Powers’ twelfth novel explores the connections between trees and human beings. It focuses on activists seeking to preserve the remnants of old-growth forests, and it vividly describes the mercenary ways in which human beings have turned trees into a broad range of commodities, showing little regard for preserving the eco-systems that have both allowed the development of magnificent forests and have turned those forests into rich habitats for all sorts of other plant, insect, and animal species.
But the novel is not simply focused on such activism. There are nine main characters, and only six of those characters are directly engaged in activism, and those six characters have not all been committed to the cause as intensely or as long. So, the novel is unusual in its mix of elements. While
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Citation: Kich, Martin. "The Overstory". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 May 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=41606, accessed 23 November 2024.]
