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Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'
The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery
10 reviews
acsmallwood's review
I stopped at the end of chapter 6 when Kali dies. It is absolutely gut wrenching and didn’t need to happen. She spent her whole life cooped up and when she was moved to a tank that they hadn’t ensured was octopus proof, she escaped and died. The fact that they didn’t have a 24/7 watch on her despite knowing that it might not be secure is shockingly lax. The author does not do nearly enough exploration into what it means to hold such intelligent creatures in captivity, especially non-display animals. Really disappointing and I couldn’t keep reading even though I was almost done.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, and Suicide
s_marie's review
For an author that claims to love octopuses so much, it's pretty disturbing not seeing her really question the aquarium keeping such an intelligent, sentient being in a completely bare pickle barrel for MONTHS. Even musing about why it seems Kali, a young octopus, doesn't seem to want to go back into her barrel. I wonder why??! Not only that, the author even says she'd love to have an octopus in her own house but her husband wasn't into the idea and that ultimately it wouldn't be "good for her marriage." I stopped reading after the aquarium finally moves Kali into a larger tank, where the staff are apparently in awe at how big she actually is because I guess she was never able to actually stretch out fully before. And that very same night, after the aquarium workers questioned that maybe the lid of the larger enclosure they put her in might not be octopus-proof, Kali escapes the lid, falls out of the enclosure and dies on the floor. This scene was a glaring showcase of human cruelty in my eyes....they had named Kali after a powerful god, and then proceeded to keep her stuffed in a barrel. And then didn't even take enough care to keep her safe when they moved her. And THEN the aquarium just ups and buys a new baby octopus without having solved the space problem that contributed to Kali's barrel-cage of 8 months and later death. I know a lot of people apparently got a lot out of this book but I found a lot of it cruel and self-absorbed.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death and Animal cruelty
kk_gotit_goinon's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
5.0
I have never been so moved by a book before. It's beautifully written. You instantly fall in love with everyone, vertebrate or invertebrate. You learn so much about so many different animals, people and beliefs. I cannot recommend it enough, I'm seriously considering rereading it already because there's so much to take in.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Terminal illness, Grief, Self harm, and Dementia
Minor: Self harm
aspi8tionalpile's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
I would highly recommend the audiobook format. The author is a very engaging and enthusiastic storyteller, so just let go and enjoy. Her experiences with octopuses leave you envious and I became quite attached to these wondrous beings. Other of her experiences like learning to scuba dive weren’t as engaging. She builds her case with respect to soul throughout the book while never overtly talking about it, then draws her conclusion on the matter at the very end. It would have been interesting to approach the topic earlier. I did thoroughly enjoy the book. I lost sleep because I just couldn’t put it down. Sign of a good book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Death, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Dementia, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
liltastypuff's review
2.5
Enjoyed the information, but the writing style was not for me.
I also found her stated theolog and actions in opposition of each other.
I also found her stated theolog and actions in opposition of each other.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
purplepenning's review
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.0
This feels like a book that didn't age well, but it was just published in 2015 (and made National Book Award finalist), so... I dunno.
The author is a talented memoirist and travel/nature writer and is clearly having a love affair of sorts with octopuses. However, although much of the book personalizes and attempts to empathize with these incredibly intelligent octopuses (which the author literally calls "inmates" when in aquariums — definitely a tone), there seems to be a sharp limit to the implications considered. For example, they get bored and enjoy interacting with puzzles and humans, but it's okay to leave a young octopus in a plain, dark, boring, solitary barrel for weeks (months?) — and then wonder about her behavioral issues? Similarly, is the end of life "dementia" they experience really inevitable or is a life in captivity and on display contributing to it (and what a flippantly brutal comment about how we "take humans with dementia 'off display'" and hide them away so it's probably okay to do that with octopuses too!)? Octopus lives are short, so grief is probably inevitable while studying them and becoming attached, but the tragic outcomes for the octopus inmates here don't seem inevitable. And while there is genuine grief in those moments, the overall tone is blithely upbeat.
The author struggled, due to an ear condition, to deep dive on her forays to see octopuses in the wild. She seems to have similarly struggled to deep dive in her examinations of their lives in captivity. Overall, it's an interesting, informative, touching observation of the lives of captive octopuses but it's not a satisfyingly full exploration of those lives or their potentials.
The author is a talented memoirist and travel/nature writer and is clearly having a love affair of sorts with octopuses. However, although much of the book personalizes and attempts to empathize with these incredibly intelligent octopuses (which the author literally calls "inmates" when in aquariums — definitely a tone), there seems to be a sharp limit to the implications considered. For example, they get bored and enjoy interacting with puzzles and humans, but it's okay to leave a young octopus in a plain, dark, boring, solitary barrel for weeks (months?) — and then wonder about her behavioral issues? Similarly, is the end of life "dementia" they experience really inevitable or is a life in captivity and on display contributing to it (and what a flippantly brutal comment about how we "take humans with dementia 'off display'" and hide them away so it's probably okay to do that with octopuses too!)? Octopus lives are short, so grief is probably inevitable while studying them and becoming attached, but the tragic outcomes for the octopus inmates here don't seem inevitable. And while there is genuine grief in those moments, the overall tone is blithely upbeat.
The author struggled, due to an ear condition, to deep dive on her forays to see octopuses in the wild. She seems to have similarly struggled to deep dive in her examinations of their lives in captivity. Overall, it's an interesting, informative, touching observation of the lives of captive octopuses but it's not a satisfyingly full exploration of those lives or their potentials.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Animal death, Grief, Terminal illness, Animal cruelty, Cultural appropriation, Dementia, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Sexual content and Sexism
maddyreads89's review
medium-paced
2.5
When I started this book, I found all the info quite interesting and really thought this could be a 4-5 star read. However, as the book went on, I became more and more uncomfortable with the lack of discussion of any ethical implications of keeping these animals in captivity. I know that wasn’t supposed to be the main focus of the book, but if you’re gonna explore the consciousness of octopuses, a discussion of how they perceive their captive environment seems necessary. Sy Montgomery is clearly a good writer and storyteller, but unfortunately her wish to turn her experiences into a satisfying learning-adventure narrative came at the cost of giving ethical questions the weight they deserve.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Animal cruelty
Minor: Suicide
mexigingerale's review against another edition
emotional
informative
fast-paced
3.0
Enjoyable enough, with a great start but then turns more into a memoir about her and her coworkers than an actual science books so that was disappointing. Certain parts made me feel Very uneasy about the way they were treating the octopuses, bordering on if not outright being animal cruelty, which the author just glossed over.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Moderate: Grief and Suicide
Minor: Suicide attempt
deltheclown's review
the first chapter is a strong exploration into the
inspiration that animals give us (not into consciousness, as the title suggests). after the first chapter, it rapidly goes downhill. the author spends a large part of the beginning of the book talking about how octopuses NEED enrichment to
survive in captivity. she goes into extreme detail about the ways aquarists + scientists provide it, even mentioning that there's a volunteer at the aquarium
whose WHOLE JOB is designing toys for the octopus there. she then completely glazes over the fact that the non-display octopuses at that aquarium are kept in "tanks or
barrels that were completely barren - no hiding places or rocks or sand or tank mates" (pg. 44). the octopus
that the 3rd chapter is about, Kali, is kept in an empty 55-gallon drum!
how can someone who claims to love these creatures so much endorse these practices? refuse to condemn them? ESPECIALLY when she is writing about information that proves the unethical nature of the tanks - she KNOWS how shitty it is to do that!
i stopped reading when she PRAISED that aquarium for their naturalistic tanks. it's great that they have naturalistic display tanks - but does that not matter for the
animals not on display? are they not deserving a natural environment? why does the display animal have someone whose whole job is encouraging play, when the non-display animals are kept in drums and completely bare tanks?
does the author ACTUALLY love these animals? Or does she just love what they do for her?
inspiration that animals give us (not into consciousness, as the title suggests). after the first chapter, it rapidly goes downhill. the author spends a large part of the beginning of the book talking about how octopuses NEED enrichment to
survive in captivity. she goes into extreme detail about the ways aquarists + scientists provide it, even mentioning that there's a volunteer at the aquarium
whose WHOLE JOB is designing toys for the octopus there. she then completely glazes over the fact that the non-display octopuses at that aquarium are kept in "tanks or
barrels that were completely barren - no hiding places or rocks or sand or tank mates" (pg. 44). the octopus
that the 3rd chapter is about, Kali, is kept in an empty 55-gallon drum!
how can someone who claims to love these creatures so much endorse these practices? refuse to condemn them? ESPECIALLY when she is writing about information that proves the unethical nature of the tanks - she KNOWS how shitty it is to do that!
i stopped reading when she PRAISED that aquarium for their naturalistic tanks. it's great that they have naturalistic display tanks - but does that not matter for the
animals not on display? are they not deserving a natural environment? why does the display animal have someone whose whole job is encouraging play, when the non-display animals are kept in drums and completely bare tanks?
does the author ACTUALLY love these animals? Or does she just love what they do for her?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty
describes extremely poor treatment of octopuses while completely disregarding exactly how horrible it iskayesomething's review
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Chronic illness, Self harm, Suicide, and Medical content
Minor: Grief
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