Book Review: "The Overstory" by Richard Powers

This is a photo I took in Jardim Botânico da Ajuda, Lisbon, Portugal. I was told this tree is over 400 years old.

What’s in a tree?

A shade?

A piece of furniture?

Fruits?

A pretty landscape?

How about oxygen?

And how about a living creature that is in constant communication with its sisters?

One that moves much slower than you do, but which is capable of defending itself from enemies, “talk” and share nutrients with those around them, and form large communities of multiples trees connected not just with each other, but with other plants too.

Yes, indeed trees are amazing. The more you know about them, the more you love them. Perhaps for that reason, we become calmer when we are among them — because we instinctively know that trees represent comfort, safety and food.

I was reflecting on the kind of feeling that I have when I look at a tree, and it feels like “grandmother”. I see the wisdom of age; I see a shelter with open arms; I see an entity that has earned its place in the world by virtue of the many, many gifts that it has given all its life. It has earned our respect.

Yet, unfortunately, the powers that be don’t always respect trees (or nature in general), and at least 30% of the world’s tree species are threatened with extinction, according to an article from BBC News dating back to September 2021.

That’s why I was motivated to read “The Overstory”, a novel by Richard Powers. Technically, the overstory is “the top foliage from multiple trees that combine to create an overhang or canopy under which people can walk or sit” (source: Merriam-Webster).

I would personally prefer to say “under which living creatures can take shelter” instead of talking about how it serves “people”. That’s what happens when you read this book. You become acutely aware of how we tend to make everything about us. You become more aware of the need to respect nature around you in its own right to be here, not as a service to people, but as an equal.

The thinner tree was cut years ago and the big one has been holding and feeding it since then. They "wake up" together in the spring and "go to sleep" together in the autumn.

This is called inosculation: when branches or roots of different trees are in prolonged intimate contact, they often abrade each other, exposing their inner tissues, which may eventually fuse. It's not so much one tree feeding another as the formation of a new hybrid organism.

Credit- Steven Pacheco

Source: https://aboutagriculture.quora.com/The-thinner-tree-was-cut-years-ago-and-the-big-one-has-been-holding-and-feeding-it-since-then-They-wake-up-together-i

The title of the book, “The Overstory”, has an incredible multiplicity of meanings. As we have seen, it literally refers to the trees and one of their great benefits (shelter). By extension (metonymically), it refers to all the things that trees can give us (and other plants too). And finally, it also refers to the story of our relationship with them, which the author artistically illustrates through the events that happen to this novel’s characters.

In fact, the narrator tells us multiple stories at the same time, their connection to one another and to the theme of the novel only becoming apparent as we read through the book. In this way, there is then another story that is implicit and which you can see when you take a helicopter view — the over-story of how humans have been relating to trees and to nature in general: a story of arrogance and ignorance; a story where the few who desperately fight to defend the threes are violently suppressed or simply ignored.

And to say that Power writes with great artistry is an understatement. I was amazed at his use of metaphor and imagery. There were sentences so imbued with meaning and beauty that I found myself contemplating them in awe, even getting emotional. Ones that I underlined and have shared with a few friends already, in hopes that I would persuade them to read the book too.

Let me share a few of them with you. It may seem like too many, but it was really hard to narrow down this list!

“A stumpy desolation spreads in front of him. The ground bleeds reddish slag mixed with sawdust and slash. Every direction for as far as he can see resembles a gigantic plucked fowl. It’s like the alien death rays have hit, and the world is asking permission to end.” (Page 87) (Context: one of the characters looks at a piece of land where all the trees have been cut off).

“As certain as weather coming from the west, the things that people know for sure will change. There is no knowing for a fact. The only dependable things are humility and looking.” (Page 115)

“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.” (Page 129)

“She sees it in one great glimpse of flashing gold: trees and humans, at war over the land and water and atmosphere. And she can hear, louder than the quaking leaves, which side will lose by winning.” (Page 133)

“When the wind stops, the stillness suspends them between two eternities, entirely in the caress of here and now.” (Page 279)

“People aren’t the apex species they think they are. Other creatures — bigger, smaller, slower, faster, older, younger, more powerful — call the shots, make the air and eat sunlight. Without them, nothing.” (Page 285)

“(…) the thing the human brain craves above all else and nature will die refusing to give: convenience.” (Page 379)

“No one sees trees. We see fruit, we see nuts, we see wood, we see shade. We see ornaments or pretty fall foliage. Obstacles blocking the road or wrecking the ski slope. Dark, threatening places that must be cleared. We see branches about to crush our roof. We see a cash crop. But trees — trees are invisible.” (Page 423)

What about you? How do you feel about this topic?

I hope I’ve inspired you to read this book and, if you do, please share your thoughts with us!

Liliana