So, I really have a problem with how these animals were handled, and I'm certainly no animal rights activist. And I don't even share the worst of it below. So rare for me because normally I take stories at face value and focus on the writing, the entertainment, and the character development - but this is non-fiction, so it's basically impossible to completely banish the thoughts I had while reading it.
The rest of this review truly is a spoiler, but what really caused me to knock stars off of this book is some hypocrisy that I just couldn't bring myself to ignore. And that brings me to my giant frustration, not so much with the book, but with the tale of the octopuses in the aquarium. The animals seem so relatable that the reader truly cares what happens to them. Montgomery's habit of guessing at the emotional life of animals annoyed me a bit in, and somehow is worse when it comes to a non-mammal, but at the same time, I can't fault her completely because it is part of what makes the book entertaining. The majority of the book focuses on three octopuses that come through the aquarium in Boston, Massachusetts. If you have even rudimentary interest in the natural world, this book is very accessible, and Montgomery's enthusiasm about animals in general and octopuses in general shines through.
Sy Montgomery finds an engaging way to write more than 200 pages about the neurobiology of the octopus that I think would entertain most readers.
So teetering between a 3 and a 4 on this book, but I think on all the typical qualities on which I assess a book, it deserves the 4.
0 kommentar(er)
