All Comments on 'The Smell of Old Books'

A story with the needs we all feel while living a human existence that is never as we hoped for while young. But with a truth which makes this a binding read from beginning to end. Even when some of the memories feel foreign to us especially as a migrant who arrived here at 33, having memories that don't fit in the present anymore.

tale of emptiness.

Excellent authorial skill. Publishable without at doubt. Would love to see how this story progresses.

A thoughtful & well written story. Thanks

Zoe,

this is lovely writing, capturing mood and place, time and loss, hope. Literotica rarely moves me, this piece did. Beautifully observed.

I loved it! It is so creative and beautifully written. I felt transported and could vibrantly picture the scene and characters. You are an excellent talented writer and I am really looking forward to the next chapter.

Zoe, this story is phenomenal, and perhaps the very definition of what one should expect on a site called 'Literotica'. Short, skilled, casual and controlled with nary a word out of place, no spelling errors, no grammatical slip-ups. Best of all, it FEELS so elegantly Japanese. Haiku extended out into a full story. It leaves out more than it tells, and what it tells is tantalizing enough to make the reader want more, and yet I'm still satisfied. While more COULD be said, nothing more NEEDS to be said. Hard to get more quintessentially Japanese than that.

Rich, artistic, literary...yeah, I'm just gushing at this point. I found this one from a link on the forums, and I'm so glad you posted it in Naoko's thread. You earned every one of those five stars. I've nothing to critique, no suggestions for improvement. Thank you so very much. :)

...and the rest of this wonderful story. Just one criticism (perhaps not so much a criticism as a preference): personally I don't care much for stories told in the present tense, although 'The Smell...' wasn't long enough to put me off. That said, Zoe, you've written something outstanding here. And you've done what all good writing should do: you have shown, not told. You said nothing specific about Japanese customs and manners and yet you have managed to make these clear to the extent that the reader feels as if they have been immersed in them. I also liked some of the story's imagery, such as the city being a great beast. Five stars and you've earned every one of them.

Brian

Just when I'd given up hope of finding anything here that rises to the level of barely literate, I come across this which gives me hope that the world of literature, amateur or professional, is not a barren wasteland after all.

It's most enjoyable to find a work of this calibre here on Lit.

So rarely does a story on this site focus on a character this well.

Well done.

A superb story masterfully told, full of subtle images as delicate as the silken threads of a Kimono woven into a true work of art. There are more perfect sentences in this story than in any other I have read on this site. Verbal jewels like nuggets of pure gold are placed with a fastidious sensibility into a background of organic soil that illustrates 'The smell of Old Books' to the point of allowing you to actually inhale that earthy fragrance as you read.

You open up Kondo-san and expose her delightful, honest character so completely that it almost embarrasses me to see her until I realize just how beautiful and simple she is. Her use of words to express deep insights that originate on a higher plane of conciseness is truly unique. I've never read words so meticulously placed to convey such powerful meaning.

Thank you zoemiller for giving us such and enjoyable reading experience. 5*

This is a terrific example of what a story can be. Rich in imagery, strong in characterizations and so, so poetic. Loved it. The people shown here are interesting and that is no easy accomplishment. I'm not very much into poetry, but this story is just that, an extra-long poem in free form.

This is what perfection reads like. I'm looking forward to the next installation

Well, everyone else has already said it. Real quality writing that's very rare here. I like the details like the suggestive literary references. Oranges... Maybe Tipping the Velvet in a future instalment. And you are probably the first at this site to use 'ejaculating' in its original sense; I wonder if that was a deliberate little joke!

Absolutely beautiful. A lot of others have said it better than I ever could. I so enjoyed the narrator's spirit and depth, and her ephemeral, philosophical insights into the simple, mundane, everyday. She knows, but she does not say. And it makes me feel so close to her and wonder - how many other women think this way?

And then she meets Tomo. Who I am SO intrigued by! What does this "proprietor" have in store for us?

Far beyond an erotic story; easily as much a societal commentary on need and isolation.

Perfection ! I am in awe at how good this is and how much better it is than most of what i have read here.

Well done !

and it's still as beautiful as it was then.

The writing in this is absolutely gorgeous. Strikingly good prose. The italicized bits about "the beast" are phenomenal.

After enjoying this story for, like, the fifth or sixth time, I'm still gobsmacked it has as few comments as it does. Not even twenty in four years? Well, yes, now it has twenty, but still. Love this just as much as I did the first time. Kondo and Minatsuki forever! <3

I've never read such a boring litany of trivial crap!!!

I was absorbed by the feelings expressed in this story. The lonliness of the woman's life and the buoyancy of the hope that awakens memories of a lost and forbidden love. I wish for her all of the happiness she is brave enough to pursue. Thank you for an excellent story. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️