If you believe that all things can/ are connected, this is a fantastic story.

This novel will open your eyes, and connect your soul. Connections of your environments, your work/ home. Events & individuals, they work & continually fight around to understand their own souls purpose for this planet we all call home.

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trees and humanities

Intense long listen. Sobering story, intriguing characters and heartbreaking tale of the trees and our time on the planet.

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2 people found this helpful

Wonderful story, narrator performance very good with one exception.

I can’t get past the narrator’s imitation of a deaf person. First off, never heard a deaf person that sounded like that. Second, it doesn’t add anything. When I read a deaf person’s words in my head I don’t use my own “deaf person voice”. It’s different from an East Indian accent for instance. Still I enjoyed the book.

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Profoundly remarkable storytelling necessary for our time

This book weaves together some of the most thoroughly succinct metaphors for the ways in which life currently exists in the world today. It is impossible to come away from this story without some sort of new revelations upon the significance of humans’ place in the scope of life. One of the best writers date, heightened by the wonderful telling performed by Suzanne Toren. Can’t recommend it enough! Thank you.

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2 people found this helpful

This book may change your heart

A beautiful story that may change your heart and mind in many ways. It can put things into a perspective you may have never considered. I think those that leave reviews saying it’s ‘boring’ or ‘tedious’ are just not in the right place in their life for this book. This book is as magnificent as the tree it is made from. When I walk through the forest from here on I will see everything so differently. Thank you for this work of beauty Richard Powers.

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Important perspectives

Richard Powers has written a good and important story, saying many things that need to be said. You should read it. I look forward to reading the author’s next book, which may say similar things in a more concise way that my busy friends might be able to read. A minor point: I would have preferred a reader with less tension in her voice for the audiobook. As a biologist, this story weaves together many of the thoughts I have had while learning about the co-evolutionary history of the tree of life, and learning of the harm that humanity is doing to the atmosphere, the oceans, the soils, and all that life depends upon. It is a great shame that, though humans are the only creature capable of foresight, of seeing that we are charging toward a cliff, this current dominant culture seems incapable of restraint or even shifting direction. Despite all our human abilities, we behave like bacteria, doubling their numbers in a test tube, using all available resources until reaching the inevitable carrying capacity, overshoot and crash. It is a terrible shame that we appear poised to end the age of mammals and take with us the miracles of tigers, whales, bears, wolves, antelope, and other primates. Will some bird, some rats, some cockroaches and mushrooms survive to launch the next evolutionary explosion? Or is this it, and Earth will spiral towards the climate of Venus, incompatible to life? Or could a good story revive the wisdom of other cultures, the knowledge of how to live in balance, of how to take less? Or might a harsher pandemic reduce human numbers back to sustainable levels before the climate hits a tipping point? The world is so beautiful, even now, even as we have experienced the first heat dome and it appears we are over the edge. It is hard to watch the fall, to know that such great change and loss is my and my children’s future. Even now my human brain seeks denial of climate and environmental limitations and hopes that just maybe we will discover another continent or two so we can carry on living as kings, despite what I know of trends and science. We have choices we can still make. Each choice to limit our personal environmental footprint gives a greater wedge of possibility for future life. Could this book help shift our culture? Or is culture so fragmented by self-reinforcing eco chambers that those who most need this message will never hear it?

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4 people found this helpful

The Overstorey

Wow! What a long and crazy story, but the truth, every tree-hugger’s dream filled with love, fear and hope for the future!! I only hope that the people that need to learn this, listen to it all!!

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Astonishing knowledge of trees

Complex storyline in which the author shares their astonishing knowledge about trees, and somehow connects them into our characters’ every day lives.

The author challenges humanity to face our impending doom with eyes wide open.

There is no respite from the awareness that humanity is in the early stages of self-induced annihilation.

I intend to buy a print copy so that I can re-read and better absorb the information.

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A life-changing read

This is perhaps the best - and most spiritual (in a non-religious way) - book I've ever "read" and the narration is exquisite, generously enhancing the story's telling. Initially, I thought I had gotten into a rather copious tome of short stories, a genre of literature to which I normally am not drawn. However, the skillful development of the disparate characters in the first part of the novel (Roots), was both intriguing and engaging, leading to the intertwining of lives in the "Trunk" section. By then, I was hooked and continuously champing at the bit to get back to listening. I have always loved trees, but through The Overstory, I was awakened to a complexity of life that had never occurred to me, despite having a long-held philosophical/spiritual belief in the "oneness" of life. This novel has significantly increased my engagement with the forests along the trails I walk on a daily basis. I must emphasize that it is not a textbook, nor is it "preachy. It is simply a darn good story - rich in character, plot and imagery. I am grateful to have been directed to this book by a friend who had selected it for our book club discussion in September. I think every human being should read it.

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20 people found this helpful

Beautiful, intelligent, and touching

This is a great listen. The writing is beautiful, touching, and intelligent. The performance is very good, Suzanne Toren succeeds in giving each character their own voice, without overdoing it to the degree of annoyance. The story is an important one for our times, and it is written in such a way as to not be overly moralistic or dramatic.

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2 people found this helpful