Page 15 - Stuart Exposure - March '24

Stuart Exposure, Page 15

Book Review

Remarkably Bright it around her waist and holding it mopping the floors and keeping the
glass walls of all the exhibits clear
there for quite a while, the author
Creatures unwrapped the tentacle, turned to me and clean. She genuinely cares for
and said, “It’s your turn, Nils.” all the various creatures within their
By Nils A. Shapiro I was taken aback for a moment, enclosures and often feeds them
When my two was handed a small fish that had but has a special affection for, and
wonderful daughters, Brett been the octopus’s favorite food, connection with, the giant Pacific
and Hillary, surprised then stood and looked down into the octopus, Marcellus, whose restless
me recently with a gift tank. A tentacle arose from the water, nature and renowned intelligence is
copy of this book it was took the fish gently from my hand ... reflected in his constant successful
clear they remembered but dropped it. She was already too escapes from his tank to explore –
my telling them several weak to eat and was starving. But the and sometimes devour – the tasty
years ago about having had tentacle came up again and slowly samples from nearby other tanks. It
one of the most emotional wrapped around my wrist! She was is a secret that Tova does not disclose
experiences of my life. tasting me – she could taste down to to the aquarium’s officials lest they
I had just written a rave my bloodstream with any part of her punish her eight-legged friend.
review for The Soul of an Octopus, a nonfiction book that skin – and, having accepted me as a Instead, she always catches him and
went on to climb the bestseller lists in 25 countries around friend of her friend, slowly wrapped returns him to his tank.
the world. Its award-winning author, Sy Montgomery, a tentacle gripping me gently, suction It is a fact that, because they are
whom I had never met before but who has since become cup sucker by sucker that felt like wet gelatinous and have no bones, even
a dear friend, called to thank me and invited me to meet velvet around my wrist and held me octopuses whose tentacles stretch
her at the New England Aquarium to meet Sy, the giant there in greeting a very long time. to 6 or 8 feet wide are able to squeeze through holes as
Pacific octopus that had been named after her. Soon, realizing that this was a creature as different small as 1 or 2 inches wide. They have also been known
She explained to me, however, that I would have to from a human as would be a visitor from outer space – its to figure out how to open locks.
make the visit soon because, as her book explains, after mouth is in its armpit – but is at least as intelligent as a It is in the very special chapters throughout the book
a female octopus lays her 100,000 eggs she instinctively human in many ways, I began to choke up at the enormity involving Marcellus’s most important place in the story
immediately rests her eight tentacles on top of them to of the experience and, with tears streaming down my face, that this remarkable creature contributes the narrative
protect them from predators in her natural ocean habitat. spoke softly to this Sy of the sea: “Do you realize what’s himself, each time announcing the timing of the events
From that moment on she no longer forages for her own happening? Do you know that you’re dying? I know it’s taking place. His first: “Day 1,299 of My Captivity”…
food and slowly, over a period of weeks, starves to death to save your babies. I wish I could help you.” After a Marcellus had spent most of his life in the freedom of
– sacrificing her own life long enough to allow her babies while I was told it was time to leave and had to uncoil the open ocean, before he was captured 3 1/2 years earlier
to be born. the tentacle. It was an experience I will never forget. and placed in the small, boring “prison” of a tank that
I knew from Sy’s book that octopuses are among the I mention all of the above because an octopus named shortens the life of these intelligent cephalopods, and he
world’s most intelligent creatures, having been on this Marcellus is one of the main characters in Remarkably is now aware that his own will soon be ending.
planet for millions of years with almost no evolution Bright Creatures, a debut novel by Shelby Van Pelt. In His only friend, Tova, has grieved for many years over
because they are almost perfect for their environment. her acknowledgements she credits Sy Montgomery for the loss of her son, Erik, a high school senior who died
They recognize individual human faces – the one I was what she learned in The Soul of an Octopus. mysteriously several decades earlier in a case that was
to meet already knew Sy the author as a friend – and can Van Pelt’s novel is itself a remarkable achievement, officially ruled a drowning while he was in his boat at sea.
easily solve complicated puzzles provided by the aquarium a highly imaginative and beautifully told story of Another important character in the book, Cameron, is
on a regular basis to prevent their becoming bored. relationships, memories, sadness, family and love. introduced as a 30-year-old man raised by his Aunt Jeanne
When I arrived, after Sy the octopus greeted Sy the An elderly widow in her 70s, Tova, works evenings when his mother abandoned him soon after his birth.
author by raising a tentacle out of the water and wrapping at the aquarium in her town of Sowell Bay, Wash., Following a series of employment difficulties and some
research he now believes that his natural father, whom he
has never known, has become a wealthy real estate tycoon
living in Seattle and makes plans to confront the man with
the intent of demanding some financial compensation for
all the years of parental neglect.
When the planned meeting with his assumed father is
delayed, Cameron takes a job at the Sowell Bay aquarium
temporarily replacing Tova when she is injured, and the
two gradually form a genuine friendship.
While in Sowell Bay, Cameron begins to develop a
relationship with a young woman, Avery – and author
Van Pelt adds to the cast of characters Ethan, owner of
the local market. All are interesting
and worth getting to know.
But it is Marcellus
who, with his intelligence,
intuitive understanding
and scientifically
accurate physical skills
ultimately brings together
all of the complex strands
of this book’s imaginative story line to a satisfying, yet
magical, conclusion.
As for me, it was after I had read page 250 of this
book’s 355 pages, at a special moment in the narrative,
that I put the book down and, feeling all choked up, with
the memory of my own earlier experience, called both my
daughters and thanked them for their very thoughtful gift.
I suspect you will want to thank me for sharing this
wonderful book with you.