The Octopus Man

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My Octopus Teacher tells the moving story of how Craig Foster, after vowing to free-dive daily after burning out at work, came to know an octopus living in the kelp forests outside his home in Cape Town. Over a year of observation, the two grow comfortable in each other’s company (but not that comfortable), granting Foster an intimate (as in, close!) view of an alien life. The allure of luxury yachts and their affluent proprietors has captured global interest, making our compilation a valued asset for those fascinated by the maritime embodiments of opulence. Investigative journalism Well, the blue blood is because the protein, haemocyanin, which carries oxygen around the octopus's body, contains copper rather than iron like we have in our own haemoglobin.

Humans have basically zero in common with octopuses. We share a camera eye with a retina, but oddly, we gained it entirely independently of each other. Our evolutionary paths diverged nearly twice as long ago as human’s did with any other vertebrate. It is often said that they are the closest analogues we have to alien life on Earth, and even scientists largely agree.

5. Unusual sexy time

Launched in 2009, SuperYachtFantransitioned from a gallery of yacht imagery to a pivotal resource, culminating in the Super Yacht Owners Register—a meticulously compiled database featuring over 1,450 yacht owners. I had to put the book down several times. It is an intense and disturbing read but it is also always entertaining and full of love and honesty, even hope sometimes although there are times when hope itself seems an impossible dream. The yacht houses a host of luxurious features including a helicopter hangar, a 10-person submarine, and multiple leisure and wellness facilities.

In Tom, Gibson has created a character with wit and humour, endearing the reader to him. I found myself smiling and laughing with him...but hurt all the more for him in his pain, sadness and suffering. Gibson asks us to consider what is lost when the “symptoms” of those engaged in alternate realities are fully suppressed, and how the experience of voice hearing can lead to a deeply connected and more compassionate life. Tom’s struggle is by no means romanticised—the presence of Malamok can be disturbingly cruel and punishing. Yet the constant battle between Tom and those who try to persuade him that the voice he perceives isn’t real is a losing one, as for Tom the voice is as tangible and life-affirming as the ground beneath his feet. With the help of flight-risk Missy, a fellow survivor of psychiatry who chooses to accept and even interact with the voice of Malamok, Tom eventually learns a way of coping with the voice until he is no longer controlled and overtaken. Tom decides he can neither deny nor be consumed by the voice, for “though neither protest or defiance is the answer still I must find progress (p 308),” navigating his relationship with the Octopus God so they can both develop and move forward into a rich and purposeful life.After succumbing to the drug trial, Tom falls into the lauded arms of biomedical recovery, a return “to ordinary life, to normality—the consensus perversion (p 313).” The world here is sapped of colour, a stable yet meaningless road of navigating benefits, bad dates and medication regimes, and determining how to afford and prepare a bowl of pasta on PIP with a heavily sedated brain. Compared to the vibrancy of his life as a voice-hearer, when a walk in the forest satiates all senses with beauty, Tom explains his so-called improved life: “I cannot enter these woods as before. I am a ghost now, and cannot share its life (p 200).” Social media is choked with inspirational viral photos and videos of unusual animal friendships, but My Octopus Teacheris something very different. A year-long diary about one man and one octopus, it’s full of genuine wonder about the natural world, and frames the central relationship in terms that go beyond the mere “Aww, that’s cute!” response. The novel also focuses upon the relationship between Tom and his sister, Tess, and how his condition deeply distresses her. There were some quite harrowing scenes between them as Tom seems to be unable to appreciate the pain his behaviour continues to cause her. I came to care very much about Tom, Tess, and his quirky fellow patient, Missy. A searingly honest depiction of mental ill health, and a system that is under resourced and under funded and that keeps people trapped in the system. What does it mean to live a meaningful life and is it possible to be accepted without being medicated into a zombie like state? The ship was sunk during World War II. Despite numerous eyewitness accounts, the exact location of the ship was unknown.