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The Overstory

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The Overstory

Written by: Richard Powers
Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION 2019

SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2018

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A wondrous, exhilarating novel about nine strangers brought together by an unfolding natural catastrophe

An artist inherits a hundred years of photographic portraits, all of the same doomed American chestnut. A hard-partying undergraduate in the late 1980s electrocutes herself, dies, and is sent back into life by creatures of air and light. A hearing- and speech-impaired scientist discovers that trees are communicating with one another. An Air Force crewmember in the Vietnam War is shot out of the sky, then saved by falling into a banyan.

This is the story of these and five other strangers, each summoned in different ways by the natural world, who are brought together in a last stand to save it from catastrophe.

©2018 Richard Powers (P)2018 Random House Audiobooks Genre Fiction Historical Literary Fiction Metaphysical & Visionary Political

Critic Reviews

"Really, just one of the best novels, period." (Ann Patchett)

"The best book I’ve [listened to] in ten years." (Emma Thompson)

"Dazzlingly written." (Robert Macfarlane)
All stars
Most relevant
One of the most beautifully descriptive and well written books that taught me so much. Suzanne is simply superb as the narrator

A must read

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Must read for nature lovers. The writing grows into you! Perfectly narrated. Heaven for botanists!

Full of life!

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Why don’t books like these have more reviews?Unbelievable!

Suzanne Toren made the work of Powers come alive.

Mindbending

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“The best arguments in the world won’t change a person’s mind. The only thing that can do that is a good story.”

"To be human is to confuse a satisfying story with a meaningful one"

"She tries to turn the story on its head. This is not our world with trees in it. It’s a world of trees, where humans have just arrived."


Richard Powers's ambitious story is one of the most profound books you will ever read which is most relevant to mankind and yet not about men. With multiple references in the book as to what the book is trying to achieve - you are left in no-illusion of who the heroes of the book are (despite the 9 human protagonists).

The overwhelming thoughts when the book ends is that "Where did we as a species go wrong?" and a heigtened sense of awareness to the general green you see (or don't see) around you.

The first section called Roots - introduces each character in the backdrop of specific trees you will not forget. Some through stories that span generations till we arrive at the protagonist. For the trees, human years do not matter. Each character has a unique background and different motivations which bring different perspectives on love for trees (or hatred towards agents of deforestation).

In concentric manner, these characters come together in various combinations and the shoots, fruits and seeds spread. I kept recalling images of the Ent Meet from LOTR and the Chipko movement lesson in class

The book toys with a lot of interesting ideas, symbols and motifs steeped in science and man-made systems.
- One of the characters, an Intellectual Property lawyer tries to answer if trees have rights and why they should be considered as beings
- An online game called Mastery on conquering the virtual world toying with the idea of making resources limited and make conservation a survival strategy
- Recurring motifs of characters contemplating suicide in various contexts. Couldn't help relating to the human species way of life
- The pshycology of the bystander effect and group think. Apathy to the environment and radical thinking explained
- Trees communicating with each other to help the species survive

The layered narrative (to put it lightly) gets heavier but not entirely pointless. Could there have been any other way than villifying humans? Could there have been more joy in victory or more pain in failure? Maybe, but then would not have been what it is - where humans fade away into the background despite them being in every frame.

A commendable saga which will change you a bit.

A saga for our times

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This is a very well structured novel. The author shows a depth in the topic. The characters have a very good arc throughout the story. The story is very well knit and takes you through the journey of each character. It is a long read and will pretty much take half the book to understand how the story ties together. 

Good plotline

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