Smelling a Good Book

Greetings,

Maxim Chattam, author and a new favorite of mine, had an interesting Author’s Note in the beginning of his novel the Cairo Diary. I found it quite interesting.

“Reading is an entirely personal experience: a crazy feeling of exaltation, resulting from a meeting between black marks on fragments of wood treated with spirit and a brain that captures the words and interprets them, according to its particular sensibilities. The engine that drives every story is the readers mind; his or her imagination is its fuel. All the author does is describe a more or less malleable landscape, and then works hard to ensure that the reader follows the guardrail…. The perceptive process of reading involves the senses.”

He goes on to suggest how the reader uses their senses to read. His suggestion is to listen to various musical pieces. I prefer peace and quiet, but then I guess I like to use a different sense when I read.

I have forever…. preferred older smelly books. Not a bad smell, but the musty smell of an aged book. Several folks have thought me odd, and even Harry thinks me mad, but I enjoy reading more when then book has the fragrance of aged paper.

I enjoyed Chattam’s idea that reading with your senses personifies the reading experience.

Now I can show Harry that a published author acknowledges and promotes reading with your senses. Bring on the smelly books!

Blessings to those enjoying a good book with their nose,

Kristie