Warm and Fuzzy

Remarkably Bright Creatures is a warm and fuzzy mystery. Contradiction in terms, you say?  Not if you’re Shelby Van Pelt and can pull it off. I enjoyed the book because it’s warm and fuzzy, it’s witty, original and quirky. I also enjoyed it because its main protagonist is a 70- year-old woman. There are very few books, movies or series about people over 70. Remarkably Bright Creatures is one of the very few. Besides, it treats its protagonist with respect, without stereotyping or pidgeon-holing her.

Tova Sullivan, 70, has recently lost her husband of over 45 years. The couple’s only son, Erik, disappeared about thirty years ago when he was eighteen, and was never found. The police concluded that he had committed suicide, although his parents disagreed because he was a happy and thriving teenager.

At this stage in her life Tova works a part-time job at nights as the cleaner of an aquarium in Sowell Bay. Although her friends try their best to convince her not to, – she doesn’t need the money, and she’s too old to be on her feet and do physical labor – Tova likes to keep busy. It takes her mind off her loneliness, grief and obsession with the mystery of her son’s disappearance.

At her job she befriends Marcellus, the remarkably bright Pacific octopus, who is an expert at escaping his tank, wandering around the aquarium and collecting coins, earrings and other objects visitors drop in the halls. Marcellus understands human speech, is observant and notices and figures out a lot of things that humans don’t, or can’t be bothered to.

The second storyline is about Cameron, a thirty-year-old ne’er-do-well, whom his mother abandoned when he was 9, and who’s never met his father. Although remarkably bright in some ways, Cameron can never hold down a job or a relationship. He travels from his native California to Sowell Bay in search of his father. When Tova injures her foot, Cameron is hired as the night cleaner and meets Marcellus.

Some chapters are narrated by Marcellus, the most lovable and smart character of the book, who has keen observations about humans and their weird behaviour.

“Humans are the only species who subvert truth for their own entertainment. They call them jokes. Sometimes puns.”

“Why can humans not use their millions of words to simply tell one another what they desire?”

Shelby Van Pelt adds a number of other characters to the mix. Among them are Tova’s gossiping friends, the store owner who has a crush on Tova, Cameron’s love interests and his aunt who raised him. All characters are lovable and kind, and Van Pelt does a great job portraying both their capabilities and idiosyncrasies convincingly. The tone is humorous and light, and the mystery leads the reader by the nose.

Through casual conversations and remarks, gradual revelations are made about the past, but the main catalyst and hero of the day is Marcellus, who despite his limited physical abilities is able to help his friend. “Secrets are everywhere. Some humans are crammed full of them. How do they not explode? It seems to be a hallmark of the human species: abysmal communication skills.”

Although unrealistic and far-fetched in some respects, Remarkably Bright Creatures truthfully portrays the issues the elderly face in the final stages of their lives. But despite its serious themes it is an entertaining, funny and feel-good page-turner and a pleasure to read.

Intelligence with Severe Attitude

I have to confess I hadn’t heard of Jordan B. Peterson, Canadian clinical psychologist, before I started listening to his best-seller, 12 Rules for Life; An Antidote to Chaos. When I told a couple of friends that I was listening to a book by Peterson, they paused, looked at me askance and sounded surprised.

I must say that for the first few chapters I enjoyed listening to Peterson. The book is divided into twelve chapters, each discussing one of the “rules”. The first chapter is about the importance of posture, with some very clever and interesting examples from humans and crustaceans, and parallels between them. One never thinks of posture as an important feature in enhancing the quality of one’s life, but Peterson proves that it is.

The second rule advises you to care for yourself like you’d care for someone who you’re responsible for helping. He compares the way you’d care for your pet, with the way you care for yourself. It’s humorous, but true. We often do take much better care of those we love, pets included, than of ourselves.

And so it goes. The first few rules are entertaining, educational and take a broad view of the “rules” Peterson talks about. Peterson, who has a PhD in clinical psychology, and has researched and taught at Harvard and University of Toronto, uses information from a vast array of sources including biology, psychology, pop culture, literature, history, mythology, fairy tales, religion and politics to support his claims.

As he proceeds through his chapters he starts going on at length through his examples, and only relating them to the rule he’s supposed to be talking about towards the end of the chapter. He has long meandering and scathing criticisms of post-modernism, feminism, socialism, communism, Stalin, Mao and Carl Marx.

Towards the end of the book the reader finds lengthy narratives, that are tied only loosely to the main rule at the end of the chapter. For example the chapter on rule 12, “Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street”, is mostly about Peterson’s daughter’s heart-breaking illness, her multiple surgeries and the agony she and her parents went through. There’s very little about the rule and only at the very tail-end.

In spite of the fact that the main rules Peterson talks about are reasonable and can enhance your life, like for example teach your children social skills but don’t overprotect them, or tell the truth and be precise in your speech, as the book progresses his methods of proof become increasingly sexist, contradictory, religious, didactic and outlandish. He claims that order, logos and consciousness are masculine qualities. Chaos is feminine. Men are pushed to feminize in our society. They shouldn’t be. Men have to toughen up.

Peterson often contradicts his own rules in the book. His rule 9 is “Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t”, but his moralizing and lecturing are proof that he thinks he is the know-it-all and the reader is totally ignorant. His rule 10 is “Be precise in your speech”, but his chapters are often circuitous stories.

There are numerous references to the Bible. Adam and Eve, Abel and Cain, direct quotes from the New Testament are liberally used to prove points and arguments. Peterson becomes downright preachy and tells his reader to “Grow up,” or “Have some humility.” And even threatens his readers that if they don’t follow his rule, “You will fail and suffer stupidly and that’ll corrupt your soul.” The reader is prompted to think, “Are you serious?!!”

Peterson’s self-righteous attitude is augmented by his holier-than-thou tone when he reads his book.  Those who read his book, (as opposed to me, who listened to it read by him) will be spared some of his proselytizing manner and might get more out of his considerable expertise and experience.

All in all, I would not recommend listening to 12 Rules of Life: An Antidote to Chaos. If you’re really keen on knowing what it’s all about, read it. You’ll get much more benefit from his remarkable intelligence and knowledge if you read his book, provided you can stomach his severe sanctimonious attitude.