It has been a long time since Buffy The Vampire Slayer has been on TV and a long time since I have seen any of the shows. They are currently available for streaming on Netflix and I have been enjoying them alternating with Glee reruns on Hulu and X-files (also on Netflix). They make exercising time go by in a flash.
I watched season one, episode 8, I, Robot… You, Jane last night while riding the exercise bike and besides the problem of the demon that is released from the book it was bound to when the book was scanned into the computer, there is a book v. computers battle that goes on between Giles, the librarian, and Miss Calendar, the computer teacher.
After our heroine, Buffy, does the demon in, long about 41 minutes on the counter, Giles visits Miss Calendar in the computer lab to tell her thank you for her help and they proceed to argue over books and computers. Giles says the problem with computers is that that they don’t smell. He goes on to say how smell is a powerful trigger to memory. “Books smell musty, rich,” he says, “knowledge gained from the computer has no texture, no context.” He closes his arguments with, “the getting of knowledge should be tangible… smelly.”
While I am totally sympathetic to Miss Calendar, not just because she is a smart, hip, computer teacher in 1997, I gave a cheer to Giles and smelly books. The smell of a book is one thing an e-reader, no matter how great the display or numerous its other features, is never going to be able to replicate.
When I walk into a bookstore, the first thing I do is take a deep breath and feel instantly calm and relaxed no matter how keyed up and stressed I was just moments before. And if it is a Barnes and Noble and it smells like books and coffee, I am certain my eyes, however momentarily, roll back into my head as I bliss out. Some people take drugs for that effect, but who needs drugs when there are bookstores to inhale?
And while I may be lusting mightily after one of the new Kindles so my Bookman and I don’t need to share anymore, I’m still with Giles. I like my knowledge smelly.
It’s so true. Almost the first thing I do when I buy a book is smell it. The smell gets melded with my first impressions and becomes part of my overall memory of it.
I envy you your B&N experience. There is a big retail development close to me and in the beginning they said there would be a big bookstore but there’s been no news since and I’m getting quite antsy. I would love to go hang out at one of those places. I suppose I could hang out at the library but it doesn’t seem quite as glamorous. If only they had cupcakes…
Oh, the smell of musty old books is one of my most favorite smells in the whole world. I have often watched Buffy and wished I could pore over one of those big thick interesting books they always hauled out. I have been using my little iPod Touch as a e-reader since we’ve been going to a lot of doctor’s appointments lately and it’s handy to have in the waiting room, but nothing replaces a real book, especially an old book. I’m reading The Secret Garden and absolutely loving it, but what I’m remembering is my edition, which was my grandmother’s, and which smelled like attic and old paper, and which I adored even at age 7 or whenever I first read this book.
Smell is one of the primary reasons I haven’t broken down and gotten an e-reader. I too smell new books when I buy them, and I have certain books that just smell wonderful and I’ll stop and smell them as I walk past them. My husband thinks this is extremely weird and I was quite glad when I started book blogging to discover it’s not just me who does this! I think big readers will always hold on to printed books, even if they get a e-reader as a supplement. I think it’s mainly the tech geeks and non-readers who really think it’s all going to come to an end.
Ah Buffy, you make me want to break out my box sets. Wasn’t there at one point way back at the start of e-reader creation, talk of making e-books come with smell technology, or something, but that got shelved.
I’m with you Stefanie- I like my knowledge smelly as well! And I would like to touch the paper (got to love those paper cuts!), turn them over and underline some of the words… No feeling like it
Do you know I think I have never actually seen any episodes of Buffy? I didn’t realize they were so creative. I’m all for the smell of books, too. As much as I try and get excited about an eReader, I just can’t quite do it. And I like Sylvia’s idea–imagine a bookstore with a cupcake bakery attached to it. Yum–on both counts!
Did you know you can buy the smell of old books? Check it out on The Olfactive Group at Linked in – I posted the story.
Ah, the lovely smell of musty old books. Irreplaceable.
Also, Giles. YUM.
I completely agree that the smell of books is the world’s best aromatherapy. Yum. And we haven’t ever watched Buffy – makes me wonder if my son would be up for it, once we have got through all those A Team episodes we’re currently enjoying!
Oh, yes, three cheers for “smelly” books. Sometimes I wonder if I don’t like used bookstores more for the smell than the actual books.
I also agree – love the smell of books, old and new (as long as they’ve been kept well and do not have the faintest smell of mildew, ew) It’s funny you mention this just as I came across this wonderful line in Tove Jansson’s The True Deceiver:
The books still lay on the table, brand new, shiny in their tempting adventure colors. They smelled good. Anna raised one book after another to her cheek and inhaled the evanescent smell of unread book, unlike any other.
Sign me up for tangible and smelly.
Sylvia, LOL, you’ll have to start a group at your library to advocate for cupcakes
I hope they build the big bookstore near you soon. I know people complain about the big chains, but there is something to be said for the benfits of the in-store cafe and the comfortable chairs and tables spread throughout the store.
Daphne, you are right, mobile devices are quite convenient but they can never provide and experience similar to the reading of your grandma’s edition of Secret Garden. Now if we could only have Giles’ books without the demons and vampires!
Lindsey, I agree that it is the tech evangelists and nonreaders who think books are on the way out. And isn’t funny how before the internet we thought we were weird for our bookish behaviors and come to find out lots of people do the things we do!
Bookgazing, hmm, I don’t recall ever hearing about smell and ereaders, and interesting idea though. The Jaron Lanier book has a long detour about why we don’t have smell with our technology yet. The science is quite interesting.
Lua, I could do without the papercuts, but everything else, I’m totally with you!
Danielle, you’ve never seen Buffy? It is great fun. You are Sylvia are making me want a cupcake about now!
Nose Knows, I’ve seen there are prefumes that smell like old books but they are a bit out of my price range.
Carrie, Giles is rather yummy, isn’t he? And all the musty books just adds to his charm.
Litlove, Buffy was my favorite show on TV in the day so this is a fun trip down memory lane. You’ll have to go to the A Team movie if you haven’t already. My sister saw it and said it was good fun.
Emily, I totally know what you mean!
Melwyk, that is an excellent quote!
Bikkuri,
I remember that episode. I somewhat recently watched every season of Buffy on Netflix. As much as I’m devising ways to get my family to buy me a Nook for my birthday, I couldn’t let go of physical books entirely. I’m with you and everyone: the smell is just too awesome. And I’ve gotten a lot of flack for book sniffing (you should have seen the look my uncle gave me when he caught me smelling a book). I find that used bookstores and libraries offer the best smelling experiences (mmm…old books).
Oh, the smell of books! I not only like the smell of them, I love the feel of them too. I think, for myself, an e-book will never replace the real book. I want the full sensory experience of being with the book, of the printing and pages and the cover.
Of the many things I love about Buffy, that it was set in a library with a sexy librarian like Giles and they always found what they were looking for (eventually) in a book, greatly enhanced the charm of this series for me. I’ve been thinking I’m due for a rewatch of some Buffy soon. I loved Miss Calendar too, and was so sad when they killed her off, she and Giles made an interesting pair, didn’t they?
I really enjoyed you saying you felt calmer once you walk into a bookstore and smelled the books. That is true for me too.