The Overstory: A Novel - Richard Powers

The Overstory: A Novel

By Richard Powers

  • Release Date: 2018-04-03
  • Genre: Literary Fiction
4.5 Score: 4.5 (From 1,719 Ratings)

Description

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction
Winner of the William Dean Howells Medal
Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize
Over One Year on the New York Times Bestseller List
A New York Times Notable Book and a Washington Post, Time, Oprah Magazine, Newsweek, Chicago Tribune, and Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year

"The best novel ever written about trees, and really just one of the best novels, period." —Ann Patchett

The Overstory, winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, is a sweeping, impassioned work of activism and resistance that is also a stunning evocation of—and paean to—the natural world. From the roots to the crown and back to the seeds, Richard Powers’s twelfth novel unfolds in concentric rings of interlocking fables that range from antebellum New York to the late twentieth-century Timber Wars of the Pacific Northwest and beyond. There is a world alongside ours—vast, slow, interconnected, resourceful, magnificently inventive, and almost invisible to us. This is the story of a handful of people who learn how to see that world and who are drawn up into its unfolding catastrophe.

Reviews

  • Powerful

    5
    By bobfalfa
    Incredible achievement. Should be required reading. This book changed the way I see things, and it did it without being preachy or sanctimonious. Beautiful work of art.
  • Once again, Richard Powers blows me away

    4
    By KThugs3
    “Trees know when we're close by. The chemistry of their roots and the perfumes their leaves pump out change when we're near. ... When you feel good after a walk in the woods, it may be that certain species are bribing you. So many wonder drugs have come from trees, and we haven't yet scratched the surface of the offerings. Irees have long been trying to reach us. But they speak on frequencies too low for people to hear.” Richard Powers is a fantastic story teller, and I’m so glad that I was gifted Bewilderment earlier in the year- otherwise, I don’t know if I would have even considered reading The Overstory - which would have been a mistake to miss out on (for me personally.) Everyone who knows me knows that I am already a tree hugger by nature; but this book takes my interests and what I thought I knew about trees and flips it on my head. The book follows the point of view of 9 different characters, and how they are all internconnected by trees. And while this story is fictional; all of the facts about the trees provided in this book do happen to be scientifically proven fact. (That trees can migrate, that they communicate through chemical messages that are airborne as well as through their root systems, that they care for their young, that old giants being chopped down with new trees being put up does not help the current issues, that there are less than 4% of all the worlds natural forests left, and so many other interesting facts.) I think that more books like this should be written and more stories told to explain to the rest of civilization that we can no longer continue to trash this planet for the sake of humans. We are not the most important on this planet- and in case we haven’t noticed- the planet is working on ridding itself of us. 4 stars!
  • A giant snooze

    2
    By LoveWildlife
    Tedious read. Although I believe in preserving our rain forests and old growth forests, there is a balance between that and progress. This book lectures endlessly.
  • Magnificent

    5
    By hockeyparentpodcaster
    Changes the way you think about everything
  • The Trees are alive

    4
    By Amishman18
    I was really impressed with this novel. I had never read anything by Richard Powers before, but I will definitely read more from this author. It was fascinating reading about the secret life of the forests and how connected the trees are to everything in nature, including us. I wish the book within the novel: Secret Forest by Patricia Westerford, who was also a supporting character was a real book.
  • The long long story

    1
    By JoeEck
    Long and repetitive. The narration is confusing and the inner thoughts of the too many characters are nonsense. He has ruined a good cause with a load of nonsense.
  • Love

    5
    By traveling brew
    One of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read
  • So much wisdom

    5
    By Gladeola
    I am amazed a single author knows so much about so many diverse topics and was able to weave the knowledge into this novel with such skill and grace. My admiration for trees increased tenfold. A must read
  • This garbage won a Pulitzer?

    1
    By wintermantle
    Heavy handed and contrived. I also marvel at the fact that the author was able to have so many different viewpoints that all sounded like a boring old man. The Lorax made all the same points without being so condescending.
  • really engaging

    4
    By epopovitz
    i loved it. felt like the thread got lost a few times. reread several sections to clarify. leaves the reader open to wonder.

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