"Ok", (scratch scratch - sniff sniff) "Hmm. Smells like the ocean. Next one smells like, phew! cigar smoke, whisky, obviously a bar. A bar by the ocean? This one's fresh linen, guess the character's going to bed. Ok, seashore again, fresh cut timber? Maybe we're getting on a wooden ship? Hey, that's the unmistakable smell of whale blubber being rendered."
Ok, so maybe it wouldn't work for Moby Dick but it might be interesting to see where your nose took your imagination. With a little bit of creativity on the writer's part and a little creativity from the reader, or smeller, you could create a story in a dimension not often experienced by people with eyes and ears. Could you actually create compelling stories from smells alone? I don't know, but it would be an intriguing challenge.
Of course the writer would have to keep in mind the fact that the story would probably be different for every person, which might actually be kind of interesting.
If nothing else it would certainly make in intersting 3rd dimension to the Rorschach inkblot and audio test previously suggested on this site. Actually, now that I think of it that's probably a better use for this but I've got to get back to work here.-- doctorremulac3, Jan 30 2013 Apropos http://www.bbc.co.u...lancashire-21254718 [calum, Jan 31 2013] Polyester (one of best films ever made) https://www.google....06%252F%3B600%3B466I still have my odorama card, and it still works, even though it's about 30 years old. [xenzag, Jan 31 2013] Red Dwarf episode mentioned http://www.reddwarf...04-waiting-for-god/First mention of the cat books is about five minutes in. [NoOneYouKnow, Jan 31 2013] The speaking picture http://ilyena.tumbl...nted-a-device-whichYou need to be familiar with the show but this worked with me. [doctorremulac3, Feb 04 2013] The Android's Dream http://www.amazon.c...lzi/dp/0765348284#_"Dirk Moeller didn't know if he could fart his way into a major diplomatic incident, but he was ready to find out." [RayfordSteele, Feb 05 2013] The first chapter... http://www.scalzi.c...hatever/004945.htmlQuite funny... [RayfordSteele, Feb 06 2013] I likel this a lottel. +-- blissmiss, Jan 30 2013 geeks & printer ink outdoors, whiff of exhaust a bar beer beer nachos beer mens'room beer liquor perfume shooter shooter perfume+sweat aftershave the outdoors blood and vomit diesel exhaust fresh mowed lawn-- FlyingToaster, Jan 31 2013 Hey, got a LOL out of me.
I'm calling that proof of concept right there.-- doctorremulac3, Jan 31 2013 FlyingToaster made the sale [+]-- AusCan531, Jan 31 2013 I keep thinking Stephen King's "Lawnmower Man" when I read [FT]'s anno.-- UnaBubba, Jan 31 2013 I keep thinking smut-- vfrackis, Jan 31 2013 You might also have hit on an effective way to communicate with animals-- vfrackis, Jan 31 2013 The BBC TV series "Red Dwarf" (Season 1) featured a humanoid race descended from a housecat - their books were all written in this way - I don't have access from where I am posting, but I'd be fairly sure there's a link somewhere on YouTube to the scene where Cat reads from the Cat people's holy book - you could probably lookup something like Red Dwarf Cat Reading or Red Dwarf Cat book.-- zen_tom, Jan 31 2013 I did a wiki search of "red dwarf cats smell book" and came up with: //they smell the words in their books,// but that's all I could find.
Is that it? Not familiar with the series.
And wow, somebody remembers Odorama. Great concept. To this day I can't remember what the plot was about. Maybe they put more than scents in those cards.
Now there's an idea.-- doctorremulac3, Jan 31 2013 oohhh very cool! I smell a freshly toasted croissant with dark chocolate filling...[+]-- xandram, Jan 31 2013 Saw the link and, ehh, gonna leave this up as only partially baked since the guy sniffed "See Dick Run...Run Dick Run" so the cat book had smells that were equivalent to words. This is just smells telling the whole story without being associated with specific words allowing the smeller some interpretation.-- doctorremulac3, Jan 31 2013 I think it should be smell + touch (e.g. textured pages or boxes that you insert your finger into). Smell alone wouldn't quite do it.-- phundug, Feb 01 2013 We're still talking about keeping a PG rating to these stories aren't we?-- doctorremulac3, Feb 01 2013 No, Susan, we're turning ahead to the next page. Look here.-- pocmloc, Feb 02 2013 -Eleven weeks on the New-York-Times best smeller list-"An odour de force." ~Stephen King~-"Absolutely smellbinding." raves Ol'factory Press.-Siskel and Ebert give their two thumb a scent.-"I predict a very long run." Nostril Damus-"Entirely lost myself in its nasal passages." ~Barbra Streisand~-"I love the smell of napalm in the morning." ~Robert Duvall~-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Feb 03 2013 Interesting possibilities for those who like to add marginal annotations to their books.-- pocmloc, Feb 03 2013 A brief ponderment on scratch and sniff technology: I am impressed that the same set of odorants turn upover and over in scratch and sniff. I wonder if there is a known palate of possible smells? Perfume obviously is possible but is there an off the shelf "fresh cut lawn" smell? Even beer might be tricky.-- bungston, Feb 04 2013 I assume scratch & sniff is simply encapsulation of an aromatic substance in a medium that prevents evaporation until it's broken up by scratching. I just think people haven't been super creative with the medium. There's been limited call for unpleasant smells in magazine ads for instance.
But as with any good story, all the scenes (scents) wouldn't necessarily be pleasant. In fact, with good writing I think you'd hit the smeller with surprising awful odors from time to time. The equivalent of the guy jumping out of the shadows with a chainsaw. Like "How nice, pretty flowers in the field and... ug! Is that a dead body?"
The first Odor Fable has already been written by Flying Toaster and it calls for some very unpleasant "twists" in the plot.
The pictures your brain painted might be quite vivid I'd think. To give an example of how much your brain can fill in the blanks with just a little information have a look at the Futurama link for those who are familiar with the show.-- doctorremulac3, Feb 04 2013 Wasn't there a Pratchett novel about a species that had a very distinct odor language, where the human protagonist kept farting insults at them in some high- level diplomatic meeting?-- RayfordSteele, Feb 04 2013 Hmm. That gives me an idea. I wonder if dogs would like these? They're not as smart as people but their noses have much better resolution. You could "write" the story and see how the dog reacts.
Smell- owner = reaction: wags tail / Smell- cat = reaction: barks / Smell- another dog's rear end = reaction: just keeps sniffing it no matter how hard you pull the leash.
You know, dogs are great at scratching things. You could just lay out a big mat with a grid of different scratch & sniff smells and watch them go to town. Not sure what the purpose would be. Just something fun for the dog I suppose.-- doctorremulac3, Feb 04 2013 Ah yes. Here it is. Not a Pratchett novel, but seemingly similar. See link.-- RayfordSteele, Feb 05 2013 Leather Goddesses of Phobos, 1986 (?)-- not_morrison_rm, Feb 06 2013 random, halfbakery