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elizlizabeth's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
I feel that Powers is an excellent short story writer. I really loved the first part of this book because of how engaging and emotive the character introductions were. The concept of the book is pretty cool: Roots has the introductions, Trunk where they all meet, Crown where they split, and Seeds as a sort of epilogue. However, in the execution the plot felt overly dramatic and the author kept either repeating or negating the character arcs to introduce conflict. This is a book I would've loved if nothing of substance happened, but in its effort to be jaw dropping it became trite and dated.
I was expecting a well-reaearched ode to trees and the inextricable paths that join us to them and the first part IS that. I am just disappointed that it didn't continued in the same vein. Roots is so good that it can even stand on its own, so I will cherish those stories and forget the rest.
I was expecting a well-reaearched ode to trees and the inextricable paths that join us to them and the first part IS that. I am just disappointed that it didn't continued in the same vein. Roots is so good that it can even stand on its own, so I will cherish those stories and forget the rest.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: Ableism and Miscarriage
random19379's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Ableism
a_kt's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Reading The Overstory is like watching a tree grow all the way from wayward seed to full leviathan to tragic felling by a unsympathetic lumberjack. Richard Powers is an incredible writer, that much cannot be overlooked. The way nature is used in this book is nothing short of awe-inspiring. However, the book doesn't exactly focus on nature, not in the way you'd think. The book is really about a group of seemingly unconnected people whose lives are all impacted by trees in one way or another. In some instances, these characters meet up with each other and impact each others lives. In some instances they don't. While you sit back and watch this ever-branching creature unfold before your eyes, the different characters become more complicated, more nuanced... but do they become... interesting?
My feelings around this book are complicated. It took me more than a month to finish it and by the end I was begging for it to be over. I can see what Powers was trying to go for here, using nature as a pathway to show the interconnectedness of all life- human, plant, and otherwise. In the same way that entire forests communicate, warn each other of potential invaders, spread messages through the chemical signals released by their leaves and through the fungal networks below them- so too do people try desperately to call out to others when in need. The difference being that people are complicated, we can't interpret chemical signals or fungal synapses so we're left with a much more inefficient system. Similarly, I feel like these themes were somewhat inefficiently communicated in this book.
The parts of the book that are about nature are the best parts. I found myself Googling the different tree facts picked up from this book to see if they were fact or fiction.
The parts of the book that are about the characters in the book are the worst parts. Some of the characters are, at best, tragically relatable with no clear motivation for anything they do, and at worst, completely unnecessary for the story.
I understand why this book got as much praise as it did- honestly people with better taste in literature than me probably understood it better. However, when I got the end, I didn't feel anything other than being glad it was over and that I could move on to something different.
My feelings around this book are complicated. It took me more than a month to finish it and by the end I was begging for it to be over. I can see what Powers was trying to go for here, using nature as a pathway to show the interconnectedness of all life- human, plant, and otherwise. In the same way that entire forests communicate, warn each other of potential invaders, spread messages through the chemical signals released by their leaves and through the fungal networks below them- so too do people try desperately to call out to others when in need. The difference being that people are complicated, we can't interpret chemical signals or fungal synapses so we're left with a much more inefficient system. Similarly, I feel like these themes were somewhat inefficiently communicated in this book.
The parts of the book that are about nature are the best parts. I found myself Googling the different tree facts picked up from this book to see if they were fact or fiction.
The parts of the book that are about the characters in the book are the worst parts. Some of the characters are, at best, tragically relatable with no clear motivation for anything they do, and at worst, completely unnecessary for the story.
I understand why this book got as much praise as it did- honestly people with better taste in literature than me probably understood it better. However, when I got the end, I didn't feel anything other than being glad it was over and that I could move on to something different.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
pedanther's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Excrement, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Terminal illness, Infertility, Police brutality, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Sexual content, Alcohol, Dementia, Misogyny, Racism, Ableism, and Bullying
Minor: Drug use, Colonisation, Vomit, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Car accident, and Child death
joymargot's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Racism, and Xenophobia
m4rtt4's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I really loved the first part, and had the rest of the book been like it, I'd probably have given this at least 4.5 stars. Still not bad, all the nature stuff was mind-blowingly incredible, but some of the (POC) characters were pretty stereotypical and I didn't really like how all their stories intertwined in the second half.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Police brutality, Violence, Ableism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide
Moderate: Cancer, Racism, Sexual content, Infertility, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
lindseyhall44's review
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
“Let me sing to you now, about how people turn into other things.”
I received a copy of The Overstory as a birthday present, and honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew that there was widespread critical acclaim, but that was the extent of my knowledge. Never did I expect to feel, think, or see as powerfully as I did with the novel as my lense.
The Overstory follows an ensemble cast of characters, as trees shape and define their life experiences. Through themes of activism, growth, and ultimately life, the trees themselves will speak to you from the confinements of pages.
The format of the novel was immediately intriguing to me, as the parts are separated by the sections of a tree.
The roots and trunk may be, for some, (almost dauntingly) slow, but Powers is a master class in character studies, and the connection once finished reading will feel like the epitome of rewarding.
Although it was one of the most heartbreaking and gut wrenching works I have read in a while, it also offered a strangely hopeful note, that like trees we too can can leave a positive legacy behind.
I took off half a star because some of the mental health depictions I thought could have been written better.
I received a copy of The Overstory as a birthday present, and honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew that there was widespread critical acclaim, but that was the extent of my knowledge. Never did I expect to feel, think, or see as powerfully as I did with the novel as my lense.
The Overstory follows an ensemble cast of characters, as trees shape and define their life experiences. Through themes of activism, growth, and ultimately life, the trees themselves will speak to you from the confinements of pages.
The format of the novel was immediately intriguing to me, as the parts are separated by the sections of a tree.
The roots and trunk may be, for some, (almost dauntingly) slow, but Powers is a master class in character studies, and the connection once finished reading will feel like the epitome of rewarding.
Although it was one of the most heartbreaking and gut wrenching works I have read in a while, it also offered a strangely hopeful note, that like trees we too can can leave a positive legacy behind.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Ableism, Bullying, Death, Murder, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Kidnapping, Bullying, Grief, and Dementia
switchywitchsitch's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Ableism, and Police brutality
julziez's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Violence, Death, Dementia, Grief, and Colonisation
gigireadswithkiki's review
This book is repulsive. It feels like White People pretentious self-congratulatory prose written for white people who like to believe they're good at philosophy. It's xenophobic, misogynistic, ableist, racist, discriminatory against the non-wealthy, and *overtly* pretentious. I personally plan on ripping the pages out one by one and burning every single one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Racism, Ableism, and Misogyny