"The Overstory," Richard Powers, 2018 (No Spoilers)
The Overstory, a Novel, Richard Powers, 2018
This novel weaves an ensemble of very human characters with themes involving the natural world. Richard Powers employs graceful, powerful prose to illuminate intensely personal stories. While I found some of the characters to be more sympathetic than others, I thought they were all both interesting and distinct. The construction of the novel — the writing and the interweaving of different characters, themes, and subplots — is nothing short of brilliant.
The book is divided into two sections. The first section comprises a set of character stories. We get to know a diverse set of people — different economic backgrounds, talents, flaws, and educational levels. While most of the characters were white & middle class, some were not. Importantly (to me, anyway) I felt like the nonwhite characters were central to the story and not just window dressing.
In the second part of the book, the characters begin to interact. Five characters gradually coalesce into the largest of the subplots. Two other characters follow subplots of their own that, over the course of the book, drift closer to the main subplot. Two more characters fit into another subplot that reflects and provides a different point of view to the larger themes of the book.
The story is told against the backdrop of deforestation and the logging of old growth forests, and, yes, its themes of environmental damage and the tragedy of the commons do, at times, take center stage. That said, even though Powers seems firmly entrenched within the environmentalist camp, he does not ignore the points of view of those whose livelihoods depend on logging. The story seemed so realistic and so vivid to me, that I had to remind myself (often) that it was “only a novel.”
The Overstory tried to take over my life for the duration of the read. During the day, I couldn’t get it out of my thoughts, and I had to force myself to pay attention to other things. Each time I picked up the book, I was filled with anticipation. Each time I set it aside, it was with reluctance. And the night I finished the novel, I stayed awake for hours mulling over the characters and themes of the book.
The Overstory won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It was shortlisted for the 2018 Man Booker Prize. It was a New York Times bestseller. It was a New York Times Notable Book. The following listed it as “Best Book of the Year:” The Washington Post, Time, Oprah Magazine, Newsweek, The Chicago Tribune, Kirkus Reviews, and Amazon.
It’s not a short, quick read; the paperback version is 512 pages long. I read the Kindle version, which I checked out from my local library. There is more information about this book on the author’s website: http://www.richardpowers.net/the-overstory/