I don't care how books smell either - Page 8

Lemurion · 08-18-2010, 04:02 PM

Elfwreck's got it exactly, at least from my perspective.

I still buy my hundred dollar Absolute Editions and other collectible volumes, if anything I buy more of them now. Ebooks replace paperbacks - they're perfect for disposable reading.

That's one reason why I'm not so concerned about the $12-15 price point for ebooks of current hardcovers - they aren't the books I'm looking for. I want my $5-6 ebooks of current paperbacks, because those are the books competing for my ebook dollars.

montsnmags · 08-18-2010, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

Funny how comparisons to pbooks always involve older books, or special collector's editions; nobody talks about the joys of the pulp mmpb--the cracked spine, the curved-back cover that no longer closes flat, the brittle yellowing paper, the tiny text that runs so close to the center margin that you have to break the glue to read it, and then the pages start falling out...
...

This doesn't at all diminish your point (I'm not conflating my single data point personal preferences into a larger set

), but I've actually been buying some of those books from evilBay. I recently bought an Escoffier...not a nice, old copy, but a grungy, yellowing paperback with corner-folds and creased cover. I've actually bought photography monographs that are yellowed and worn, rather than as pristine as possible. I am attracted to the title first, of course, but then to the signs of the "life" the book has led. Secondhand bookstores - with their aisles of stained and creased and (often repeatedly) discarded airport-quality paperbacks, or their very old, falling-apart, near-worthless-through-damage "classic" literature series - are my sacred places.

(Note, I am an introvert with little social circle IRL, and, tacitly or otherwise, imbue many found objects with an emotional history or character, for my own sentimental or amused pleasure. I'm okay with that.

)

Cheers,
Marc

RDaneel54 · 08-20-2010, 11:08 AM

I have one book that I do care about its smell.

It's a hard back, coffee table book on coin collecting. Not in print anymore and a great read with wonderful pictures. But it has this musty smell. I've owned it for 15 years, bought it new, with the smell. It's the smell that will not die. Fortunately, the smell is contained in the book and only comes out when I open it. I think it's haunted!

This is the book I think of when people talk about the smell of books.

Ea · 08-20-2010, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RDaneel54

...

This is the book I think of when people talk about the smell of books.

Jellby · 08-20-2010, 12:12 PM

I have a comic book with a really disgusting smell. I remember reading it as a child, and my memories of it are all full of this smell. In my mind, I call it "that book that smells so bad"

montsnmags · 08-21-2010, 01:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jellby

I have a comic book with a really disgusting smell. I remember reading it as a child, and my memories of it are all full of this smell. In my mind, I call it "that book that smells so bad"

Is it sort-of a vomit-y, cheesey smell? I remember that, for some reason, the science text books in the High Schools I went to always seemed to smell like that.

Cheers,
Marc

Ea · 08-21-2010, 05:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by montsnmags

Is it sort-of a vomit-y, cheesey smell? I remember that, for some reason, the science text books in the High Schools I went to always seemed to smell like that.

Now that you mention it, Marc... Those ages-old school books could be really smelly. And not in a good way

Ew!

montsnmags · 08-25-2010, 04:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ea

Now that you mention it, Marc... Those ages-old school books could be really smelly. And not in a good way

Ew!

Apparently bringing back those dim, dark memories via their aroma is a real conversation-killer, Ea. I think we killed the thread, and now it's starting to smell a bit itself.

FWIW, some of my cookbooks smell like Bolognese sauce or laksa. I didn't buy them that way. It could have something to do with people not wanting to clean up the kitchen after I've been cooking.

Cheers,
Marc (Not my new Larousse Gastronomique though...it's my preciousssss)

Ea · 08-25-2010, 04:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by montsnmags

Apparently bringing back those dim, dark memories via their aroma is a real conversation-killer, Ea. I think we killed the thread, and now it's starting to smell a bit itself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by montsnmags

FWIW, some of my cookbooks smell like Bolognese sauce or laksa. I didn't buy them that way. It could have something to do with people not wanting to clean up the kitchen after I've been cooking.

Cheers,
Marc (Not my new Larousse Gastronomique though...it's my preciousssss)

Until you spill that first drop of...

montsnmags · 08-25-2010, 06:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ea

Until you spill that first drop of...

Noooooooooooooooo.....!

nyrath · 09-22-2010, 02:23 PM

Yet another perfume that allegedly smells like books:
http://presurfer.blogspot.com/2010/09/in-library.html
I have no idea if this is a hoax or not.

Lady Fitzgerald · 09-22-2010, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nyrath

Yet another perfume that allegedly smells like books:
http://presurfer.blogspot.com/2010/09/in-library.html
I have no idea if this is a hoax or not.

Oh! I must immediately buy some and spray down my computer, TV, and JetBook Lite.

foreverjuly · 09-22-2010, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nyrath

Yet another perfume that allegedly smells like books:
http://presurfer.blogspot.com/2010/09/in-library.html
I have no idea if this is a hoax or not.

There's lots of places that would be useful. I could spray down my mattress, my car, the bathroom at Wendy's. That way everyone would think I was reading in those places!

Ea · 09-23-2010, 04:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nyrath

Yet another perfume that allegedly smells like books:
http://presurfer.blogspot.com/2010/09/in-library.html
I have no idea if this is a hoax or not.

The source looks real enough that I saved a link. Fascinating. I don't care about how books smell, but perfumes fascinate me.

montsnmags · 09-23-2010, 05:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ea

The source looks real enough that I saved a link. Fascinating. I don't care about how books smell, but perfumes fascinate me.

Have you read Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins? To quote wikipedia, "The major themes of the book include the striving for immortality, the meaning behind the sense of smell, individual expression, self-reliance, sex, love, and religion. Beets and the god Pan figure prominently". His books are odd at times, particularly in premise, and for me are almost always very entertaining.

Cheers,
Marc

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08-18-2010, 04:02 PM	#106
Lemurion eReader Posts: 2,750 Karma: 4968470 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Note 5; PW3; Nook HD+; ChuWi Hi12; iPad	Elfwreck's got it exactly, at least from my perspective. I still buy my hundred dollar Absolute Editions and other collectible volumes, if anything I buy more of them now. Ebooks replace paperbacks - they're perfect for disposable reading. That's one reason why I'm not so concerned about the $12-15 price point for ebooks of current hardcovers - they aren't the books I'm looking for. I want my $5-6 ebooks of current paperbacks, because those are the books competing for my ebook dollars.

08-20-2010, 11:08 AM	#108
RDaneel54 Aging Positronic Brain Posts: 633 Karma: 2155452 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Aurora (when off-Earth) Device: Amazon Oasis; iPhone, iPad Mini	I have one book that I do care about its smell. It's a hard back, coffee table book on coin collecting. Not in print anymore and a great read with wonderful pictures. But it has this musty smell. I've owned it for 15 years, bought it new, with the smell. It's the smell that will not die. Fortunately, the smell is contained in the book and only comes out when I open it. I think it's haunted! This is the book I think of when people talk about the smell of books.

08-20-2010, 12:12 PM	#110
Jellby frumious Bandersnatch Posts: 7,570 Karma: 20150435 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Spaniard in Sweden Device: Cybook Orizon, Kobo Aura	I have a comic book with a really disgusting smell. I remember reading it as a child, and my memories of it are all full of this smell. In my mind, I call it "that book that smells so bad"

09-22-2010, 02:23 PM	#116
nyrath Addict Posts: 281 Karma: 52007 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: nook	Yet another perfume that allegedly smells like books: http://presurfer.blogspot.com/2010/09/in-library.html I have no idea if this is a hoax or not.