The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness – Sy Montgomery (2015)
In pursuit of the wild, solitary, predatory octopus, popular naturalist Sy Montgomery has practised true immersion journalism. From New England aquarium tanks to the reefs of French Polynesia and the Gulf of Mexico, she has befriended octopuses with strikingly different personalities—gentle Athena, assertive Octavia, curious Kali, and joyful Karma. Each creature shows her cleverness in myriad ways: escaping enclosures like an orangutan; jetting water to bounce balls; and endlessly tricking companions with multiple “sleights of hand” to get food.
Scientists have only recently accepted the intelligence of dogs, birds, and chimpanzees but now are watching octopuses solve problems and are trying to decipher the meaning of the animal’s color-changing techniques. With her “joyful passion for these intelligent and fascinating creatures” (Library Journal Editors’ Spring Pick), Montgomery chronicles the growing appreciation of this mollusk as she tells a unique love story. By turns funny, entertaining, touching, and profound, The Soul of an Octopus reveals what octopuses can teach us about the meeting of two very different minds.
My Review of The Soul of an Octopus
(3 / 5)
This was an enjoyable book about a couple of friendly octopuses (yes that is the correct plural term, I looked it up!) and an extremely enthusiastic octopus-loving author.
Sy Montgomery also narrates the audio version of this non-fiction memoir about her time at the New England Aquarium with these octopuses over a period of a few years. Why a few years? Because they only live to be a few years old. Did I teach you something new? Because I had no idea they had such short lives! This book really taught me a lot that I had no clue about, nor would I have particularly cared about prior to listening if I’m honest.
But wow, octopuses are pretty amazing creatures. For such a short live, they pack quite an intelligent wallop. And I am amazed at their ability to manoeuvre themselves through extremely tight spaces!
Did you know that octopuses need a lot of intellectual stimulation and can solve complex puzzles? It blew my mind how strange these creatures are!
As fascinating as some of these octopus facts were, this book however, didn’t amaze me. I enjoyed it and found it fascinating at times, but I feel maybe it would have been a bit better with some visuals, as a documentary or something. I’m not sure if there are any visuals in the paper version, I couldn’t find any files in the audio one.
What did I think of the audio?
I enjoyed the narrator, and I always give extra points when an author narrates their own work and does a good job!
Something about it just fell flat for me. I’m not sure exactly what it was. I was expecting/hoping to get completely WOWed about the consciousness aspect, and sure it had some very interesting moments and theories, but I was left feeling slightly underwhelmed. There was a lot of the authors speculations about the motives behind the behaviours of the octopuses.
It did however inspire a video search of octopuses on YouTube and I found some AMAZING documentaries and videos and was blown away by some of them. I wouldn’t have even thought to look them up prior to reading this book.
Would I Recommend The Soul of an Octopus?
It was an enjoyable, educational and somewhat touching story. It didn’t grip me as I was expecting, but I still enjoyed it and it inspired me to want to learn more about these creatures. If you like this kind of book then I am sure you will enjoy it too.
* I purchased The Soul of an Octopus at my own expense on audible.com
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