The Soul of an Octopus

 By Sy Montgomery

Atria     2016

272 pages     Zoology

I was in the middle of reading The Soul of an Octopus when my grandson and I arrived and the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. The aquarium is a bit daunting to visit since there is no paper map or paper list of aquatic life to be found. So, I asked the nearest employee where we could find the octopuses. (By the way, the plural of octopus is indeed, octopuses. Learned that in the book.) She said that they only had one, but she took me to the tank where the octopus hung in the front corner where we could see its entire body. I was so excited that I read the rest of the book with enthusiasm.

And what an amazing discussion we had at book group. We all admitted that nature books would not be our first choice of genres, but The Soul of an Octopus was so brilliantly written that we took the deep dive into it and loved every minute.

Sy Montgomery is a naturalist and a nature writer. She has written several books about animals, including pigs, hummingbirds, turtles, tigers, and hawks. Many of her books are for children as well as adults, and she has traveled around the world exploring and discovering the richness of the animal world.

Most of The Soul of an Octopus takes place at the New England Aquarium in Boston, where Montgomery first was exposed to an octopus, and she basically fell in love with these strange, highly-intelligent shape-shifters. Montgomery documents her experiences with several inhabitants of the aquarium, and also shares the relationships she creates with the other volunteers at the aquarium. We learn a lot about those people who love the animals of the aquarium as much as she does.

One of the most interesting chapters in the book concerns Montgomery learning to deep sea dive. It is not an easy process for her, but reading about it is extraordinary. Here is what she says: “ At last, in the warm embrace of the sea, breathing underwater, surrounded by the octopus’s liquid world, my breath rising in silver bubbles like a song of praise; here I am.”   

I also watched the documentary, My Octopus Teacher, which is on Netflix. It won the Oscar for best documentary in 2020, and it compliments the book completely.

The Soul of an Octopus was a finalist for the National Book Award, and is a terrific read. I heartily recommend it.