The Overstory is divided in four parts. The first
one introduces us, individually, to the entire cast of characters. In the
consecutive parts of the novel their stories unravel and at the same time come
together.
This is not an easy read. It was quite tedious and
repetitive at times in my opinion but the beautiful language (and here I have
to shout out the impressive Spanish translation by Teresa Lanero) and the story
that Powell wanted to tell made me turn the pages. I will be honest and say
that I asked for the Spanish translation for my birthday because I felt very
intimidated by the original text and I’m glad I did because I would’ve probably
dnfed this if I had read it in English.
The Overstory is a thoughtful
novel and it demands from its reader. It is a novel to reflect on our reality.
The trees do not need saving (“As if forests were waiting all these four
hundred million years for us newcomers to come cure them.”) Nature knows best;
she adapts and regenerates. We, humans, need saving instead. We are facing
extinction in the name of progress and comfort and because we believe we won’t
be here to face the consequences of our actions, we kinda don’t give a shit…
why should we worry? And here we prove to ourselves how selfish we are. We have
forgotten we are not the only species in this Earth; we belong to an ecosystem.
We are not alone. We have lost the connection to the very same thing that gave
us life. There is one moment in the book when Nick, one of the characters,
comes across a Native American man. Nick is living in a forest and knows that
he will have to go back to the city soon to buy provisions. He tells so to the
man. The Native American laughs at him and then looks at their surroundings.
Nick doesn’t need to go back to the city; everything he needs to survive is in
the forest. And this is exactly what we have lost and needs restoring.
Rating:8.5/10