“There are no individuals in a forest. No separable events.”

“This is what people do — solve their own problems in others' lives.”

The Overstory is a rarity in that it's a modern literary epic; even rarer that it addresses an entirely novel concept (unlike something like The Corrections, which may fulfill the modern epic criteria, but is rather derivative in its themes) and even utilizes a fairly novel organizational structure. Many people love Cloud Atlas, a book that I found to be pretty bad, but what I did appreciate about it was how a grand narrative was stitched together with discrete stories that were "nestled within" one another. The Overstory doesn't do that exactly, but it creates a similar effect by spending about 20% of its length diving exclusively into the backstories of its cast, jumping around in time and place as needed. And Powers does not hesitate to go way back, sometimes centuries, to explore the roots of his characters. Each of the 7 or so characters carries with them a unique perspective that is tied to their family history, trauma, experiences, etc. and Powers thoughtfully recounts them in each individual's chapter. Therefore, the impact of these characters meeting in the second part -- and even the sudden realization ~50 pages in that these powerfully illustrated characters will meet -- is great. 

Powers' prose is absent of poetic pretensions. He writes clear and true, with a stunning balance of empathy and emotional detachment. It's impressive how Powers, who clearly chose a diverse cast purposefully, can write any sort of character from anywhere in the world with seamless authenticity. Something I truly loved is how this novel featured non-traditional featured characters, those with disabilities and non-native English speakers for example, whose appearance didn't seem shoehorned, nor even just thoughtful, but necessary even. Powers is incredibly knowledgeable, probably the writer with the vastest range of knowledge whom I've read, and it's clear from his characterization that he does his research. These random topics that appear in the lives of different people, arboriculture, fishing, psychology, histories of various countries, you name it, are all written about with the confidence an expert teacher may have discussing his subject matter. I felt during this first portion of the novel that Powers can write practically any scene, about any topic, and make it interesting. He has a raw talent for getting to the heart of the matter, then moving on, sometimes to the next logical scene, or sometimes to decades ahead if that's what the plot calls for. His storytelling confidence is remarkable. It's also evident that Powers has done tremendous research going into this book, and that's not even touching on the main motif of the tree, about which Powers seemingly knows everything.

The second portion of the novel, its largest, was the weakest unfortunately. I think Powers' ambition of writing a "thriller-ish" storyline within the novel ultimately hurt him. His backstories were flawlessly carved out, and he did quite well having pairs of characters meet once the timelines converge too (with a few notable complaints which I'll outline). Each character's motivations were logical and it was interesting watching them change as they interacted with one another. But the "action" of the novel, particularly when a key character dies, definitely creates a dramatic tone that betrays the otherwise impassioned stoicism of the book. It's certainly not bad by any means. It's just a jarring transition from the slow, meditative build-up of the first 300 or so pages to be thrown into some action during the protests. The imagery and writing is still good, but the urgent tonal shift is a let down for me. 

And yet, the third portion of the novel, the aftermath of a protest gone wrong, is the strongest. It beautifully ties together the novel's themes, of which there are several strong ones, and provides a satisfying conclusion to its stories and characters. I can't realistically outline everything, but there are four that stood out to me. The first, which is quite clear from the onset, is the acknowledgement of American resourcefulness as told through the immutable story of nature’s cycles. The motif of "cycles," and things changing, or never changing (negatively, from the stubborn human perspective, and positively, from the resilience of the long-living trees), is a point of interest for Powers. Many of the characters' immigrant roots are also highlighted to accentuate it as one of America's great strengths. Powers' nuanced view on trees, while of course being celebratory, is that they can and should be used responsibly by humans. The key word is responsibly, and Powers' deep criticism of people living in our capitalist world is that they are wasteful, not that they are "tree killers" or something. The Overstory is as much of a tree novel as it is a human novel. And while we are infantile in the timeline of trees, we're now inextricably linked with them and our use of them is unavoidable.

Another interesting idea Powers has is the transition of people into tree, not literally, but as a subject of some other superior burgeoning force like AI. Powers uses a character's story, Neelay's, to progress this narrative thread: that science will advance beyond us and supplant us. He also interestingly never interacts with the other characters (although neither does the Brinkman couple).  

Also, the brilliance of the betrayals at the end of the novel highlights the “problem” of our species as Powers attempts to paint it -- our tribalism based on familial relationships and essentially individual feelings is impossible to override (and whether it should is another impossible question). We are programmed to prioritize the people closest to us over the whole species:  “The world is full of welfares that must come even before your own kind.” And for that, we as a species are destined for a short lifespan.

The last bit is that The Overstory is a quietly transgressive work - Dorothy’s suicide, Ray’s rationale for his defense of Adam, and Neelay’s "learners" are all rather contradictory to what's considered acceptable to think or say in our society. Despite containing some logical reasoning. The powerful suicide scene especially (labeled an "unsuicide") is really difficult to think of as anything else but an endorsement from Powers that only the perishing of people will result in the recovery of trees. I found it laudable that he would present such a controversial view in our age of self-censorship and fear of public consequence, even if I could not bring myself to agree with it. Dorothy, the character at the novel's heart, has a beautifully sad character arc and is perhaps the best representative of the trees that our world could ask for. It is her kind of story that expands a reader's consciousness.