--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was a dead hole, smelling of synthetic…" description: "\"“It was a dead hole, smelling of synthetic leather and disinfectant, both of which odors seemed to emanate from the torn scratched material of the seat..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fd/paula-fox-13833_hopeless_it-was-a-dead-hole-smelling-of-synthetic_1995303.jpg" --- # It was a dead hole, smelling of synthetic leather and… ![“It was a dead hole, smelling of synthetic leather and disinfectant, both of which odors seemed to emanate from the torn scratched material of the seats that lined the three walls. It smelled of the tobacco ashes which had flooded the two standing metal ashtrays. On the chromium lip of one, a cigar…” quote by Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fd/paula-fox-13833_hopeless_it-was-a-dead-hole-smelling-of-synthetic_1995303.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fd/paula-fox-13833_hopeless_it-was-a-dead-hole-smelling-of-synthetic_1995303.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fd/paula-fox-13833_hopeless_it-was-a-dead-hole-smelling-of-synthetic_1995303.jpg) > ““It was a dead hole, smelling of synthetic leather and disinfectant, both of which odors seemed to emanate from the torn scratched material of the seats that lined the three walls. It smelled of the tobacco ashes which had flooded the two standing metal ashtrays. On the chromium lip of one, a cigar butt gleamed wetly like a chewed piece of beef. There was the smell of peanut shells and of the waxy candy wrappers that littered the floor, the smell of old newspapers, dry, inky, smothering and faintly like a urinal, the smell of sweat from armpits and groins and backs and faces, pouring out and drying up in the lifeless air, the smell of clothes—cleaning fluids imbedded in fabric and blooming horribly in the warm sweetish air, picking at the nostrils like thorns—all the exudations of the human flesh, a bouquet of animal being, flowing out, drying up, but leaving a peculiar and ineradicable odor of despair in the room as though chemistry was transformed into spirit, an ascension of a kind, …Light issuing from spotlights in the ceiling was sour and blinding like a sick breath. There was in that room an underlying confusion in the function of the senses. Smell became color, color became smell. Mute started at mute so intently they might have been listening with their eyes, and hearing grew preternaturally acute, yet waited only for the familiar syllables of surnames. Taste died, mouth opened in the negative drowsiness of waiting.”” [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Fox paints a vivid, sensory‑overloaded scene where smells, colors, and sounds merge, reflecting a chaotic, despair‑filled environment. **In simple terms:** A room overwhelms senses, mixing smells and sights, showing despair. Key Takeaway Notice how sensory overload can mirror emotional states. Themes sensory perception despair environment psychology artistic description Mood intense melancholic immersive Type literary descriptive psychological When to use this quote - writing techniques - film set design - mental health awareness - creative storytelling Key Concepts phenomenology symbolism human condition Questions to Reflect On - How does sensory detail affect emotional impact? - Can overload be used constructively in art? 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In his efforts to confront the Nasserite and socialist forces in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tarek-osman/the-politics-of-the-1970s-were-the-second-factor-in-this-social-shift/) [Tarek Osman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tarek-osman/) > [They say I'm old news. Well who the new star? 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I’m uncovering bits of my past and finding out I don’t much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-dee/it-may-be-old-news-to-you-but-it-s-new-to-me-i-m-uncovering-bits-of/) [Bonnie Dee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-dee/) > [If the gospel is old news to you, it will be dull news to everyone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-deyoung/if-the-gospel-is-old-news-to-you-it-will-be-dull-news-to-everyone-else/) [Kevin DeYoung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-deyoung/) > [“Beneath the specific events that I experienced, I recognised a universal story – the story of what happens when human beings find themselves at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yanis-varoufakis/beneath-the-specific-events-that-i-experienced-i-recognised-a/) [Yanis Varoufakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yanis-varoufakis/) > [I'm very wary of doing political stuff for a lot of reasons. One of the big ones is that the shelf-life for them is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-heidecker/i-m-very-wary-of-doing-political-stuff-for-a-lot-of-reasons-one-of/) [Tim Heidecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-heidecker/) > [When I was a young boy I sold newspapers by the side of the road. I cleaned the shoes of people for less than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kolo-toure/when-i-was-a-young-boy-i-sold-newspapers-by-the-side-of-the-road-i/) [Kolo Toure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kolo-toure/) > [Yesterday's paper, that's why you old news. Hating on my team until they see we won't lose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wiz-khalifa/yesterday-s-paper-that-s-why-you-old-news-hating-on-my-team-until/) [Wiz Khalifa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wiz-khalifa/) ## More by Paula Fox > [My life was incoherent to me. I felt it quivering, spitting out broken teeth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/my-life-was-incoherent-to-me-i-felt-it-quivering-spitting-out-broken/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [People steal into one's consciousness and occupy what seems, in retrospect, to have been their place all along.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/people-steal-into-one-s-consciousness-and-occupy-what-seems-in/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [You'll see some bad things, but if you didn't see them, they'd still be happening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/you-ll-see-some-bad-things-but-if-you-didn-t-see-them-they-d-still-be/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [“I imagine there's a timid animal inside me...When it's afraid, I feel it tremble. It can't hear. It only knows the fear it feels.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/i-imagine-there-s-a-timid-animal-inside-me-when-it-s-afraid-i-feel-it/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [I taught writing classes at the University of Pennsylvania for a number of years and I realized that all you can do is encourage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/i-taught-writing-classes-at-the-university-of-pennsylvania-for-a/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [“Words are nets through which all truth escapes ("News From The World")”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/words-are-nets-through-which-all-truth-escapes-news-from-the-world/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [I don't like to listen to music while I'm working.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/i-don-t-like-to-listen-to-music-while-i-m-working/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [Imagination has to do with one's awareness of the reality of other people as well as of one's own reality. Imagination is a bridge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/imagination-has-to-do-with-one-s-awareness-of-the-reality-of-other/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [“Imagination is conjunctive and unifying; the sour, habitual wars of the self are disjunctive and separating. When I begin a story at my desk,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/imagination-is-conjunctive-and-unifying-the-sour-habitual-wars-of-the/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [If a person had accused him of meanness, he could have defended himself. But with a dog - you did something cheap to it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/if-a-person-had-accused-him-of-meanness-he-could-have-defended/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [A year and a half after the end of the war and the German occupation, Paris was muted and looked bruised and forlorn. Everywhere…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/a-year-and-a-half-after-the-end-of-the-war-and-the-german-occupation/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [“You’ll see some bad things, but if you didn’t see them, they’d still be happening so you might as well.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/you-ll-see-some-bad-things-but-if-you-didn-t-see-them-they-d-still-be-2/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [Words are nets through which all truth escapes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/words-are-nets-through-which-all-truth-escapes/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [When I had a few francs, I spent them at a café on the Place de Longchamps, a block or so from my pension,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/when-i-had-a-few-francs-i-spent-them-at-a-caf-on-the-place-de/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [I've always known a lot of very bad people, destructive, brutes of a certain kind. Then I've seen these lovely impulses and what not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/i-ve-always-known-a-lot-of-very-bad-people-destructive-brutes-of-a/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) [Explore all 49 Paula Fox quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) ## More Hopeless quotes > [Memory is like fiction; or else it's fiction that's like memory. This really came home to me once I started writing fiction, that memory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/memory-is-like-fiction-or-else-it-s-fiction-that-s-like-memory-this/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [When we fall utterly, something gathers us up. But our falling must be without reservation, without expectation, without hope, though not hopeless. You cant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/when-we-fall-utterly-something-gathers-us-up-but-our-falling-must-be/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) > [Entrepreneurs take measured risks, not hopeless gambles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-kirk/entrepreneurs-take-measured-risks-not-hopeless-gambles/) [Charlie Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-kirk/) > [“The sky is always beautiful. Even when it's dark or rainy or cloudy, it's still beautiful to look at. It's my favourite thing because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-hoover/the-sky-is-always-beautiful-even-when-it-s-dark-or-rainy-or-cloudy-it/) [Colleen Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-hoover/) > [Nothing is hopeless that is right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-b-anthony/nothing-is-hopeless-that-is-right/) [Susan B. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-b-anthony/) > [Of Course God does not consider you hopeless. If He did, He would not be moving you to seek Him (and He obviously is)...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/of-course-god-does-not-consider-you-hopeless-if-he-did-he-would-not/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“It all suddenly seemed like a hopeless fight, but so what? I told myself. What does it cost you to pretend that the can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-j-cogswell/it-all-suddenly-seemed-like-a-hopeless-fight-but-so-what-i-told/) [Kelly J. Cogswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-j-cogswell/) > [“An atheist is someone who is disappointed in his search of god. He is a man who strongly needed god but couldn't find him.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/an-atheist-is-someone-who-is-disappointed-in-his-search-of-god-he-is/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [I am not anxious to be the loudest voice or the most popular. But I would like to think that at a crucial moment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-am-not-anxious-to-be-the-loudest-voice-or-the-most-popular-but-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“It’s so easy to lose faith and become lost in all of the politics of the world. That’s why we need the arts. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/it-s-so-easy-to-lose-faith-and-become-lost-in-all-of-the-politics-of/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [If God is not with us, we do not want to continue. If the Sermon on the Mount is simply impractical, our mission work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-baker/if-god-is-not-with-us-we-do-not-want-to-continue-if-the-sermon-on-the/) [Heidi Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-baker/) > [I'm a hopeless father. I don't know why. I don't think I was supposed to be a father.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-o-neal/i-m-a-hopeless-father-i-don-t-know-why-i-don-t-think-i-was-supposed/) [Ryan O'Neal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-o-neal/) > [Tell me, if I confess my feelings to you, will you say you feel the same? Or am I going to have to cringe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernajoy-vaal/tell-me-if-i-confess-my-feelings-to-you-will-you-say-you-feel-the/) [Bernajoy Vaal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernajoy-vaal/) > [I have come to think that life is a far more limited thing than those in the midst of its maelstorm realize. That light…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-have-come-to-think-that-life-is-a-far-more-limited-thing-than-those/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Hopeless. Freak. Elephant. Pitiful”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-cooner/hopeless-freak-elephant-pitiful/) [Donna Cooner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-cooner/) [Browse all 1,202 Hopeless quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hopeless/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It was a dead hole, smelling of synthetic leather and disinfectant, both of which odors seemed to emanate from the torn scratched material of the seats that lined the three walls. It smelled of the tobacco ashes which had flooded the two standing metal ashtrays. On the chromium lip of one, a cigar butt gleamed wetly like a chewed piece of beef. There was the smell of peanut shells and of the waxy candy wrappers that littered the floor, the smell of old newspapers, dry, inky, smothering and faintly like a urinal, the smell of sweat from armpits and groins and backs and faces, pouring out and drying up in the lifeless air, the smell of clothes—cleaning fluids imbedded in fabric and blooming horribly in the warm sweetish air, picking at the nostrils like thorns—all the exudations of the human flesh, a bouquet of animal being, flowing out, drying up, but leaving a peculiar and ineradicable odor of despair in the room as though chemistry was transformed into spirit, an ascension of a kind, …Light issuing from spotlights in the ceiling was sour and blinding like a sick breath. There was in that room an underlying confusion in the function of the senses. Smell became color, color became smell. 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