I share some of your distaste for the critical venting of spleen, Deepa, but I think in this case the fault lies with me, for quoting the most eye-catching part of a free-wheeling and catholic review of a well-judged book, and not with Turin and Sanchez.
I don't think they dismiss scents on a popularity basis. *Slate* carried a review last week which carries a couple of nice things they say about famous perfumes: http://www.slate.com/id/2190277/ Their snappy reviewing style is interesting to me for the reasons Udhay mentions above. To my blunted sense of smell, the simile-laden strings of press-release perfume descriptions mean zilch - the emotional and intellectual consideration attached to [some of] these reviews keeps me more interested. Supriya. On Fri, May 2, 2008 at 1:02 AM, Deepa Mohan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Fri, May 2, 2008 at 12:32 AM, Supriya Nair <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > Turin and Tania Sanchez' book of perfume criticism is something I have > > wanted to read since the minute I read this review of the > > book< > http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2008/03/10/080310crbo_books_lanchester?printable=true > > > > . > > > > That, it turns out, is relatively mild, as their criticisms go. > Consider > > 212, from Carolina Herrera: "Like getting lemon juice in a paper cut." > > Amarige, from Givenchy? "If you are reading this because it is your > darling > > fragrance, please wear it at home exclusively, and tape the windows > shut." > > Heiress? "Hilariously vile 50/50 mix of cheap shampoo and canned > peaches." > > Princess? "Stupid name, pink perfume, heart shaped bottle, little crown > on > > top. I half expected it to be really great just to spite me. But no, > it's > > probably the most repulsively cloying thing on the market today." Hugo, > the > > men's cologne from Hugo Boss? "Dull but competent lavender-oakmoss > thing, > > suggestive of a day filled with strategy meetings." Love in White? "A > > chemical white floral so disastrously vile words nearly desert me. If > this > > were a shampoo offered with your first shower after sleeping rough for > two > > months in Nouakchott, you'd opt to keep the lice." Lanvin's Rumeur gets > a > > one-word review: "Baseless." > > > > Admire and appreciate that Turin is apparently a biochemist > "specialising in > > the creation of new smells." > > > I suppose these are maestros of scent who know exactly what they are > talking about...but such destructive criticism, while it sounds very > witty, makes me, personally, very uncomfortable, because it posits a > stance of "only my viewpoint is valid and the people who use these > scents are idiots". Scents are so subjective that I cannot understand > how any one opinion can be the only valid one. And I am with the > snobbery of "I am so expert that I can slate every perfume which is > popular." > > "If this > > were a shampoo offered with your first shower after sleeping rough for > two > > months in Nouakchott, you'd opt to keep the lice." > > > Oh, come ON! This sounds so clever and mordant...but Mr. Scent Expert, > I would NOT opt to keep the lice after two months in Nouakchott, > wherever that may be. > > > Does expertise only mean looking down (looking down one's nose is an > apt image here!) on others? I understand that some of us have much > more highly educated noses than others..but surely every scent under > the sun has its place somewhere in the Universe! "I don't like it" is > acceptable to me, "No one should like it" is not. > > In fact, the same fragrance may affect one differently depending on > the context. When I was walking through the State Forest at > Devarayanadurga, the scent of the wild jasmine was everywhere. It is a > strong and heady aroma, and I loved it; my memories of the day are > completely tinged with that scent. But I would never buy such a strong > scent as a perfume-in-a-bottle. > > My earliest memories are of "Tata Eau de Cologne" (applied to my > forehead in a folded hanky, whenever I was running a high > temperature), and I always associated the smell of "Tata Shampoo" > (remember that annular bottle > those-who-were-brought-up-at-that-time-in-India?) with clean hair. > They were, probably, very hoi polloi scents; but I cannot change my > "Tata Aroma" memories. > > Hmm...this smells like a rant... > > Deepa. > > -- Doo-bop.
