This was a difficult book for me to read because i found myself pondering and thinking over so many portions as I read. Sometimes it was a few paragraphs and sometimes it was pages. Nevertheless, there is so much here to internalize that when I finished I realized how much this read meant to me. I really enjoyed it.
All our lives we have planted and nourished trees. One year we planted 1200 and have watched them grow to maturity. Another time we planted 400 which now tower over our heads as we walk among them. A daughter gavoe us a planting of 400 trees in a national forest. It is our hope that 10,000 trees will be planted for us by the time we time.
We have loved wooden products our entire lives and when one member of the family died his children cut saplings to bring into the church for his funeral. He planted many trees and raised Christmas trees so those who wanted live trees could cut from his stands. He replaced them every year with more and more varieties. Look for the term "sustainable" forest on wooden items you purchase.
My childhood was dominated by a huge cottonwood that grew in our farm grove. We loved its shade, its height, its beauty. I don't know if it is still standing but we never cut a tree from that grove when we lived there. In our current home another huge cottonwood looms over the back side of our home. We are certain that it will outlive us and provide shade and beauty for those who follow us.
[book:The Overstory|40180098] unveiled so much about the trees and how they affect people and the earth. If only every individual who cut down a tree would plant two more we would not lose these beauties. Read this book. Ponder its messages. And, do what you can to keep our trees growing. Plant some every year!
All our lives we have planted and nourished trees. One year we planted 1200 and have watched them grow to maturity. Another time we planted 400 which now tower over our heads as we walk among them. A daughter gavoe us a planting of 400 trees in a national forest. It is our hope that 10,000 trees will be planted for us by the time we time.
We have loved wooden products our entire lives and when one member of the family died his children cut saplings to bring into the church for his funeral. He planted many trees and raised Christmas trees so those who wanted live trees could cut from his stands. He replaced them every year with more and more varieties. Look for the term "sustainable" forest on wooden items you purchase.
My childhood was dominated by a huge cottonwood that grew in our farm grove. We loved its shade, its height, its beauty. I don't know if it is still standing but we never cut a tree from that grove when we lived there. In our current home another huge cottonwood looms over the back side of our home. We are certain that it will outlive us and provide shade and beauty for those who follow us.
[book:The Overstory|40180098] unveiled so much about the trees and how they affect people and the earth. If only every individual who cut down a tree would plant two more we would not lose these beauties. Read this book. Ponder its messages. And, do what you can to keep our trees growing. Plant some every year!
One of the best books I've read in a very long time, although while I was reading the first dozen or so chapters, I almost stopped reading. These chapters seem like short stories about trees, when they are actually character sketches to help the reader understand the motivations of the many protagonists in this novel. This book changed the way I think about trees. I am so in love with them that ever since I read the book, I've been sculpting seed pods from clay. What a gift Richard Powers has provided the world.
Richard Power's Pulitzer-winning book is a masterpiece of composition. His writing is pure poetry evoking my literary and philosophical favorites, such as Borges. His topic is one that stirs me -- the incredible diversity, communications, and sheer marvel of trees as well as their role in holding together the web and weave of the environment. So, for writing, Powers achieves a perfect 5. For structure, though, I find this book wanting. I almost abandoned it in the first nine chapters, which, together, are the backstory of the books many characters. And while the remainder of the book is riveting, the characters (excepting the trees) do seem a bit like superheros driven by mystic messages for the great beyond. I am confident movie rights are in its future. So, even though there are a few flaws in this magnificent work of beauty and power,I would read it again and savor it as I have few books.
