Rigidity

Earlier this week I finished reading Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. I was excited to read it because it received fantastic reviews, and frankly, who doesn't want to read a book with an octopus as one of the narrators?

What follows is both a bit about the book, but as much or more about neuroscience. Do be forewarned, that while I don't plan on sharing spoilers, I am going to discuss some plot elements. If you plan on reading the book and are bothered by knowing too much ahead of time, you may want to stop here and come back after you have read it.

Long about two-thirds of the way through the book, I actually set it aside for a bit. I just wasn't interested in the story or the characters and found myself reluctant to pick it up. I don't like not finishing a book that I am that far along in, but as I mentioned, I was unenthusiastic. So I did a quick search to see if I could find any negative reviews. None. Everyone loved it. Everyone thought it was sweet and charming. It was a book that made you feel good. 

Huh.

Every so often I wonder if I received a different version of a popular book and this was one of those times. The only character that I actually liked up to this point was the octopus, and he, disappointingly, did not make that many appearances. The other characters I found just vaguely unpleasant. 

With no negative reviews that I could find, I decided to tough it out and see if I could figure out what all the fuss was about. I have to say I really liked the last thirty to fifty pages of the book. (That's out of 355 pages if you're curious.)

It was only at the end of the book that I felt as though the characters became real people rather than a list of negative traits. There were likeable and admirable traits in their back stories, but it was difficult to connect those histories with the characters I was reading about in their present. It was the disconnect that stopped my connection to them. 

But you're probably wondering where the neuroscience comes in, aren't you? When you read a lot of brain books, you inevitably come across science related to aging. One of the things that scientists have learned is that continuing to learn new things, having different experiences, being open to new ideas all goes a long way towards keeping your brain (and body) functioning we'll. Rigidity is a recipe for aging faster. 

What I ended up thinking was the very best part of the book was the evolution of the older woman, Tova, from her extremely rigid, grieving state to a more flexible, open state where she was able to appreciate the people in her life. It was almost a case study for the benefits of working to be more flexible.

Earlier in the book, I found it extremely difficult to reconcile the stated facts of her younger life... loving wife and mother, a long time group of close friends who made a point to meet together once a week, and the unrequited affection of a bachelor in the two... with the unsociable, brittle, and inflexible person we are introduced to in the book. More than once I was mystified as to what drew these other people to her. It didn't make sense and there were pitifully few examples of how she interacted with people before tragedy overtook her. (I also found this same type of disconnect between who I was told the person was and how they presented themselves in nearly every other character.) 

Yet those last fifty pages gave us a different perspective on Tova. We saw glimpses of who she had been and who she could be once she lost her rigidity. It was not unlike the transformation in A Man Called Ove, except there it was made more evident of who he had been and how loss had changed him. I liked Ove better; not everything needs to be a secret.

My final thoughts on the book? It was an excellent example of what we lose when we become set in our ways, regardless of the reason. Go out there and try new things! I also wish that an editor would have asked the author to keep the last fifty pages and then go back and rewrite the beginning. They could all still be as cut off from the rest of humanity due to their experiences, but could we at least have a glimpse as to the people they were before the pain?