In Remembering Smell, Bonnie Blodgett interlaces her own frightening story of smell loss with a primer on the olfactory system and olfactory disorders of all kinds, from phantosmia to anosmia. Her title foreshadows the many connections between smell and memory explored in the book. Part personal memoir, part investigation of the relationship between smell and brain function, the book also offers an elegy or memorial to the lost sense of smell.
Instead of posting a review this month, I invite you to join in an on-line book club.
To get you started, I’ll begin with a few topics and questions that came to mind as I was reading. Feel free to ask your own questions and to open up new topics.
- Your connection to the book. Which part of the book resonates the most with your experiences or your interests?
- Style and structure. Bonnie Blodgett could have written this book in many different ways: as an exposé on Zicam; as a purely personal memoir with more emphasis on her thoughts and daily encounters; as a popular science book on smell, with little reference to her own experience. Did her hybrid appeal to you? Did it draw you in? Was the book clear and easy to follow?
- Dealing with hardship. The author shows how anosmia caused grief, depression, and a sense of isolation in her life. How did she cope? In what ways does the book offer hope for others grappling with similar pain, regardless of the cause?
- Autobiography. Although the book focuses on a particular episode in Blodgett’s life, it also provides a great deal of autobiographical information. What aspects of the book helped you to “know” Bonnie Blodgett — her background, her lifestyle, her tastes, her views, her personality?
- Mapping your smellscape. Throughout her book, Bonnie Blodgett draws attention to the everyday smells we take for granted, from toothpaste to lipstick to countertops. Have you ever jotted down all of the smells you encounter in a single day? Would you like to give it a try?
- Food for thought. Did the book change or expand your views in any way? Did you learn something? Did it inspire you to read more books, to think twice about cold medicine, to take up gardening, to dine at Alinea next time you are in Chicago?
Note: review copy provided by Houghton Mifflin.
I’ve bought it, but truthfully can’t review it as I haven’t read it completely yet! However, I wanted to say I was fascinated when hearing Bonnie talking about the devastation the loss of smell caused her. In fact, one of the reasons I haven’t read the book yet is that I have had a mega cold, but took heed of her experience and didn’t use any nasal sprays. Having been suffering from diminishing sense of taste in recent years, I am becoming all too aware of the huge impact a total loss of taste and smell would have on my life, and jumped to order this book when I saw it was coming up for review here. I feel that the small excerpts I have read indicate that it will have terrific resonance with me and will offer me some small comfort, and that her writing is skilled and evocative. Thank you so much for bringing it to my attention.
Yes, the book is very readable, evocative, a little scary, but ultimately uplifting.I am sorry to hear about your diminishing sense of taste.
Part of me really wants to read this book but part of me is also terrified to read it. This is one of my worst nightmares!
No kidding!
Trust me. It is a nighmare!
Mine, too.
It sounds very interesting. I was completely engaged in her radio interview. What timing: this book is like our equivalent to a Halloween campfire horror story!
It is so sad. Our pharma industry is too willing to give us junk to put in our bodies for a quick fix and then come in years later with a “whoops – sorry” we killed your sense of smell with our “safe” product b/c we failed to do any long term research (and we think we know everything about the body). I’ll keep my allergies and my post nasal drip and my sense of smell (and my kidneys and liver), thanks.
I know what you mean. I had used Zicam a few time during some really bad colds but probably because I didn’t rely on it my senses have remained intact. I did, however, take Accutane for a horrible, painful adult acne breakout that would not clear up and seemed to spread like a plague. I was grateful for the quick results at the time, however I *did* develop acid-reflux after taking it – as the lawsuit commercials say – and my lips still remain as dry and chapped as they were while I was taking it. (I was told the drug essentially dried up most of the moisture that could be delivered to my lips).
I haven’t heard of any lawsuits from side-effects of an anti-seizure medication I used to take for depression, but ever since I’ve stopped taking it (several years ago now), if I am the least bit dehydrated I feel horribly nauseous until I down a bottle of water and wait 10 or 15 minutes for it to subside. I am really worried about what the shape of my kidneys and liver are.
I haven’t read the book…actually 8 years on an anti-convulsant to treat depression left me unable to read much! I had to drop out of a degree I was doing since I had a 0 concentration span. And I totally lost my imagination – at least my visual one. Plus words stopped resonating with me which was terrifying (as I’d been a book-worm all my life). After major ‘crisis’, I was eventually taken off several of my medicines and now am only taking 2 straight anti-depressants. About 16 months later my visual imagination has returned and my concentration is much improved. Sorry this is not really very relevant except that I do get bad hay-fever and never even knew that nasal decongestants could have this effect…
In fact, I only recently discovered the sense of smell after reading ‘perfumes the guide’.
A favorite. I credit The Guideand Stamelman’s Perfume “legitimized” my freakish interest in fragrance.
Something got messed up in my comment above.
Meant to say: I credit The Guide and Stamelman’s Perfume for “legitimizing” my freakish interest in fragrance.
I guess those would be good sources.
Guess I need to look up Stamelman!
That is awful, but I am glad, as you must be, to have things returning. I trust they are all the more sweet for their absence?
Glad to hear you are very much on the mend.
Thanks, both of you! Realistically I find it difficult to weigh up the positive and negative consequences. I miss the easy relationship I had with literature – its still a bit fraught. On the other hand I was forced to find other interests – and the purfume-smelling/perfume-reviews has proved a happy compromise for the moment!
Omg, Merlin, your experience sounds eerily similar to mine! Was it Topomax that you took? (If you don’t mind me asking.) I was also on it for depression and it turned me into a zombie. All my journal entries from that time say the same thing “I feel so stupid. Why do I have such a hard time concentrating?” I write creatively and it totally shut down my creativity as well. I have been off it for around three years now and I feel I’ve got about 85% of my faculties back but that imagination sure was slow at returning. And I’m still trying to deal with the possibility that not all of it will. I also lost a lot of weight while I was on it, but that’s what happens when you have no appetite and don’t enjoy food anymore! I’m much happier on my current regimen, even if I am heavier! I’ll take functional and fat over a skinny zombie any day.
LaMaroc, I remember hearing of topomax as the supermodel drug – ie. that it made people thin and stupid. The main culprit in my case was lamictin (sometimes called lamitrogine, I think). I too write creatively, had been writing poetry on and off since I was about 8 or 9 years old. But I wrote nothing for about 5 years after my dose of this was raised. It was so strange and disturbing – the feeling that my mental life had once been so much richer, but the inability to describe that richness clearly. According to every doctor I spoke to the cognitive dulling was possible but likely to be from the anti-psychotics I had been put on. They would not take me off this in case I lapsed into another psychotic depression which apparently would leave me needing even higher doses…When crisis hit I was taken off the anti-psychs anyway (by other doctors) but it was only when the LAMICTIN (which apparently ‘has no cognitive side-effects) was removed that my faculties began returning. Like you, I dont think I’m 100% back yet…
My doctor tried to put me on a drug called Lamictal, I wonder if that’s the same thing? I was allergic to it, though, so didn’t take it beyond a few days. I wasn’t on any anti-psychotics and yet my experiences seem almost identical to yours. No cognitive side effects my a_ _! I wonder if eveyone will look back at the late 20th century/early 21st century as horrified at the “experimental” use of prescriptions as they did the use of shock therapy and lobotomies in the early to mid 20th century.
Yes, I think lamictal is the same drug…
I”m so glad I never tried that nasal spray…
I have not read this but gave it to my mother who has suffered from anosmia for over 10 years. She too was an avid user of nasal spray for allergies but her doctor has said that there is likely to never be a definitely identified cause for the anosmia. In recent years, she has begun to be able to catch whiffs of things like woodsmoke but cannot smell, for instance, the gas leaking out of the burner ring on my hob or my daughters’ dirty nappies. As a perfume lover, this has been devastating and she has often mentioned how much scent and memory are linked – and greatly wishes that she could have smelled my girls when they were newborn for that lovely sweet milky smell.
My hope is that the book will help her feel less alone!
So sad she missed the newborn smell.
I have not read this book, but I know how frustrated I get when I lose my sense of smell during a cold and how depressing it is, as I’m sure others have experienced. Although it isn’t permanent, it makes me appreciate what I have because you don’t know when it might be gone.
Me, too!
What follows is a rather long mini bio. of my experiences with scent loss. Please feel free to ignore my rant and vent as I understand not many can relate. Sorry about the length.
Ah…..Where to start, where to start! What to say? Does anyone really want to know? Really?
This subject is a huge can of worms for me. Although I didn’t lose my sense of smell the way this woman did, I’ve gone through odd phases in the process.
Let’s see – there was the head injury many years ago, getting healed and finding out I can’t smell anything I am cooking. Good Lord, how do I know when anything is ccoked? The first time I noticed this, I forgot I was cooking and found the food burnt when I coincidentally decided to get a drink of water. Also, the smoke detector batteries had died (fixed now). Has food gone bad…..dunno, no clue, how old is it?
My perfume bottles………that was sad…….it made me cry to look at them………..after about 3 months, got tired of crying and cleaned house. Tossed all the perfume bottles and moved forward as I normally do when disaster hits. The past is the past, the future is different, move on! I fell into work and devoted energy to that instead of feeling sorry for myself. One step at a time, forward.
Then came the skunk. It started out as a slight skunk smell and I held out hope. I might be beginning to smell again! YeeeHa! Wouldn’t you know it, I would start by smelling the most awful thing I could find. Just like me, I laughed. Then it escalated to a massive, huge nasal searing, eye watering, skunk smell, pretty much everywhere but in varying degrees. Oh, that was an evil time! Anything that smelled enough to affect me, smelled like skunk. Much of the time I think it may have been phantom as well. I used to ask people if they smelled anything (skunk), but almost invariably, they said, “no, nothing”. Later (about a year later), they said, “oh, I am just cooking something, are you trying to insult me?”. Cue the “keep your mouth shut and don’t take the chance of insulting people” stance.
Then I had a few more smells available. Skunk was joined by raw, eye searing, cut onions. Then came toast. Who knew that breweries smell like toast? I really believed things were starting to get better when I smelled toast near a bakery!
All of this has taken place over the past 4 to 5 years. The most notable was this spring, when I started smelling friendly things. I no longer had any idea what they were because I couln’t trust the smell and the association. Only some of my associations held on from the “distant” past. I could smell perfumes again, but they did not smell the same as I remembered them. I thought I would have fun for a change and learn the names of smells again by using the perfume route. I forgot about complex smells. How silly of me! Soliflores seemed the best way to go at first to re-learn what those smells are.
And now, the present. I still cannot describe smells, but I am learning. I am finding that exploring a note with many frags makes more sense. I can start to find similiarities among people’s reviews and the smells I smell, to identify and “label” what that darned intoxicating lovely odour is! Thank goodness for samples and decants! Thank goodness for sites like NST and the people that populate them! None of you know me, but many of you have helped me, so I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Every new discovery is a source of joy.
Suffice it to say, my heart goes out to all those affected by osmic (is that correct?) disorders and I wish there were cures for each and every one of them.
Your journey sounds so much like Blodgett’s. It is fascinating to read about how you re-approach scent and identification of smells.
I must confess, I have not finished her book yet, but I plan to finish it within the week. I’m curious about the similarities of sensations. I suppose I’ll find out how she coped with realising that we all smell. I coped with it by increasing showers, and finding any deodorizing product availble. Curious! I would have thought I’d be happy to smell anything, but I was more horrified by just how awful I smelled and feared everyone else could smell it too. No wonder wild animals want to stay away from us!
Just read chapter 8 – seems burning down the house is a real potential disaster for many!
Another absolutely intriguing but heart-breaking story. Thank you for sharing it and all the best on your olfactory journey! ( :
Than you Merlin. And I wish the best to you and overcomming your challenges as well.
I have not had this problem on the epic scale that you experienced, however, I know that, as much as I adore fragrance, every time I have a cold or get sick, I do not want any part of the aromatic things I love, such as perfume, coffee, wine. It is a subconscious reaction, not a planned-out one but nevertheless changes my life-style. I really feel for you and hope that you are on the road to recovery very soon.
Me too!
I have to say here, if it’s any comfort or humor to anyone, but, I’ve been addicted to nasal sprays for, I’m not kidding, 47 years. I overdosed at age 4 and had hallucinations. I still can not watch rice cook because the little air bubbles it forms in the rice freak me out and remind me of the hallucinations. I also can’t look at a sponge for the same reason. Holes. The sight of a severed artery might just kill me. HOWEVER, in all those years, it, 100’s of bottles, has done nothing to harm my sense of smell. In fact, now that I am studying, my nose is getting better by the week. Allergy shots have helped my seasonal stuff and I don’t use the sprays nearly as often. But I have never used Zicam.
Also, for those interested, I found that a morning nasal cleanse with a Neil Med nasal wash and the solution wakes up my sense of smell in a fabulous way. My shampoos and soaps leap to my senses.
I truly, truly feel for anyone with this loss and I hope this brings more awareness to to this connection with life. I no longer take it for granted. And life is so much sweeter, now.
M
I also use the Neil Med nasal wash. My doctor told me you can actually use it safely every day but I pretty much have to because of my allergies. It helps so much. And I’m too uncoordianted to use a neti pot! lol
Mough, you overdosed at the age of 4? On one of those sprays? I didn’t follow that part, but am happy to hear your nose is tuned and working!
Some years ago, I used Zicam a few times, but never again! I also do not use the other nasal sprays as they are very addictive. The rebound congestion causes you to start using them more frequently, and within a few days, you are hooked. I have had this happen to me, and it took several days of complete misery to break the cycle. I only occasionally use an oral decongestant if things get really bad with a severe cold or bout of flu. ( By really bad, I mean that it is keeping me from sleeping.)
One thing that I have found to be useful is a neti pot. In case anyone doesn’t know, a neti pot looks something like a small teapot. You fill it with saline solution (saltwater), and pour the saltwater through your nose. The saltwater helps relieve congestion by washing the junk out of the nasal passages. It is extremely safe, as saltwater is a natural part of your body (sweat and tears are saltwater), and cannot cause allergies, anosmia, rebound congestion, or any of the other possible side effects of decongestant drugs. It is also extremely economical, and you do not have to use the little packets of salt mixture that they try to sell you in the drugstore. Just make a mixture of 2 parts table salt to 1 part baking soda, and use 1/2 teaspoon of this mixture for each 4 ounces of warm water.
What a great idea. Truth be known, I am actually a little afraid to mess with the nose now that it has decided to rejoin me in life again. I feel like I should give it anything it wants as long as keeps doing its job. But this sounds safe?????? Yes, it must be, as you said we are part saline ourselves. Would you know if this is similar or the same as Neil Med nasal wash?
From what I have seen, yes I believe it is the same thing, except that the Neil Med products are either premade saline or premeasured packets of sodium chloride (NaCl) and sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) mixture. My neti pot came with some packets, and I determined from the ingredients list that it was a 2:1 ratio of NaCl to NaHCO3. You can make it up in quantity, as the dry mixture will keep indefinitely. Just keep it in an airtight container (such as a Tupperware or Rubber Maid container) to keep it from absorbing moisture and clumping. It is probably not a good idea to store homemade saline solution, however, as it is not sterile and “stuff” could grow it in (look at how much stuff grows in the ocean!).
I have friends who swear by that neti pot. I tend to let the congestion run its course: unpleasant memories of water up the nose in the ocean or at pools make it hard for me to use liquids therapeutically.
I was a little squeamish myself at first, as I have also had the water up the nose experience while swimming, but my determination not to use strong decongestants helped me overcome my initial fears. It turns out that it is not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. You lean sideways over the sink and breathe through your nouth the whole time, so the water does not go too far up the nasal passages (or into the lungs). I actually never felt as if I were choking or drowning (as I had feared I might), and it takes less than a minute to do both nostrils. I was really amazed at the difference it made and how much better I felt afterward. I get so congested sometimes with a virus that I literally cannot eat and breathe at the same time.
Definitely sounds worth trying!
This looks like a great book. Must buy it.
I think you’ll like it!
Even if you have not read the book, check out question 5. I’ve always wanted to do this (keep a smellscape journal for a day or longer). I manged it once, on a long metro ride in Paris. It required constant note-taking, so varied and pungent were the odors.