SHELBY VAN PELT
shiny creatures
translated by Ilaira Dionysopoulou
ed. Metaichmyo, page 520

Prose is a lot of things, but it often serves and acts as a marker – and that’s pretty cool on its own. OUR Shelby van Pelt succeeded in writing this novel, and the public rewarded her even more. With over 140,000 ratings on Goodreads, 90% of which are 4 or 5 stars, an overall rating close to 4.5, which is extremely rare, and releases in over 20 countries, “Reasonable Beings”a New York Times bestseller and a BookTok favorite, truly “the ultimate feel-good book.”

Tova, who has lost her 18-year-old son and husband, gets a job as a cleaner in an aquarium. This is where it all starts…

Tova Sullivan, in her seventies, recently lost her husband. So she has two deaths, two losses to deal with: her husband, but also her eighteen-year-old son who disappeared at sea thirty years ago. One, probably, is suicide, which Tova could not justify and accept all this time. Unable to sit still and unable to get enough of the company of her friends, with whom they regularly meet, forming the knitting group “Intertwined” (perfectly performed by Knit Wits), she takes a job as a cleaner on the night shift in his aquarium. Sowell Bay, a small coastal town in the Pacific Northwest where he lives. There, among others, and as he gradually develops a peculiar relationship with all the “exhibits”, live fish, clams, clams, etc. of the aquarium, he will suddenly find himself very close to the giant Pacific octopus Marcello.

Marcelos is almost four years old, he is already an old man, and has spent almost his entire life in his aquarium, since at a young age he was injured and rescued by fishermen. He weighs thirty kilograms, is very smart and has a habit of getting out of the aquarium at night, like another Houdini, and wandering around the aquarium, all looking for, as well as “tasting” some other exhibits. Tova will discover this habit of his, but will definitely support him, because he understands that Marselos, approaching the moment of his death, has every right to earn himself a few minutes of freedom a day.

At some point, the aquarium will also hire thirty-year-old Cameron, who will come to Sowell Bay to find his roots – his mother abandoned him in infancy, and he never knew who his father was. And then Marcellus – the chapters in which he speaks in the first person, are most loved by all readers – decides to act. Because he is really very smart, terribly observant and hopelessly affectionate. He can understand when someone is grieving, but also what burden the human heart can ultimately carry.

Except that it’s impossible for an octopus to communicate with a human. Or maybe not; The book – a touching, brilliantly found novel about grief, loneliness, loss, old age, death, and a second chance, with at least five memorable characters – is not only tender and delightful to read: it is also very intelligently and “correctly” structured. .

Unlike those who consider their manuscripts to be sacred or inspired by God, Van Pelt, like many young writers abroad (but especially in the US), attended high-level creative writing workshops for many years and acquired a group of writers through them – reviewers. . who collectively annotate and review their texts, solve structural problems, check for inaccuracies and “holes” in the plot, etc., which is good. It should be noted that the translation of Ilaira Dionysopoulou is also very good. Before or after reading this book, which is ideal both for solitary enjoyment and for discussion in literary clubs – an institution that circulates in the online and offline circles of our country, which is also very good – we recommend watching on Netflix a wonderful documentary released by 2020. , “My Octopus Teacher” by Pippa Ehrlich and James Reid. All octopuses, not just giant Pacific octopuses, are highly intelligent creatures.