Reminder/Question/Discussion - Remarkably Bright Creatures

[ufcasey]

I just realized I forgot to remind everyone to read Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt for our book club discussion this coming Wednesday, April 26. Does anyone want me to delay the discussion to give them time to read the book? Our next discussion isn't until June 28 so there's no harm in waiting if anyone would like to push it back. Let me know!

Here's a review of the book in case anyone is interested: 
www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/05/04/shelby-van-pelt-remarkably-bright-creatures/

Here's an interview with the author:
www.today.com/shop/13-discussion-questions-remarkably-bright-creatures-shelby-van-pelt-t254869 


ETA: let's just discuss the book in this thread!

There's no particular discussion questions this time, so feel free just to give your overall opinion/review of the book. Anything in particular you liked/disliked about it?

[charlatti]

I read it back in September — I’m pretty sure it stuck with me well enough to discuss whenever. Apparently the author is a former GBCNer! ETA I tried to find one of the threads where that was discussed on ML, but the search function is not cooperating with me.

[VillainV]

I’m new to this board, but I just finished reading this book! I’d love to chat about it.

[travella]

I read it last month so I will be ready to discuss it next week.  

[ufcasey]

Awesome! We'll keep it as regularly scheduled then unless someone else does need more time (don't hesitate to speak up - it's no big deal).

[aurora]

I'm still ~10 weeks out on my library hold, so I don't think you should delay for me. I'll just respect the old thread after I get a chance to read it.

[krystee]

The author was a poster on H&F!! Maybe she will join our discussion.

[ssmjlm]

I had to DNF the book. So I don't think I'll have the same experience as others. I found all of the characters insufferable and I didn't like that there wasn't any way to know who was narrating which chapter.

[ufcasey]

Lets go ahead and use this thread to talk about the book. I also sadly DNF'd this book. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it when I was reading it? Which was sad because I actually really love octopuses/octopi and think they are so interesting so a fiction book where we get the viewpoint of one should have been right up my alley.

[ufcasey]

Tagging people who may have read this book:
charlatti, VillainV, travella, toepick, TR, toepick, gummybear, mrspez07, cheeseplease, Susie, pinotgrig, underwaterrhymes, dancingirl21, deadwing, meanie, dearprudence, minzy, sju, whatnext, sugarbear1, rootbeerfloat, krystee, rupertpenny, madringal, brooke77, sassystace, al dente, okla, cleo29

There's no particular discussion questions this time, so feel free just to give your overall opinion/review of the book. Anything in particular you liked/disliked about it?

[charlatti]

What I liked was almost exactly opposite of ssmjlm’s experience. I liked how real all he characters felt, and I thought each one had a distinctly different voice. Especially impressive to me since it was such a wide variety of characters. 

[sugarbear1]

I listened to the book on Audible and I am sure that actually enhanced my experienced. Marcel's voice was perfect and the narration really sold it for me. I "read" it several months ago but it has stuck with me. I absolutely loved it.

ssmjlm, if you're still curious about it, I definitely recommend listening.

[sassystace]

I liked the characters, the point of view of Marcel and the ending. A feel good kind of book.

[Susie]

I read it last summer on vacation, so I'm a little light on my recollection of it.  But I felt like it all tied up... just a little too neatly?  I finished it and enjoyed it, but it almost felt like we were checking boxes on neat resolutions for every character that, if it were a show, would've been an ensemble cast.

[meanie]

I am actually listening to the audio book, so it is easy to follow who is talking. Marcellus has a hoighty-toity English accent, which is perfect. 5-ish hours left, so I should be done tomorrow!

ETA - just finished and teared up over a damn octopus! I liked it, though I agree the ending was a bit too perfect and sappy.

[rootbeerfloat]

I enjoyed this book. I actually have a phobia of octopus/squid because I'm afraid they are actually smart enough to do the things Marcellus did plus kill you, but he was my favorite character. I also liked Tova and her friend group. Cameron did get annoying, though.

I read it on Kindle and don't remember having trouble keeping track of who narrated each chapter, but it's been awhile.

[dearprudence]

I was wondering if it was an audio thing, because I read the hard copy and never had an issue distinguishing the narrator. I even recall Marcellus's "chapters" had italicized script and illustrations.


I was pleasantly surprised by the book. I thought it was going to be sad and depressing (our first pick - Notes on an Execution didn't bode well for me). Instead I found it really warm and cozy. I described it as hygge in book form.

I like HEAs, or if not perfectly happy (I enjoyed Babel's ending though it was as far from happy as one gets) at least it makes sense, like the book naturally led you there. It's like that serotonin bump of putting the last piece of a puzzle.

Typically I hate the miscommunication/missed signals trope but I didn't mind it here. Yes, the plot could have been resolved much much much earlier if the characters had gotten to know each other better. But I enjoyed the journey so much I was okay with a delayed resolution.

[travella]

I was uncertain about this book. There were so many people raving about how heartwarming it is. Usually when a book is known as heartwarming by so many it is too "Hallmark" for my preferences. Surprisingly, I didn't find that to be the problem. My main issues with the book were the continuous miscommunications (it got to be too much) and the characters. With the exception of Marcel (his chapters were much too short), I couldn't connect with any of the characters. I was indifferent about Tova at best and I really did not like Cameron. He irritated me to no end. I ended up skimming his chapters towards the end because I had had enough of him.

I gave it 2.5*, rounded to 3* solely for Marcel.

[krystee]

This one hit me at the right time. I wanted something heartwarming and happy/sad, and it delivered for me. i do wonder if I’d like it as much on a second read, so I might not read it again to let it stay preserved in my mind as one of my top 10 of last year.

[brooke77]

I really liked this book! I read it on vacation in 2 days. I loved the neat, happy ending. It was a great combination of heartwarming and sad.

[VillainV]

I enjoyed it. I also listened on Audible, and I thought the narration was pretty good (I’m picky about narration). It was pretty light, like I feel like it would have made a good beach read. The plot was pretty predictable— I worked out the relationship pretty early on, despite some of the inconsistencies. For example, Cameron said once that Tova looked to be about the same age as his Aunt Jeanne , but I didn’t think Jeanne was that much older than his mom?

Also, wasn’t the story that Daphne ran away from home? So like, she was just living some random place a state away from her family, attending high school, staying goodness knows where, and nobody noticed?

The lost baggage thing played out way too long.

But overall, I thought it was enjoyable. Maybe 3.5-4 out of 5.

[aurora]

Apr 24, 2023 9:13:50 GMT -5 krystee said:

The author was a poster on H&F!! Maybe she will join our discussion.

This is cool! I didn't realize until just now when I finished the book and came back to resurrect this very old thread.

[aurora]

So I just finished and came back here for the discussion. Overall I liked the book even if the big picture was predictable. The characters were likeable and it was fun to think about an octopus as a sort of puppet master.

ETA I listened to the audiobook and didn't have any terrible with the characters. The narrators did a good job.

[aurora]

May 1, 2023 18:14:13 GMT -5 VillainV said:

I enjoyed it. I also listened on Audible, and I thought the narration was pretty good (I’m picky about narration). It was pretty light, like I feel like it would have made a good beach read. The plot was pretty predictable— I worked out the relationship pretty early on, despite some of the inconsistencies. For example, Cameron said once that Tova looked to be about the same age as his Aunt Jeanne , but I didn’t think Jeanne was that much older than his mom?

Also, wasn’t the story that Daphne ran away from home? So like, she was just living some random place a state away from her family, attending high school, staying goodness knows where, and nobody noticed?

The lost baggage thing played out way too long.

But overall, I thought it was enjoyable. Maybe 3.5-4 out of 5.

I thought Daphne ran away after Cameron was born. Didn't he say she left him with her sister when he was 9 or so? Maybe I'm confusing this book with something else.