With my eyes closed, I would touch a familiar book and draw its fragrance deep inside me. This was enough to make me happy.
Haruki Murakami
I think one of the things I love about books is how they involve so many senses...there is the sense of vision if you are seeing words and reading; there is the sense of touch as you hold the book, feel the paper move and unfurl, turn in you hands, sometimes even the weightiness or not of the book adds to the pleasure and experience of reading. There is sometimes the sense of hearing when you listen to the pages as they land softly after turning. Then of course there is the smell of paper, new and old; fresh and worn; no matter where the book lies on the spectrum of age, there is a unique smell that says book.
I think smell is such an evocative sense – it often reminds me of places and people; feelings and experiences. Just a whiff of a perfume reminds me of a friend; the smell of coffee roasting or bread baking has me feeling happy; and yet the smell of smoke has me out the door in a flash checking where the fire is and if anybody is keeping an eye on it.
As companions, books do offer up their own experiences, including their smell and their touch, which adds just another dimension to their delightfulness.
It's that time again when Jennifer and Julie go looking for the rainbow - this month's colour is purple. I saw this bowl of petals in Shimokawa-san's studio in Tatebayshi earlier this year.
I can almost smell them from here...
Haruki Murakami
I think one of the things I love about books is how they involve so many senses...there is the sense of vision if you are seeing words and reading; there is the sense of touch as you hold the book, feel the paper move and unfurl, turn in you hands, sometimes even the weightiness or not of the book adds to the pleasure and experience of reading. There is sometimes the sense of hearing when you listen to the pages as they land softly after turning. Then of course there is the smell of paper, new and old; fresh and worn; no matter where the book lies on the spectrum of age, there is a unique smell that says book.
I think smell is such an evocative sense – it often reminds me of places and people; feelings and experiences. Just a whiff of a perfume reminds me of a friend; the smell of coffee roasting or bread baking has me feeling happy; and yet the smell of smoke has me out the door in a flash checking where the fire is and if anybody is keeping an eye on it.
As companions, books do offer up their own experiences, including their smell and their touch, which adds just another dimension to their delightfulness.
It's that time again when Jennifer and Julie go looking for the rainbow - this month's colour is purple. I saw this bowl of petals in Shimokawa-san's studio in Tatebayshi earlier this year.
I can almost smell them from here...
This is so beautifully subtle - I can feel the crispness of the dried petals and perhaps smell their aroma - lovely.
ReplyDeleteThanks Charlton - they are simply divine aren't they?
DeleteIt's the smell of new books and the turning of crisp pages that does it for me. Also... the smell of the cardboard package that new books arrive in when they are delivered to my door.
ReplyDeleteNew books are special aren't they Robyn? And I love that they are accompanied by so many olfactory delights!
DeleteI often smell books especially new books
ReplyDeletelondonbookworks.blogspot.co.uk
I agree Jaquinta - smell leads you into a new book in a completely different way...
DeleteI love how you turn opening a book into a sensual experience! A beautiful bowl of violet. Thanks for joining in.-Julie
ReplyDeleteIt's always a pleasure and a challenge to match my Th Th to Roy G Biv Julie!
DeleteI wonder at the experience of reading on all these new digital reading thingies. I'm not interested in trading the fully sensual experience of reading for a small screen. I prefer the different characters of the books - leather covers, paper covers, pictures and illustrations on PAPER, not digitized. I know many people who say they can't remember what the title of the book they just read is, or the author's name because they only saw it once when they chose the book and started it when read on a tablet. A book laying around closed whispers texture, age, smell and title and author all day long!
ReplyDeleteOh books as objects and haptic experiences are so much better than electronic reading devices; nonetheless I'll use one when I need, when I have forgotten to take a book with me and am left unexpectedly waiting, or when travelling to foreign climes and I can't really afford to drag weeks' worth of books with me...
DeleteSmell is the MOST evocative of the senses. I love books for all those reasons as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks Connie - it is soooo evocative is it not?!? and books give you so much pleasure with that sense.
DeleteSo lovely and subtle!
ReplyDeleteThanks Cindi- yes they were a sweet violet and I do love that colour.
DeleteOld musty books smell of their journey
ReplyDeleteI think you're right Rosie - the smell of ages...
DeleteWhat an evocative meditation on such a lovely quote. It is for all of those reasons you listed that I doubt I would ever trade in books made of paper for a digital 'book'...I just love the very structure of books, with their pages, the resulting thickness and the very weight/presence of them. And yes - the way they smell!
ReplyDeleteBooks are simply the best Lisa! The alternative offers convenience perchance, but not the full experience and books do bring it all together in one spot for me I must admit.
DeleteI have been away on a two day workshop where books from fabrics and paper were created. Just reading that line about books involving so many of our senses made me want to be back at the beginning of the two days just so I could do it all again. I love these words and will write them down for myself if I may.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fabulous two days Lesley and glad I reminded you of it again! Feel free to write the words down and remind yourself whenever you need...go well.
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