The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness

My friend, the octopus

I have every confidence that author Sy Montgomery will be impressed to see a review of her book, "The Soul of an Octopus," begin with a hockey reference. Yes, hockey. At some point in Detroit's hockey history, someone had the bright idea to throw an octopus on the ice at the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Apparently the connection was that it took eight wins to earn the championship at that point in National Hockey League history, and an octopus had eight legs. It takes 16 wins to win the Stanley Cup now, but the tradition continues in Detroit. You can count on the fish stores being raided for octopuses before the game. Before reading this book, I thought of this tradition as something resembling harmless fun - part of Detroit's rich hockey heritage. Now, having read Montgomery's latest effort, I'm much more likely to be upset that such a noble, interesting creature is sacrificed in such a demeaning manner. Such is the effect of "The Soul of an Octopus," a frequently fascinating story about one of our friends from the sea. Most of this book centers on Montgomery's quest to get to know octopuses (and no, it's not octopi) better. Toward that goal, she frequently drove 2.5 hours from central, rural New Hampshire to Boston once a week (and 2.5 hours back) to an aquarium, where the caretakers let her get up close and personal with these creatures best known for having eight arms. After a while, Montgomery finds out just how complex these creatures can be. An octopus, it turns out, can solve simple puzzles. Enthusiastically greet people. Be bored. Love to play. Have a memory. This is one (relatively) smart mollusk. Who knew? And we have no idea just how clever an octopus really is, as we scratch the surface of the subject. The co-stars of the story are those who work at the New England Aquarium in Boston. They come across here as kind and loving individuals when it comes to the facility's 'residents." When something goes wrong for whatever reason, they seem to take...