Quote:
Originally Posted by Fastolfe
You couldn't be more correct. Smells are very powerful memory triggers. As it happens, certain kinds of paper glues instantly remind me of the primary school I attended in my happy childhood days, gasoline reminds me of when my whole family hit the road for the summer holidays, and moldy paper reminds me of my grandfather who used to lend me his old books, and whom I loved dearly. To me, it's an integral part of the pleasure of reading. It's not just about words.
Nasty smells to you, lovely smells to me; it depends on what you associate them with. I'm fairly sure a great many people of my generation associate the smell of books with lovely memories of reading by the fire in the winter, or stealing reading time at night in the attic as a kid, etc.
Perhaps today's kids are forming long-term memory associations between happy reading times and that distinctive smell of brand new electronic equipment that's been packaged in polystyrene for too long. To me, that smell is nasty, but to them, it might turn out to be the smell of their childhood in 20 or 30 years, who knows...
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In that case, may I recommend those "book smell" sprays? That will take care of it.