Monday, August 24, 2020

The Overstory, Richard Powers

 

The Overstory by Richard Powers is a book that just has wonderful reviews.

Started: 8/18/2020
Completed: 8/24/2020
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Words for which I sought help:

breakfast pap -- porridge or oatmeal, South African

Review:

Gotta love any book that references Flatland or The Lord of the Rings, but this has both!  I read Galatea 2.0 before I started keeping this blog, so I had a sense for Powers' prose.  I should have guessed that his bent would lead towards environmentalism, but, for some reason, I thought this would be a science fiction type of book.  It is not.

This book leaves enough for the future that it seems as though a sequel is intended.  On the other hand, it is reasonable that the author would leave this story partly told.  Powers does a good job of weaving together a bunch of people, making them all individuals, and making it clear who is doing the thinking when.  The book is a tapestry of ideas with a wide range of perspectives on what is broadly the same problem.  There is definitely a bias, but that is to be expected from someone who likes to tell a story, not just document lives or occasions.  This was a good read and well worth the time.

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