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Remarkably Bright Creatures

par Shelby Van Pelt

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2,3711536,423 (4.26)134
After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago. Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova. Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late.… (plus d'informations)
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Affichage de 1-5 de 148 (suivant | tout afficher)
Without being a spoiler, I'll say that one of the book's last lines sums up my reaction to this enjoyable story—Marcellus the octopus remarks that sometimes humans can be remarkably bright creatures. Marcellus isn't so complimentary about humans throughout most of the story. He comments on people's abysmal communication skills, lack of instinct, and difficulties connecting the dots in ordinary situations. I believe the title of this book mainly refers to the octopus as a remarkably bright creature.

The main human characters were endearing, and the book is an enjoyable and easy-to-read story with characters who experience everyday journeys. Tova is a 70-year-old widow whose son died thirty years ago. She loves her nighttime job cleaning at the aquarium, where she befriends and relates to Marcellus the octopus, whom she realizes is also aging. Tova is an old-timer in the fictional town of Sowell Bay, Washington, where the lone store owner, Ethan, is in love with her. However, Tova avoids Ethan and laments her aging body.

Cameron is a thirty-year-old whose mother abandoned him when he was young and never knew his father. He has had difficulty keeping jobs, and his friends in Modesto, California, are growing up, marrying, and having babies. Since Cameron has problems with long-term relationships and yearns to meet his biological father, he decides to venture to Sowell Bay after surmising his father might live there. Cameron's attempts to meet his father provide a story arc in the book, but his search leads to the town where he interacts with Tova, Earl, and Marcellus, among many other characters. Although Cameron has many struggles and disappointments, the people in this welcoming town help him grow up. The author allows us to witness the charm of a small town where everybody knows everybody else's business. The interactions among characters are predictable, but the alternating chapters about the octopus freshen up an old story to provide great entertainment. ( )
  LindaLoretz | Mar 21, 2024 |
Remarkably Bright Creatures is a light and easy read that touches on heavy and difficult themes.
Tova is seventy years old and feeling her age. The highlights of her days are her night cleaner shift at Solwell Bay Aquarium and catching up with the Knit Wits for coffee, cookies and a natter. “There were once seven Knit Wits. Now there are four”. The final countdown for humans and sea creatures alike is ever present as Marcellus McSquiddles, a giant Pacific octopus, nears the end of his 1,460 day lifespan and painstakingly numbers his days in captivity.
The mystery behind the disappearance of Tova’s son Erik thirty years previously gently unfolds as super sleuth Marcellus unearths clues, makes connections and steers Tova in the right direction.
I loved the interaction between Tova, Marcellus and Cameron, a thirty year old, self-professed loser who rocks up in Solwell Bay looking for his father and I found all the characters really engaging from Ethan, a Scottish die-hard Grateful Dead fan and supermarket owner with a soft spot for Tova to Aunt Jeanne, a sixty year old whiskey connoisseur and Cameron carer with a nasty dose of chlamydia! Escapologist, night prowler and sea cucumber guzzler Marcellus is not only a remarkably bright creature but also surprisingly believable and endearing.
Loss, grief, abandonment, loneliness and confinement are handled with great care and the descriptions of a small Puget Sound community are extremely evocative.
Quirky, heartfelt, wryly amusing and moving, I really enjoyed reading Remarkably Bright Creatures. ( )
  geraldine_croft | Mar 21, 2024 |
I loved this so much. I can’t remember the last time a book made me cry but this one did. So much emotion, such charged and addictive writing. So much exploration of complex relationships, especially surrounding love and loss. My heart aches so and it was still tempting to just turn immediately back to page one and enjoy the ride all over again. I truly hope to see more from this author. I know there can’t be another Marcellus but oh my word that beautiful creature will live in my memory forever. I’ve always had an attachment to books written from the animal point of view, ever since reading Emma’s Story by Sheila Hocken as a child. None have floored me the way this did. If I had to reread only one book over and over, this would be it. ( )
  charlenemartel | Mar 20, 2024 |
Good beach read ( )
  julieamed | Mar 19, 2024 |
I loved this book! What a wonderful and beautiful story -- such a refreshing change. I highly recommend. ( )
  thekellyfamily | Mar 19, 2024 |
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Nom de l'auteurRôleType d'auteurŒuvre ?Statut
Van Pelt, Shelbyauteur principaltoutes les éditionsconfirmé
Ireland, MarinNarrateurauteur secondairequelques éditionsconfirmé
Urie, MichaelNarrateurauteur secondairequelques éditionsconfirmé
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He rises and inspects the refereshment table in the corner of the lobby, which, inexplicably, offers coffee, but not tea. All this leather and ivy, and they can't even furnish a spot of Early Grey? What rubbish! (p. 70)
What sort of treasures comprise my Collection, you ask? Well, where to begin? Three glass marbles, two plastic superheroes, one emerald solitaire ring. Four credit cards and a driver's license. One jeweled barrette. One human tooth. Why that look of disgust? I did not remove it myself. The former owner wiggled it our on a school field trip then proceeded to lose track of it.

What else? Two devices for which I do not know the human word. I suppose they are...plugs? Humans stick them in the orifices of their youngest children to quiet them. (p. 95)
"How do you, like, go on?" He looks down at her and swallows hard. "I mean, he was here one day and gone the next. How do you recover from something like that?"

Tova hesitates. "You don't recover. Not all the way. But you do move on. You have to." (p. 346)
Humans. For the most part, you are dull and blundering. But occasionally, you can be remarkably bright creatures. (p. 350)
...Puget Sound shivers like a great gray ghost beyond the pier. (p. 354)
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After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago. Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova. Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late.

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