The
Overstory by Richard Powers. Vintage,2019. 625 pages
As
far as books go, this is huge – as big as the chestnut tree planted
in Iowa that is photographed once a month for three generations, or
the giant spreading banyan that stops Douglas Pavlicec from falling
to earth. Ten stories high - this tree is – ten systems that
accumulate rot and mould and fungi and elaborate networks of roots
and wildlife. Ten separate stories that sing anthems to the doom of
forests and the end of the world.
This
book, shortlisted for the 2018 Man Booker Prize, explores through the
threads and skeins of these stories the legalised devastation of
thousand-year-old forests across America, and the courageous attempts
by ordinary people to save the trees and the world. Carefully
interwoven are old wisdom and modern scientific discoveries that
may just turn the tide of devastation, and the greed and
exploitation that drives the juggernaut of destruction.
The
book is wonderful, but too big for me to grasp. Although each story
individually has some coherence, their fragmentation took away from
their power. Some of the 'Trunk' section could well have been edited
down. As with many American films, the complexity of the
environmental message was overtaken by the 'goodies v baddies'
scenario. I recommend when you read the book (and you MUST read it)
you create a flowchart that plots the different stories and how they
connect with one another.
What
this book does do, in a generous, poetic manner, is to make an urgent
call to people in America and around the world to preserve, love and
cherish the remnants of our ancient forests, to plant and nourish new
wilderlands, and change our exploitative systems and attitudes.
You
MUST read it!
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