You guys know it takes a lot for me to devote an actual post to just one book- it has to be just that special. And Richard Powers' The Overstory definitely was, despite my trepidation over the length (over five hundred pages) and the hype. I read this over the course of like two weeks, so I feel like it was truly a reading experience- the slow speed really gave me time to linger and muse about the plot when I wasn't reading. Here's five reasons why you should read it:
The Characters: There are seven(ish) different main characters in the text, which is admittedly a lot. There's plenty of room for Powers to develop them, though, giving them unique personalities, motivations, and struggles.
The Subject Matter: Trees! What? Are you not in love with trees like I am? There's more to it, though, including the environment, different types of relationships, radical environmentalists, loss, and life.
The Writing: I read another one of Powers' books back in college (Gain) and remembering I liked it, but I really feel like he may be one of the sort of secret treasures that for some reason we aren't singing the praises of like we should be. His prose is this wonderful combination of nature, flowing syntax, crafted descriptions, and emotion.
The Interwoven Aspect: The premise of this book is how trees communicate, but it's also how we has humans communicate, with each other, ourselves, and with nature. The root metaphor becomes such a connective force between the different characters and the tree element itself.
The Overall Message: We are destroying out planet, no ifs, ands, ors, or buts. We are destroying so much more than just trees when we destroy forests and eventually Earth will suffer because of it.
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