502 pages
English language
Published Jan. 7, 2018 by W.W. Norton & Company.
A novel of activism and natural-world power presents interlocking fables about nine remarkable strangers who are summoned in different ways by trees for an ultimate, brutal stand to save the continent's few remaining acres of virgin forest.
Une super saga de l'amérique des 20ieme et 21ieme siècles, avec une place importante donnée aux arbres.
This book pulled me into its world of trees and gutted me. I loved the richly drawn human characters and the stories they and the author tell about and learn from trees. I didn’t love the whiteness of the book, but also the relationship Powers describes between people and trees is a particularly white western one—some sense of indigenous stewardship before the end would have made that less irksome. But the book is beautiful and devastating to read, and I can’t stop thinking about trees.
Content warning Review of the ending
The ending left a lot to be desired but I suppose there’s no way to end a plot that has such high aims.
I liked the message, but is boring and long as Hell
I liked the message, but is boring and long as Hell
I loved this book, but was simultaneously disappointed at the lack of acknowledgement for Native knowledge on the themes of the book.
Best book I’ve read in years. Read it. You won’t regret it.
Warning: like all Richard Powers novels, it’s not light reading. Read it when you have time to savor it and concentrate.
