Ponder: the Soul of an Octopus

The Soul of an Octopus ©2015 by Sy Montgomery was on my daughter-in-law Carrie's book club list as their April selection. I did not make that April goal but I checked it out of my Livermore Library mid-May, and renewed it once. Still not finished, I was not allowed to renew it a second time because there was a waiting list for the book. Nevertheless I was determined enough to complete it, that I took it with me to Oklahoma, even though it was due two days before I returned. I was willing to pay the accrued fine for those two days so I could finish the book instead of returning it and being on a waiting list to check it out again. I reasoned that as a captive audience on a plane, I would be more inclined to progress beyond the first two chapters I had read (and re-read) up to that point. Unfortunately I was more inclined to do nothing but sleep on the plane instead (or try to sleep). That was true of the return flights, also. This book has miles on it!

But I did complete this book in late June within the two days immediately after my return from travel, sitting cozily in the comfort of my blue leather chair-and-a half in the corner of my family room. So was this book bad? No. If it were, I would have quit. The facts and information in it were fascinating and it was written in first person so I did become engaged. 

Despite the title, the Soul of an Octopus is non-fiction. Although there are mini-stories throughout, it lacks a strong page-turning plot. The characters are both mollusks and humans and it was engaging to learn about the personalities of each  unique creature in a tank or about each caring person on the dedicated team of the New England Aquarium in Boston where most, but not all, of the story enfolds. The parts in the New England Aquarium brought back strong feelings for me. The aquarium opened in June of 1969 right around the time of the first landing on the moon by the crew of Apollo 11. Our country was exploring in space and under the ocean and I was about to begin my undergraduate college years 1971-1975 of learning at MIT in Cambridge, adjacent to Boston. I remember strolling up that spiral ramp for the GOT Giant Ocean Tank. The crew in this octopus book referred to it often in their daily routines.

The first two chapters were about two octopuses in particular, Athena and Octavia. (Yes, the plural of octopus is octopuses and not octopi.) The text is crammed with technical details about the nervous system and anatomy of an octopus. Most animal bodies are ordered with head (where the brain is housed), torso, then limbs; octopuses are ordered with the head (and brain) sandwiched between the limbs and the body with extensions of the brain reaching into the limbs. Biological facts were marvelous but so also was the behavior of the octopuses.  The author would extend her arms into the tank toward them and they would embrace her by curling their tentacles around her forearms and pseudo kissing her with the suction cups. (In the acknowledgements section at the end of the book, the author thanks her husband for putting up with her "octopus hickies".) Octopuses are curious, clever creatures and need to be challenged mentally with puzzles and dexterity tasks such as unscrewing the lids on jars and putting the lids back on. 

The first chapters in the book are titled with the name of three distinct octopuses and so I was lead to believe each chapter would be about an octopus. I was wrong.  Perhaps this misconception is what caused the temporary stall in my reading beyond Chapter Two. Even though a book promotion text cites "gentle Athena, assertive Octavia, curious Kali, and joyful Karma", there is more content than these four mollusk personalities. Subsequent chapters addressed mating habits, care for eggs, and visiting octopuses in their wild habitat. The female octopus is capable of housing the sperms of the male for long periods until she produces eggs and is ready to fertilize them herself. My biology teacher friend Sue who lives in the Boston area would love this book both for the creature detail and the locale where the story(ies) unfold. I myself grew attached (no pun intended) to each of the octopuses. I was aware that they have a limited life span but my involvement was strong enough I still shed a few tears when a life ended.

The author Sy Montgomery is brutally honest in her struggles to learn scuba diving, so intense was her desire to see these creatures in their natural environs. My son's wife Carrie would empathize. From what she told me about a tethered companion dive on their honeymoon in Bora Bora, she clung to her scuba instructor's arm so tightly she probably restricted his circulation. These experiences made me think of my son Dan who wanted to learn to scuba dive and so we enrolled him in classes at the youngest age allowed, thirteen. He would most likely be able to relate to those chapters of the book revealing the author's feelings, challenges, and determination. The next photos are from his qualifying dives, four of them, on Mother's Day weekend 1996 in Monterey, CA. The water was cold and murky but he surmounted the difficulties and became certified. There is no comparable mom experience like standing on a pier and watching those bubbles come up to the surface, holding your own breath and ready to panic if they should stop coming.

This book is not for everybody but for the right audience it is amazing. It was given 4.5 stars on Amazon. I hesitated to give it 4 stars only because that rating conflicts with how long it took me to get truly engaged in reading it. But it is indeed worth 4 stars. I only wish I could recall more of all those amazing facts!