Billy T– The Overstory

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  • This topic has 3 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 5 years ago by wv.
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  • September 3, 2019 at 1:13 pm #104627
    wv
    Participant

    BT, just wanted to say I’m really enjoying The Overstory by Richard Powers.
    It was a little slow, but when i got to the chapter on the lady-Botanist it really picked up. I’m thoroughly enjoying it. Dunno where its going but I’ll probably have to read GAIN after this and see how that stacks up to this one. I have several of his books around here somewheres.

    w
    v

    September 3, 2019 at 5:16 pm #104630
    Billy_T
    Participant

    Glad you’re enjoying it, WV.

    I think it definitely deserves the accolades it’s received so far, like the Pulitzer. IMO, it’s a masterpiece. Not perfect. But even among masterpieces, that’s incredibly rare. It tells us things about Nature that are profoundly important. Very few novelists have written about trees/nature as subjects in their own right, worthy of their own story, as opposed to just “things” we humans exploit and see as existing for us and only us. Few novelists have the skills to match science and literature so seamlessly.

    I’ve only read one other Powers book, The Gold Bug Variations (1991), which is an all-time favorite of mine. I should read his others as well. Gain sounds really good too, though heart-breaking.

    Please add more of your thoughts when you’ve finished it.

    September 3, 2019 at 7:29 pm #104631
    wv
    Participant

    September 15, 2019 at 4:28 pm #105087
    wv
    Participant

    Richard Powers Q-and-A, on whether he’s hopeful about humanity (started it at the 55 min mark):

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