Why read Perfume on the Page in Nineteenth-Century France?

Book cover of Perfume on the Page in Nineteenth-Century France

Book description

Despite long-standing assertions that languages, including French and English, cannot sufficiently communicate the experience of smell, much of France's nineteenth-century literature has gained praise for its memorable evocation of odours. As French perfume was industrialized, democratized, cosmeticized, and feminized in the nineteenth century, stories of fragrant scent trails aligned perfume…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Perfume on the Page in Nineteenth-Century France as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Theresa Levitt

Author

Krueger plunges into a fascinating paradox: nineteenth-century French literature was famous for its evocation of scent, even as the writers, doctors, and scientists of the day fretted over how anyone could describe something as fleeting and unique as an odor.

She bridges the gap with the concept of sillage—the lingering hint of perfume left in the wake of someone who has passed by—which becomes both a literal and literary way of detecting the ephemeral. I particularly like her use of the “male sniff” as an olfactory component of the “male gaze.”

From Theresa's 3 favorite reads in 2023.