Reviews with content warning for Confinement - The Overstory

Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Overstory by Richard Powers

10 reviews

emmonsannae's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

2.0

This is one of those books that is objectively excellent but just didn’t work for me. I thought the craftsmanship of the novel was superb, and I really enjoyed R.W.’s style. I like that the book forces you to ask a lot of questions about its purpose and the way that purpose is accomplished. But when I finished the book, I realized that I didn’t especially enjoy reading it. I think there were some sub-themes that didn’t agree with me, which made it hard to buy in by the ending (which requires a lot from its readers).

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pedanther's review against another edition

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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

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gkgkgk's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book tore me up. It's perfect. 6 stars.

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beanypole's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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keegan_leech's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

This was a re-read and it's still an absolute favourite book of mine. Despite its flaws, which were more noticeable the second time around, it remains stunning for that rare quality in a book to fundamentally change the way you think about the world. It presents both trees and the broader environmental crisis in a rare way and does it persuasively.

I think some readers might find it at times too saccharine, or—depending on how closely you agree with the novel's assessment of humanity's prospects—either overly bleak or wildly optimistic. But whatever you think of it, it's a book to provoke and change you. I certainly think about it constantly, and for that alone I'd recommend it to everyone.

The characters, prose, and structure of the novel are all good enough that it manages to walk the knife's edge of being a book I'd recommend to everyone, but there's no doubt that they are supports for the themes and content of the novel more than selling points in themselves.

I'd recommend it, even if all my criticisms sound off-putting. If you think there's any part of you that would like to marvel at trees and growing things, or wonder at the connections between living things, then please read this book.

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