Appreciation post: That overhyped literary novel everyone argued about

I was super skeptical when my book club picked 'The Overstory' by Richard Powers last month... 600 pages about trees felt like a punishment. But after 150 pages I was completely hooked, the way he weaves all those separate stories together really got me. Has anyone else here had a book they fought against reading and then ended up loving?

3 comments

3 Comments

henry15013h ago

Saw an interview where Powers said it took him a decade to write, and honestly that makes sense.

the_rowan18h ago

Look, I forced myself through the first 200 pages of that book and honestly I don't get the hype. The tree stuff was interesting for maybe 50 pages, then it felt like I was reading a nature documentary script that someone stretched into a novel. All those separate stories felt forced together, like the author had a checklist of "quirky characters who love trees" and just checked them off one by one. The writing was pretty but I kept waiting for a point that never really came. By the end I was just glad it was over, not moved or changed or whatever people claim. I don't get how people call it a masterpiece, felt more like a long nap to me.

david_palmer17h ago

Honestly, you're braver than me for lasting 200 pages. I bailed after 50. Felt like trying to hug a tree through a glass wall, pretty but distant.