.)"
"I noticed the mysterious old-house smell again but mixed with Mrs. Fox-Cotton's scent - a rich, mysterious scent, not a bit like flowers." (I wonder what the perfume was!? The book was written in 1948 but the story is set in the mid-1930s I believe.)
And finally:
"'And how many things can you smell?' I asked Simon. We counted up:
Wood smoke
A farm smell coming on puffs of breeze (we subdivided this into:
Straw, hay, horse, clean cows: good.
Manure, pigs, hens, old cabbages: bad - but not too awful if only in little whiffs),
A wonderful pie cooking somewhere,
The sweet, fresh smell which isn't quite flowers or grass or scent of any kind, but just clean country air -one forgets to notice this unless one reminds oneself."
Are there any descriptions of scent in literature that speak to you?
