Remarkably Bright Creatures: A Read with Jenna Pick

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Cameron's character was just the regular annoying, whiny kind of loser who blames everybody else for his "hard" life.

I went down the internet octopus rabbit hole, which is a fantastic place to be, and found out more about that octopus. Truly original and touching, Remarkably Bright Creatures is a story of family, community, and optimism in spite of darkness. When she opens herself up to new experiences of meeting new people and being a little bit more of a full participant in her social circle, she is kind of rewarded with some additional facts that in the end help her get some closure. Cameron becomes convinced that if he can find him, Simon will have to pay for missed child support and solve all Cameron’s problems.A giant Pacific octopus named Marcellus, to be precise, and he is that—the novel opens with the first of several short chapters narrated in the first person (unlike the rest of the book) by the octopus himself, who can, as he points out, do many things we don’t know he can do. Van Pelt does an amazing job on dealing with tough topics like death, loss, and grief as well as more positive issues of relationships, friendship, and interconnectedness. Tova wonders sometimes if it’s better that way, to have one’s tragedies clustered together, to make good use of the existing rawness.

I broke my normal routine and poked around a few reviews since everyone but me loved this and I’ve noticed most don’t even mention him at all – despite him being a main character in the story. Soon enough, Eliza and Jean will be emulating Poe's detective, Monsieur Dupin, as they take it upon themselves to investigate the mystery of the missing girls — a mystery the male authorities in Monterey are content to ignore. He has come across a few clues that seem to point to a wealthy man in Washington State as his father. How did the pandemic affect these ideas of being stuck and of grief while you were writing, and how you balanced it with humor and lightheartedness?Their interactions give readers a glimpse into the possibility of communication and understanding between species. Though Tova has a supportive group of friends, she is concerned about not having anyone to look after her in her advanced age and begins to consider the option of selling her home and moving into an upscale retirement facility. An angry, powerful book seething with love and outrage for a community too often stereotyped or ignored. Let’s consider how the various animals (Marcellus, the wolf eels, the frogs, the sea lion statue, the raccoon, and Cat) are used as symbols in the story.

Ever since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat over thirty years ago keeping busy has helped her cope. Tova, the 70-year-old cleaning lady at the aquarium, is grieving the recent loss of her husband, and the son who disappeared 30 years ago.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. The chapters are short which leads to the reading enjoyment along with the wonderful prose and observations. Ethan Mack’s role in “Remarkably Bright Creatures” is instrumental in facilitating change in both Tova and Cameron’s lives.