Anyone else having trouble getting into this book?

[JO]

I bought this book at the airport on my way to vacation. I must admit I am not a fan of short stories, I need something longer and meatier to get into. However, I did enjoy some of these stories although they are as depressing as hell for the most part. I get it, the tree story is depressing as hell. I don't need my books to be all light and happiness but this is way too dismal for me. I have not finished it yet and I keep waiting for the disparate stories to be tied together. Not sure that will happen. There are bits and pieces of the stories mentioned in other stories. For now I have put it aside and will get back to it eventually, but should I? Is there more hope in the second part of the book?

[Abby]

I mean, it's very ~literary~ and meditative...I'm not going to say it gets more exciting by the end, but the stories *do* connect in a really satisfying way. I personally loved this book-- you should def give it another chance.

[Susan]

I see a loose parallel in the book's description of the clone aspen forest and the way the book is structured: different trees that sprout from the same root system, hiding their deeper, hidden relationship, and the stories of these people whose apparently disparate lives end up tied to one another.

[Vicki]

I thought it was a brilliant book. It's not a group of short stories; it's characterization and backstory for the main characters - humans and trees both.

If you're looking for a fast paced, engrossing plot you won't find it in this book, although I did find the story to be absorbing. Depressing? Yes. But this IS the world we live in whether we want to face it or not.

[Cathy]

I'm also a fan. It is vital and extremely well written. And while the subject of climate change isn't an uplifting one, it's where we are. Turning off the news doesn't make it go away either.

[Christine]

It takes work to read Powers. That is why I love him. There are so few books out there today that challenge one’s intellect in a good way. That said, I don’t think I was capable of reading him at 20 and am glad I did not try. I probably would not have been back. (Reading a book by Iris Murdoch now that has either one- or five-star reviews on Amazon. There’s much the same “problem” with trying to read HER. And Paul Auster. And ...)

[Kay]

If, like me, you're not a fan of short stories, I think it helps to start with the chapter about Patricia, the young girl who grew up to be a groundbreaking forestry expert. I was just dawdling along till I got to that chapter, but was hooked after reading it.

[Julianna]

This is a read that requires lots of thought , rereading parts and if you are lucky ( like me) a small discussion group. Powers is clearly in a league of his own and worth the effort.
Having said that, his characters serve only to further the message to an extent that is troublesome. The "conversions" of some , notably Olivia, was over the top. Not being a writer I hesitate to suggest ( but I will!) that fewer characters with a little more body would have made it a little less preachy.
Don't miss this one.

[Deborah]

I had a very hard time getting into the story, and also had difficulty keeping track of the many characters. There were some good story lines, but there were times when I found it too long and boring.

[Kathy]

I think I am in the minority but I did not enjoy this book. There were too many characters to keep track of and I found myself not caring about most of them. The story could have been told in fewer pages. I did force myself to finish it and was sorry I wasted so much time on a book that i didn't like.

[Hilary]

I too am finding this book very difficult to engage with.Ican see almost everyone is raving about it and I feel that I should be appreciating it more but ,so far, it's just not gripping me. Some of the descriptive writing of trees and the natural world is beautiful but......How long should I give it?

[Deborah]

I stuck with it because it was the summer read for our book club. On my own I probably would have abandoned it. I did appreciate it a little more after the discussion.

[Heidi]

No doubt of the brilliance, but easy to get lost in the minutiae. Hanging in there for book club.
It’s a challenge .

[Kay]

You can actually treat the first part of the book as a short story collection. Find a chapter you like or a character you can relate to and read the whole thing. Try a few of the others. In the second part of the book, they all begin to converge.

[Carolina]

Kathy wrote: "I think I am in the minority but I did not enjoy this book. There were too many characters to keep track of and I found myself not caring about most of them. The story could have been told in fewer..."

Same here... I love trees and the idea of the book sounded great, but I never connected to any of the characters and I didn't care what happened to any of them. It was a bit repetitive too, great as trees are...

[Farid]

JO wrote: "I bought this book at the airport on my way to vacation. I must admit I am not a fan of short stories, I need something longer and meatier to get into. However, I did enjoy some of these stories al..."

This is not a book of short stories! Just... keep going. Please. You will not regret it.

[Deborah]

It was difficult, but eventually comes together.

[JO]

For those of you who shared good points, I thank you. For those who were condescending and judgmental. No thank you

[Denelda]

Carolina wrote: "Kathy wrote: "I think I am in the minority but I did not enjoy this book. There were too many characters to keep track of and I found myself not caring about most of them. The story could have been..."

JO wrote: "I bought this book at the airport on my way to vacation. I must admit I am not a fan of short stories, I need something longer and meatier to get into. However, I did enjoy some of these stories al..."
I agree. It was a tough read, moving at the speed of wood. It had it's moments, but if it wasn't for a book club assignment, I would have passed.

[Audrey]

This is currently my favorite book ever! I'm reading it again after having loved it in 2019 when I listened to it on Audible. For those having trouble getting into it, I find the audio book version of challenging novels really helps ease the reading. I did that for Milkman too. But after this I read several other brilliant books by Powers and came back to this one after convincing a few friends to join me. He is a genius.

[Jenny]

Yes, the various narrative strands do mesh and actually work as a parallel to the trees. It is the contemporary novel I've read - absolutely brilliant and terrifically sad.

[Mike]

Count me in as one who finds this book brilliant. Environmental fiction (ecofiction) seems to have found its niche with the multi-timeline social relationship narratives, and I think this is the best example of it. That image of the chestnut flipbook is breathtaking. When I first read about this, I hoped it was real. I want to see a 19th century chestnut time lapse so bad!The Overstory

[Jenny]

The format of The overstory ie, different narrative threads coming together is really important as it reflects one of the main points of the book, which is that nature is diverse but interconnected.
Sometimes it really is worth staying with a book and this is an important book to stay with!