The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness
Finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction * New York Times Bestseller * A Huffington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of the Year * One of the Best Books of the Month on Goodreads * Library Journal Best Sci-Tech Book of the Year * An American Library Association Notable Book of the Year
“Sy Montgomery’s The Soul of an Octopus does for the creature what Helen Macdonald’s H Is for Hawk did for raptors.” —New Statesman, UK
“One of the best science books of the year.” —Science Friday, NPR
A New York Times bestseller from the author of The Good Good Pig, this “fascinating…touching…informative…entertaining” (The Daily Beast) book explores the emotional and physical world of the octopus—a surprisingly complex, intelligent, and spirited creature—and the remarkable connections it makes with humans.
In pursuit of the wild, solitary, predatory octopus, popular naturalist Sy Montgomery has practiced 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.
“Sy Montgomery’s The Soul of an Octopus does for the creature what Helen Macdonald’s H Is for Hawk did for raptors.” —New Statesman, UK
“One of the best science books of the year.” —Science Friday, NPR
A New York Times bestseller from the author of The Good Good Pig, this “fascinating…touching…informative…entertaining” (The Daily Beast) book explores the emotional and physical world of the octopus—a surprisingly complex, intelligent, and spirited creature—and the remarkable connections it makes with humans.
In pursuit of the wild, solitary, predatory octopus, popular naturalist Sy Montgomery has practiced 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.
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Community Reviews
A sweet and mindful read about Sy's time volunteering at an aquarium and meeting a giant pacific octopus. She gained a lot of insight on the care for octopus as well as how they may perceive the world.
This has been my Year of the Octopus. We read Remarkably Bright Creatures for a book club, then I re-watched My Octopus Teacher, then read The Mountain in the Sea for another book club. After all that, I was ready to learn more about these incredible creatures. Overall, I liked the book, but would have appreciated a bit more science. Fun fact - octopuses are apparently color blind, and are still able to amazing camouflage despite the fact they don't see colors! I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the personalities and quirks of the different octopuses. And, yes, the very idea of eating an animal with this much intelligence and personality is disgusting to me.
Disclaimer: While I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I have also had a fascination with marine life for as long as I can remember. If it's not something you are even remotely interested in, this book probably isn't for you, especially as it does get a bit "technical" at times. That said, the octopus is an amazing creature with greater intelligence than it is usually recognized for. Now, I am off to see if I can find an octopus encounter somewhere out there in the world and add it to my bucket list.
I was hoping to love this book more than I did. It was interesting to read about the interactions between the author and various octopuses. There was also a lot of information about the people that she interacted with, that I was not really interested in. Ultimately no huge revelations. It also felt a little self indulgent?
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