Today’s review is a two-fer: “Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt, and “The Soul of an Octopus” by Sy Montgomery. I’ve had the latter book on my TBR shelf for several years, but it wasn’t until I read Van Pelt’s novel that I pulled it down. Van Pelt clearly drew much inspiration from Montgomery’s journalistic foray into the lives of wild and captive octopuses, even crediting it in her acknowledgements.
The novel seemingly features an octopus protagonist, the only character given first-person narration status. However, Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus “imprisoned” in a Puget Sound aquarium, is often relegated to minor character status.
The main story focuses on a widow named Tova Sullivan, whose only child, son Erik, died at age 18, decades in the past, though his body was never recovered from the Sound. Tova does nighttime janitorial work at the aquarium and befriends the genius-level octopus, who has a desire to help Tova solve the mystery about Erik.
A second narrative begins with a 34-year-old California man struggling to find his footing in the world. Cameron, reared by his aunt, follows recently acquired clues to Washington in search of his missing father. He is soon enmeshed in Tova’s community and life at the aquarium.
I felt that Van Pelt “spilled the beans” about later events a bit early in the book. However, having that knowledge in no way detracted from the unfolding of the story. This isn’t a deep read, but a very entertaining one, with a satisfying conclusion.
Montgomery has many nature books to her credit. She is a deep-dive journalist (pun intended) who takes up scuba in order to accompany octopus researchers on location in Cozumel and Mooréa. She spends considerable time at the New England Aquarium in Boston, befriending a series of giant Pacific octopuses: Athena, Octavia, Kali, and Karma. She also visits a west-coast aquarium to observe octopus mating habits.
The book is ostensibly about what we do and do not understand about octopus biology and consciousness. However, Montgomery also treats us to the world of volunteers and employees of the aquarium and how the work impacts their lives.
She also discusses the many other denizens of the aquarium: fish, anemones, penguins, sea turtles, and a variety of invertebrates. I was amused to find a thread on Reddit that solved the mystery of why I couldn’t find any information about “baltemias” when I did a Google search. It’s actually an error!
The narrative is well-paced and lively. We come to care about the octopuses nearly as much as Montgomery and the other human characters do.
One question I was left with concerns octopus intelligence (though I don’t doubt they are “remarkably bright”). One of the aquarium scientists created some plexiglass boxes for the octopuses to unluck in various ways. What would happen if you showed an octopus a fresh Rubik’s Cube then gave it a scrambled one to solve?
Eilene Lyon 
I’ve read Remarkably Bright Creatures and really enjoyed it. Montgomery’s book may be an interesting follow up read.
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You’ll be able to see where Van Pelt got a lot of her ideas. It’s a good read and not too long.
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I’ll check the library for it! Thanks.
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😊
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Oooh. These must be added to my “To Read” list.
I recently(ish) read the book by a former fellow Friday Fictioneer, Claire Fuller “The Memory of Animals”, which, ironically, has as a main subject a pandemic (that she wrote pre-COVID) and where one of the protagonists is a marine biologist, who loves octopuses.
Here is part of my review that I wrote: “This book felt like a pandemic/My Octopus Teacher/Walking Dead (sans zombies)/science fiction story.
While Neffy’s letters to “H” seem to come out of nowhere, they are also more of a diary-type entry. I enjoyed them and I learned a lot about octopuses – which seem to have nothing to do with the situation Neffy, our main character, is living – but which, we realise offers many insights.”
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Ah, I will have to check it out! I thought of being a marine biologist once upon a time. While getting my degree here in Durango I got scuba certified, but I do not really like diving. It gives me a bit of claustrophobia. I much prefer snorkeling.
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It was funny because I read this one, and then Jodi Picoult’s “Wish You Were Here” and I think someone else spoke to me about another pandemic book and I was NOOOOOOOO! (Though I enjoyed both tremendously.)
I do love snorkeling, too. I tried scuba diving when I was 11 when our parents brought us to the Bahamas. The only wetsuit they had available had boob and I was too embarrassed to wear it as well… I was still boobless!! I never got around to trying it again. And now, I’d have to train myself to be comfortable going down deeper. I find myself panicking now. Bizarre.
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I think the only pandemic book I’ve read is Ann Patchett’s “Tom Lake.” I don’t know if I’ve read any of Picoult’s books, but I intent to do so.
That whole idea of not being able to rapidly rise to air gives me the heebee jeebees.
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Ann Patchett’s is on my list. I love Jodi Picoult and will read just about anything she writes! I don’t know how she does it: giving both sides of a story, time after time, and managing to stay neutral. She does a helluva lot of research, tell you what. And her style is so approachable.
Same!! More so the older I get, too.
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So many books, so little time. Sigh.
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So true! You should see my Amazon wish list (great place to put ’em even if I buy ’em elsewhere!) Of cours, I also have a list on my phone… Sigh…
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Coincidently, I just listened to a podcast discussing a book about eels!
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I’m glad there is still a lot of interest in the natural world, learning about our fellow global “brothers of a different mother” so to speak!
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Connection to nature should be uppermost in our minds these days.
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It really should. We are also nature, but possibly the only species hell-bent on self-destruction!
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