Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
“With the bucket comes a sensation of total nothingness, which, in most ways, is more pleasant than the everything-ness.”
“Young humans would fail abysmally in the sea.”
“Hiding spots ought to be sacred.”
“’Conscience does make cowards of us all.’”
Remarkably Bright Creatures is about a woman who cleans an aquarium at night named Tova and a giant Pacific octopus named Marcellus. Marcellus lives in a tank that Tova sees every night. We find out that Tova’s son disappeared years ago and she recently lost her husband. We are also introduced to Cameron who doesn’t seem to have his life together and is struggling. Tova and Marcellus strike up a friendship and from what Marcellus observes, there is something that needs solving. Will the mystery be solved? Will Cameron get his life together? How will Tova get along?
Shelby Van Pelt wrote a very interesting novel and it was different in a way I like. She intersplices chapters from the point of view of Marcellus. It does not come across as outlandish or too far-fetched. His chapters are funny and I could totally picture an octopus saying it. “It leads many humans to assume I am a squid, which is an insult of the worst sort.” His first chapter starts off extremely sad and adds an element of tension to the whole book. Marcellus’ chapters lend a depth and perspective to the story that is unique. I think he was my favorite character in the book. I did like most of the characters but at one point Cameron was not my favorite. He came across as creepy and whiny. He used the victim card one too many times. I love Vegas and whenever a book mentions Vegas I light up. Here the author has a character say “’Who spends a holiday in Las Vegas?” Well, me, I do. I spent my 40th birthday in Las Vegas at Christmas. There are subtle clues sprinkled throughout and whenever I read one, I got a little giddy like I added another piece to the puzzle. It had some good life lessons and the author made you think. “’No, the deal is never anyone’s fault. But you control the way you play.’” Some words/phrases that I pulled out are deadheading and incredulity. I found the ending very heartwarming. Even though I could kind of see what was coming, I think this was a well-crafted book and an enjoyable read. This is exactly the type of book I would recommend to a book club, anyone who loves octopuses, or dealing with grief.
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