From Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt:
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"Darkness suits me. Each evening, I await the click of the overhead lights, leaving only the glow from the main tank. Not perfect, but close enough. Almost-darkness, like the middle-bottom of the sea."
Book Review: Remarkably Bright Creatures: Story of an octopus and two aquarium night janitors who care for him. He repays them with clues to a mystery. The octopus is way too bright. Coincidences abound. A heartwarming, workmanlike story with something for all ages. B+
After the jump, my full review.
Marcellus McSqiggles is a giant Pacific octopus that is kept in a public aquarium in Seattle. "Kept" is used loosely, as Marcellus is capable of escaping his tank and exploring the aquarium. His sometime accomplice is Tova, a widowed woman who is the night janitor at the aquarium. When Tova is ready for retirement, Cameron, a young man in his thirties and adrift in life, takes her place. Other characters enter the story at different places, with the potential to take leading roles, but are abandoned after the story returns to Marcellus, Tova, and Cameron. The octopus is a full-fledged character, with thoughts and feelings. He communicates complex intelligent ideas, if humans don't really grasp all he's trying to tell them. He is a really bright creature, after all.
The story starts out being told by Marcellus in the first person. Then it switches to telling us Tova's story. Then it switches again to tell us Cameron's story. Eventually, the stories come together. How the characters are related is the "mystery" part of this novel. The reader will have no trouble solving the mystery almost as soon as the different elements are introduced. That's probably because Van Pelt is more interested in the characters and less in writing a mystery novel.
The novel is all about unresolved grief. Tova lost her husband recently, and long ago lost a son, presumably drowned some 30 years ago. His body was never found, eventually leaving her without hope he'll walk back in the door some day. Cameron never knew his father and his mother abandoned him when he was a child. He was raised by an aunt, but he's never given up hope of finding his father some day. And, of course, Marcellus is trapped in an aquarium. He has longings for the sea, if no realistic hope of ever returning.
Octopi are smart animals, but for the convenience of this story, Marcellus is way too smart, knowing not just general knowledge, but knowing things very specific about Tova and Cameron. He even appears to be able to read. Implausible coincidences abound. Lives intersect at just the right time to propel the story along at a steady pace. There's no dwelling too long on any fortuitous development.
The story is workmanlike, both in its plot, its plot development, and its language. The text sometimes sounds like something from a freshman creative writing class: "Brad and Elizabeth’s house is on the outskirts of town, where subdivisions pop up overnight like a bad rash." On the plus side, the novel offers insights on human nature from an octopus's point of view: "Why can humans not use their millions of words to simply tell one another what they desire?" And if you're here for a heartwarming story, "Remarkably Bright Creatures" will deliver the goods.
"Remarkably Bright Creatures" is the 2023 selection for "Richardson Reads One Book". It is available in hard copy and Kindle format from the Richardson Public Library. :-)
If this novel makes you curious about octopi and their intelligence, I high recommend this nature documentary movie: "My Octopus Teacher".
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