The Soul of an Octopus
A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness
2015 • 261 pages
Ratings26
Average rating3.8
15
A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness
Ratings26
Average rating3.8
"In this astonishing book from the author of the bestselling memoir The Good Good Pig, Sy Montgomery explores the emotional and physical world of the octopus--a surprisingly complex, intelligent, and spirited creature--and the remarkable connections it makes with humans. Sy Montgomery's popular 2011 Orion magazine piece, "Deep Intellect," about her friendship with a sensitive, sweet-natured octopus named Athena and the grief she felt at her death, went viral, indicating the widespread fascination with these mysterious, almost alien-like creatures. Since then Sy has practiced true immersion journalism, from New England aquarium tanks to the reefs of French Polynesia and the Gulf of Mexico, pursuing these wild, solitary shape-shifters. Octopuses have varied personalities and intelligence they show in myriad ways: endless trickery to escape enclosures and get food; jetting water playfully to bounce objects like balls; and evading caretakers by using a scoop net as a trampoline and running around the floor on eight arms. But with a beak like a parrot, venom like a snake, and a tongue covered with teeth, how can such a being know anything? And what sort of thoughts could it think? The intelligence of dogs, birds, and chimpanzees was only recently accepted by scientists, who now are establishing the intelligence of the octopus, watching them solve problems and deciphering the meaning of their color-changing camouflage techniques. Montgomery chronicles this growing appreciation of the octopus, but also tells a love story. By turns funny, entertaining, touching, and profound, The Soul of an Octopus reveals what octopuses can teach us about consciousness and the meeting of two very different minds"--
Reviews with the most likes.
A cute memoir interspersing one person's life with her learning about and meeting octopuses, primarily in the Boston aquarium, but also learning to SCUBA. It's definitely not an expert work on octopus physiology, and while it touches on consciousness, it's definitely not a philosophical work either. But it's fun, the otcopuses pictures are beautiful, it just overall seems a little shallow. I think I would have preferred a slightly deeper work.
What a fascinating subject. At times this got a bit long-winded - especially noticeable because I listened to it on audio - but it made a great commute “read.”
I learned a lot reading this book, and felt a lot of emotion—which surprised me. I always knew octopuses were smart, but didn't understand the extent to which they felt, remembered and lived. Truly lovely!
Also, I love the Boston aquarium, so it was nice reading a text set there. :)
In principe is dit een boek dat ik enorm graag zou lezen. Octopussen zijn wijs en wonderbaarlijk en interessant. Ze leven een handvol jaar, ze zijn intelligent, maar dan op een volledig andere manier dan wij ons kunnen voorstellen, maar dan weer niet helemaal anders want we delen nog altijd een aantal zaken van heel erg ver terug in de evolutie van het leven.
Helaas: dit is meer een lang soort mijmering van iemand die professioneel over beesten schrijft, die bijna toevallig met octopussen in aanraking komt in haar lokale aquarium, en dan een hele reeks anecdotes en episodes uit haar leven beschrijft.
Over de mensen die ook fans zijn van octopussen, en over hoe ze wil leren duiken, en over het leven en de dood van een paar octopussen die ze ontmoet heeft.
Zeer spijtig dat het allemaal wat op de vlakte bleef. Een degelijke documentaire lijkt mij interessanter dan een al met al niet zo interessant boek, met kleine zwartwitfotootjes erin.
En dat kan dan zelfs zeer kort zijn, zoals deze van Ze Frank:
