Danielle experienced many scenes through her sense of smell. What are your favorite olfactory observations in this story? Are there any scents that call up specific memories for you?
Created: 04/27/15
Replies: 20
Join Date: 10/15/10
Posts: 3442
Danielle experienced many scenes through her sense of smell. What are your favorite olfactory observations in this story? Are there any scents that call up specific memories for you?
Join Date: 04/21/11
Posts: 338
I am always amazed at the power of smells in our memory. Many times I will smell something and I will have to stop and remember. It's usually a memory of childhood or of my children's childhood. Patchouli, for instance, always reminds my of my life right after high school.
Join Date: 09/09/13
Posts: 164
Join Date: 04/22/11
Posts: 24
My mother used to use a Dorothy Gray toilette water which was her signature scent. To my surprise, Philosophy came out with Field of Flowers which is spot on to my mother's cologne. That scent always brings me back to my childhood & my mother.
Join Date: 03/13/12
Posts: 564
When Danielle was enjoying some of Jon's natural smells, it made me think of how after my father's death, I held some of his clothes close and cried. Scents are a powerful thing.
Join Date: 05/05/15
Posts: 10
I have recently started using essential oils for healing and well being. I loved the descriptions of the perfume making and the scents. Prior to being exposed to all of the different scents of the oils those passages at the top of each chapter describing scents would not have had as much impact on me. I liked those passages almost as much as the main part of the novel. I could almost smell the scents myself. I loved how she wove that thru the story.
Join Date: 04/23/11
Posts: 118
I enjoyed the descriptions of scents as senses of place or seasons. There's a certain fruity, waxy smell that I encounter very rarely but takes me back to me teenage years, when there was a trio of floral/fruity Chapstick-like fragrances that you rubbed on to your skin. On a different note, when my mother-in-law died over 10 years ago, we inherited a chair from her house. Every once in a while a perfumed smell comes from that room that smells exactly like her perfume. It's kind of spooky and sweet at the same time.
Join Date: 11/18/14
Posts: 70
Every mention of patchouli took me back to my twenties and the countless sticks and cones of incense I burned during those years. To this day, I am forever drawn to patchouli and sandalwood. I am also a great fan of citrus smells which appear to be some of Danielle's favorites.
Join Date: 04/26/15
Posts: 37
I liked the way Danielle could recall events or people by their scent. She is one of those blessed with a perfumer's nose - the ability to remember and identify distinct scents, highly prized by perfumers. She had inherited (or developed) the skill from her family.
I am from a rural midwestern background. There are many scents that bring back those early memories - lilies of the valley in the springtime, the wonderful fresh smell of new mown hay, plus the wonderful odors of my mother cooking special meals.
Join Date: 06/25/13
Posts: 347
There are many memories bought back by scents, both good and bad. My favorite scent is lilac. We had lilacs in our yard. We used to put lilac flowers in a little bottle, to make lilac water. Another is Lily of the Valley. Also, some scents bring up other memories. Sometimes I would walk in from school and smell what Mother was making for supper. Maybe I was happy and maybe thought, OH No.
Join Date: 03/13/12
Posts: 564
I have also noticed that a certain chain of drugstores has the same smell. When a branch of this chain first came to the western city where I live, I walked in and immediately knew that it smelled like the drugstore near the university I had attended in a different region of the USA many years ago.
Join Date: 04/15/11
Posts: 4
I was amazed how Danielle was able to recognize people, places or things even before she saw them just on their scent. Especially when she knew that Heinrich was behind her at the department store.
Join Date: 10/26/11
Posts: 23
I could empathize with Danielle when she returned to Grasse and was overwhelmed by the scents and the memories. I thoroughly enjoyed the author's ability to translate Danielle's highly sensitive olfactory observations into words, an example is found at the beginning of the book on page 6 when describing Jon's scent and Danielle's recognition of the actual perfume Jon wears and remarks upon how well it blended with his body. My maternal grandmother introduced me to Chanel perfumes, and I can't smell No. 22 or No. 5 without thinking about her.
Join Date: 05/11/15
Posts: 2
I really liked the way the title played to our olfactory senses. I think it set us up to prepare for these nuances in the book. I am a person who relies heavily on scents and fragrances to identify and remember things - this story hit home with me. I loved how her descriptions were scattered in the book along with vivid, dramatic descriptions, like when she was recalling her former life and looking for her son. I thought of my grandma's smells when I read this book.
Join Date: 05/12/11
Posts: 243
Join Date: 05/09/15
Posts: 8
I loved how the chapters started with a description of a perfume ingredient or a description of a perfumers art. My favorite was Chapter 12 "A fungus grips the continent, infecting the very soul like oud wood..." You can almost smell the nazi's with this detail. Smell is so powerful, it was interesting how the author wove it through the story. Now I will always associate oud with evil!
Join Date: 12/17/12
Posts: 206
I live in a dry climate, so when it smells like rain (whatever that scent is), it always makes me happy. Likewise, bread or desserts baking always make me happy. It reminds me of my childhood, and my mother and grandma.
Join Date: 05/17/15
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Join Date: 04/14/11
Posts: 222
My mother used to wear a certain perfume (can't even remember the name of it) and when I smell it, I think of her. Also the smells of spring - fresh cut grass and new flowers always remind me of when I first moved to the South because these were all new smells to me after living in the city all my life.
Join Date: 06/13/11
Posts: 272
Join Date: 09/14/12
Posts: 111
I liked her vividly describing Jon's smell. When my husband and I first got together I used to use his pillow when he wasn't there so I could enjoy smelling him. I love floral scents one of my favorite perfumes is Beautiful which is made with over 50 different flowers. My mother had a sensitive nose but unfortunately every thing bothered her. I couldn't wear perfume to her house. My brother when he was about 4yrs old had a bad stomach virus and honeysuckle grew outside his bedroom window. For some reason he connected the two and even as an adult he hates the smell of honeysuckle.
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