The Overstory

I read this for a book club, so especially tried to read closely and take notes. The book had an interesting structure with multiple characters that you get to know well. To me the book unfortunately started to drag about halfway through. Lots of action but very detailed, so it required intense focus to read. The book really made me think, so I am glad I read it, though I think if it weren’t for the book club I may not have finished this one because it was hard to casually pick up and get excited about. It is very thought provoking with a clear message.

I guess, since I already paid a lot of attention to trees, and already considered them more or less to be people, and was already familiar with some of the research into how trees communicate with each other, it didn't impact me as much as some other readers.

I also really disliked the fact that Powers has a large cast of characters, whose stories span a century and most of a continent, and not a single one of them was Black or Indigenous. To not mention the Indigenous peoples of the Americas in a book that's about the nature and ecology of North America seems disrespectful at the very least. Then again, if Powers were to mention Native Americans, he would have to grapple with the fact that many Native American societies were quite successful in consciously stewarding and co-evolving with trees and other species, which would then detract from his anti-human message.

Much of Powers' interesting information about tree science can be found in "The Hidden Life of Trees" by Peter Wohlleben (note, he has the same initials as the tree scientist character), so, if that's what you're after, maybe read that first.