Book Review: The Deep, Claire Nouvian

Book Review: The Deep: The Extraordinary Creatures of the Abyss, Claire Nouvian

 

The Deep, Claire Nouvian

Nonfiction/Science: The Deep: The Extraordinary Creatures of the AbyssClaire Nouvian

 

This is one of the most exquisitely beautiful books I have seen. It is also one of the strangest. The Deep is a coffee-table sized book filled with beautiful color pictures of creatures from the deep ocean. Plate after plate, many of them covering two pages, shows the creatures living in the abyss in color and dramatic lighting. Surrounded by the most part with the unlit ocean, they leap off the page in some of the most outstanding photographs you can imagine.

 

Accompanying the photographs are essays by oceanographers and marine biologists telling you about the lives of the creatures you are seeing. Giant squid and miniscule jellyfish, ferocious looking anglerfish which are actually smaller than your palm. Octopuses and crabs and creatures that don’t closely resemble any of the more familiar animals that live closer to the surface. Creatures that live in the shadow (if there were any light) of sea vents spewing boiling water and harsh chemicals, chemicals which these creatures use to create their own food.

 

Far from being a watery desert, the deep sea is full of life. Claire Nouvian has compiled an extraordinary homage to these diverse creatures, one that is full of beauty and mystery and strangeness. Whether reading the very interesting and informative text that accompanies the photos or just enjoying the exquisite pictures, this is a book to be savored and treasured.

 

Also see: Book Review: The Brilliant Abyss: Exploring the Majestic Hidden Life of the Deep Ocean, and the Looming Threat That Imperils It, Helen Scales

 

The Deep, Claire Nouvian

Book Review: The Deep: The Extraordinary Creatures of the Abyss, Claire Nouvian Claire Nouvian

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