The Smell of Books

I have not really gotten into reading e-books yet. The few free e-books that I have downloaded are either left unread or unfinished just after a couple of pages. But I am not sure if the problem are the books (since they are free and just nice-to-have ones rather than what I really want) or the medium. And I still could not part with my money to buy a book I really want in the e-book format, but I'd readily fish out my purse in the bookstore.

I found this quote by Rupert Giles, the librarian extraordinaire character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, played by Anthony Head:

Smell is the most powerful trigger to the memory there is. A certain flower, or a whiff of smoke can bring up experiences long forgotten. Books smell musty and rich. The knowledge gained from a computer is a - it, uh, it has no texture, no context. It's-it's there and then it's gone. If it's to last, then the getting of knowledge should be, uh, tangible, it should be, um, smelly.

So well said.

pearlie