May 2020: The Overstory (Powers)

Post date: Jun 15, 2020 1:11:27 AM

The shelter in place order may have compelled us to cancel our April meeting, but we seem to have adjusted nicely to the virtual format by May. In fact, seventeen members participated in to our Zoom call on Wednesday, May 6^th. This was a pretty impressive turnout, and we had a numerous regulars in attendance, as well as some new faces. Former regular attendee, Nancy B joined our meeting from Seattle, thus highlighting one of the advantages of meeting on-line. (I am certainly grateful for such silver linings, whenever I spot them these days.) Our selection for the month was Richard Powers’ novel The Overstory.

At times it seemed like The Overstory had too many people in it. It was hard to keep track of the novel’s nine central characters, let alone their numerous relatives, friends and colleagues. However, despite this cast of dozens, The Overstory came across primarily as a tale about trees. For one thing, the main events of the novel occurred during the “Timber Wars” in the Pacific Northwest during the 1980’s and 1990’s, when environmental activists struggled to protect old growth forests from logging. For another, the book was full of fascinating facts about trees. The main characters were all associated with a different species tree, and we learned about these trees while getting to know the characters. Furthermore, the novel itself was structured like a tree, with four main sections labelled “Roots,” “Trunk,” “Crown” and “Seeds.”

The “Roots” section contained eight chapters, which introduced us to our nine main characters, typically including details about their family histories that anchored them in both human and natural history. In the “Trunk” section, the lives of these nine individuals overlapped like concentric circles, some more closely nested than others, to form the central narrative of the book. In the “Crown” section, a traumatic event forced the characters to separate, causing their stories branch off in different directions once more, ensuring only limited and fleeting contact between them. Finally, when the main action of the novel was over, the brief “Seeds” section gave us glimpses into a future that seemed uncertain and intimidating, but which was not without possibilities for renewal and regrowth.

By interweaving these stories of humans and trees, Powers explores questions about perception, meaning, responsibility and survival. The book highlights the damages that humans are causing to the environment that nurtures them. It also introduces us to the sorts of people who are willing to sacrifice their lives and livelihoods to try to halt this damage and to save us from ourselves. In so doing, it invites us to consider why certain people take up such causes. Why do some people form strong moral convictions that are so distinct from the beliefs of the society that surrounds them? Why do some grant moral status to a wider range of individuals and things than others? Are environmentalists delusional, or overly sentimental, when they accord moral status to all forms of life or are they simply able to see certain truths more clearly than most? If the latter, how do they gain this vision? Through an interesting stylistic mix of science and mysticism, Powers suggests that there are more ways of “perceiving” than you might think. Perhaps there is a sense in which trees, forests, and (perhaps even) life itself can perceive and respond to the world, sending messages that attentive humans can receive.

The Overstory has received numerous positive reviews lauding its scope and ambition and recognizing its importance in the growing genre of “climate fiction.” However, it has also received a fair bit of criticism. Covering millennia of evolutionary history, the book’s frequent digressions into the lives of trees expand the narrative to dimensions that dwarf human lives and concerns. This is surely part of Powers’ point, but it sometimes made it difficult to stay emotionally engaged with the book’s nine central characters. This was especially true of some of the more peripheral characters who were never fully integrated into the main plot of the novel. Powers tries to keep the reader engaged by including plenty of action in the central parts of the novel, some of which is quite tragic and violent. Certainly such things happened during the environmental struggles of the past decades, but some find the novel both too high concept and too heavy handed, reading sometimes like an academic lecture and sometimes like a sensationalistic melodrama.

Judging by our book club discussion, I think some of us would agree with these criticisms. People talked about parts of the book that they struggled to get through and parts that left them dissatisfied and confused. Some mentioned that they found the violence in the book troubling and gratuitous and that they bemoaned the fact that so many people in the book met sudden and disturbing ends. However, I think that all of us could also understand why so many people love this book. The natural history in the book is fascinating. The book’s call to action on climate change and environmental destruction is both compelling and timely. Finally, and despite the criticisms just mentioned, there are parts of this book that are quite simply beautifully written, especially in the opening chapters where we meet the main characters. In fact, one of our members commented that the first chapter was one of the best short stories that she had ever read. Thanks to such moments, I suspect there are lessons, images and ideas from this book that we will find ourselves returning to in the months that follow, whether or not we agree with those who call it one of the most important novels of the new century.

In June we are talking about another novel that has made a big impression and that is considered a notable contribution to a growing literary genre. Billed as a cross between The Hunger Games and The Handmaid’s Tale, Noami Alderman’s dystopian novel The Power explores themes of power, gender, culture and society by asking what would happen if young women woke up one day with the ability to incapacitate anyone who threatened to harm them. Yet again, it is a novel with a large cast of central characters, and yet again there is much darkness and violence. It will be interesting to see how we feel these elements tie into this book’s themes, before we (thankfully) turn to some much lighter summer reading!