The Overstory by Richard Powers

When reading a book, I often reach a point where I just have to finish the book as quickly as possible. Typically it comes somewhere after halfway through. I hit that point in this book at just over 30% complete. The Overstory is fascinating, thought-provoking, and beautifully written.

Powers portrays the insatiable human drive for progress and the devastating impact of our poor environmental stewardship. But he also communicates a nuance that softens the blow, at least for nature lovers: Over the long term, the earth as a whole will be just fine; it’s the humans we need to worry about. As the environment changes, some species will disappear, but others will adapt and new ones will evolve. As a human, it’s all still a bit depressing, though, not knowing how our species will fare.

On the flip side, much of the beauty of humanity is on display in The Overstory as well. Love and sacrifice for others. Determination. Resilience. Integrity. The characters are of course imperfect, but wonderful nonetheless.

I loved all the interesting facts about trees sprinkled throughout the book. It makes me want to go take a botany class, or at least get to know the plants growing in my own backyard a bit better.

The role of technology in the story confused me a bit. I couldn’t quite tell if Powers was critiquing technology as a sorry stand-in form of creation that pales in comparison to what the natural world offers, or if he viewed them as one and the same. The ending in particular, with all its talk of “learners” – clearly a reference to artificial intelligence – surprised me by seeming to imply that technology is a new species of its own. Perhaps my own tendency to be critical of technology clouded my view of what Powers was trying to communicate.

Altogether, it was a fabulous reading experience. I’ll have to see what else Powers has written.