Literary notes about odor (AI summary)
Writers use "odor" not only as a sensory detail but also as a powerful symbol that evokes mood and atmosphere. In some works it heightens the mystery and allure of a scene, as when a phantom perfume drifts over a garden [1] or when the gentle aroma of laurel brings comfort to a resting place [2]. In contrast, it can also signal decay, neglect, or even terror—manifesting as the oppressive stench of despair in a dungeon [3] or the putrid, overwhelming odor of a decomposed body [4]. Other authors use the term to evoke memory and identity, linking the scent of heliotrope to profound personal transformation [5] or marking the passage of time with a smell that lingers long after a moment has passed [6].
- "Some evenings a strange odor blows down the air of this garden, like a phantom perfume," said Owen.
— from Anne's House of Dreams by L. M. Montgomery - How luxurious it felt to rest thus in a strange, quaint bed, with its sweet country odor of laurel lingering about the sheets and mattress!
— from The Awakening, and Selected Short Stories by Kate Chopin - The crackling of the burning flesh became audible, and the odor peculiar to chambers of torture filled the hovel.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo - An abominable odor, the stench of putrefaction, greeted my nostrils.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant - There are moments when the odor of heliotrope passes suddenly across me, and I have to live the strangest year of my life over again.
— from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde - Then the ghost of that unforgettably strange odor passed away and was lost among the leagues of tenantless forest beyond.
— from The Wendigo by Algernon Blackwood
