Book notes: The Overstory

By Richard Powers.

My son’s teacher mentioned in an email that they were really enjoying this book.

FYI from Merriam-Webster Dictionary 2021: “An overstory is the top foliage from multiple trees that combine to create an overhang or canopy under which people can walk or sit.”

You get a full dose of eco-anxiety with this one. It’s a fictional story that weaves together the accounts of a dozen or so people who realize that humans are living out of balance with the earth. The main plot line involves a few of them banding together and do acts of eco-terrorism to stop deforestation of redwood forests on the west coast. The story includes many real-world events (Vietnam war, 9/11, the timing of technological advancements) and is told in a way that could have been true.

You learn a lot about trees. Did you know trees and humans share 25% of genes? Trees communicate with each other and warn each other about pests. They feed each other with their roots. They can sense when humans are around and change the airborne chemicals that they produce. The root system in a forest is complex in ways similar to a brain. The book speaks with such authority that all of these tree-facts must be true? There weren’t any references so I’m not sure. Spot check: Wikipedia confirms the chestnut blight mentioned in the book.

The bad: Too much descriptive language for my taste, didn’t need 502 pages. Several random/untimely/unpleasant deaths. Around the middle of the book my hopes were dashed when I thought this might become another Monkey Wrench Gang. Instead of a glorious action book with a happy ending, everything goes pretty badly for this group. In fairness this was the point the author was trying to make.

A running theme is how do you explain to people that we need to slow down our consumption of trees and the earth’s resources in general? People should respond logically to science and numbers placed in front of them, but most instead respond to a compelling emotional story. The psychologist Adam explains this to the other characters in the book. I think the goal of this book was to be that emotional story for us. It worked on me. I feel a new sense of urgency for saving the planet.

Most people in the story weren’t part of the solution, wittingly or not. We always want a little bit more. The few that hold out and try to change the world by nonviolent action are verbally and physically attacked. There was a brave character in the end, Adam, who sticks to his values and ends up with a 70 year jail sentence (spot check truth fail: the longest sentence for eco-terrorism is 13 years) even though he has a wife and child. The idealistic tone of the book is encouraging us to make sacrifices and be a part of the solution.

This book won’t be on my favorites list but it was a compelling read with decent plot twists, laugh out loud moments, and got me thinking.