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A review by tofuandtears
How I Became a Tree by Sumana Roy
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
2.5
It took me about a month and a half to get through this book, and although that can be attributed to the fact that I only read it in 30 minutes increments on my break at work, it was mainly because it was incredibly dense. There were some things culturally that went over my head (though I thoroughly enjoyed some of the stories that Sumana shared that I otherwise wouldn’t have access to), but there were other things that just didn't seem relevant. I think much of my opinion echoes the 4 written reviews under mine, so I’ll try not to be repetitive. I think that the blurb on the back was a little misleading, particularly the comparison to Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass, which is what snagged me in the first place. Braiding Sweetgrass is just as much about the beauty and spirit of the natural world as it is our place in it, whereas Roy spends much of her time criticizing humans for…not being trees? In a literal sense?? Don’t get me wrong, there is beauty in this book, there are lessons to be had, there is a unique perspective. She has a beautiful way of thinking about trees (and is completely right about how humans don’t generally think of them, or the plant world at all for that matter!) but it felt wayyyy more like a stream of consciousness journal entry about her love of trees with thick, wordy references placed in a way that high schoolers might when they are first learning about research papers. I really wanted to like this book, but maybe I just wasn’t the right audience.
Something on my mind that didn’t sit right with me was in the final few chapters where she describes an earthquake that she, her husband, and FIL experienced. She describes the event and then comments about how she felt about not saving her plants inside or the trees impacted by the quake, like she left them behind to die. However, she does not shy away from talking about human death/reincarnation the entire book. Would a tree falling due to a natural disaster not be a natural (though tragic) ending to the life of a tree? It was so strange how she would spend multiple chapters trying to get to the point, and then would say insane things in one sentence. Like being aroused by a tree or having sex with it, or countless other quotes people have already shared on here.
Something on my mind that didn’t sit right with me was in the final few chapters where she describes an earthquake that she, her husband, and FIL experienced. She describes the event and then comments about how she felt about not saving her plants inside or the trees impacted by the quake, like she left them behind to die. However, she does not shy away from talking about human death/reincarnation the entire book. Would a tree falling due to a natural disaster not be a natural (though tragic) ending to the life of a tree? It was so strange how she would spend multiple chapters trying to get to the point, and then would say insane things in one sentence. Like being aroused by a tree or having sex with it, or countless other quotes people have already shared on here.