"The Overstory" a Novel by Richard Powers - For the Guardians of the True Wild Life 🌳 [EN - FR]

[anttn]

Greetings to all !

I have just finished reading Richard Powers's "The Overstory" and I have to say that it has been a while since I was so carried away by a book! Perhaps it was because I read more essays or theoretical books, philosophy or gardening. However, like many I think, my love of literature really came from fiction and not the other way round !

The Overstory is the twelfth novel by American writer Richard Powers, published by Norton on April 3, 2018 and released in French translation on September 6, 2018 by Cherche midi. The novel will receive the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2019.
SOURCE

It's a pretty big book, it's about 740 pages, but it's a smooth read if you stick with it, especially at the beginning. I'm saying this mostly for people who don't read much, I didn't have this problem ^^ But I did have several feedbacks from people who couldn't get past the first hundred pages. I have to admit that the structure is a bit floating, and seems uncertain... But that's just an impression. In the first part, which must be about a third of the book, the author introduces us in turn to characters who are almost not connected by any subject. The only exception is one character, and as you may have guessed, that subject and area is trees. The novel begins like a symphony, with each of the instruments playing a solo. After this first part, whose chapters are visibly separated, the author blurs the lines by passing from one character to another, without any other transition than a line break and a new paragraph. I understand that this can lose some people, but personally, that's what I really like. Getting lost in the structure woven by an author, not necessarily understanding everything when I want to, but letting myself be carried from knot to knot, flexible and understanding little by little where they want to take me...

There are eight main characters, or nine as there is a couple among them. There are four parts : "Roots", "Trunk", "Top" and finally "Seeds".

I have put a picture of the table of contents for you to refer to...

• **Nicholas Hoel grew up in the Midwest. For three generations, his ancestors have photographed a chestnut tree planted by their grandfather, which is one of the only survivors of this plant species. As an adult, he moves to Chicago to study art.
• Mimi Ma is the daughter of a Chinese immigrant, an eccentric information engineer who does not want to be noticed and who plays the "good American". We soon learn that her once-wealthy family had to flee to the United States, particularly through the presence of a scroll depicting meditating monks, which her father says is a priceless treasure. As an adult, Mimi followed in her father's footsteps and became an engineer. This time, the link with trees is mainly made around three jade rings with a tree motif carved into the stone, which she receives - together with her two sisters - as an inheritance.
• Adam Appich comes from a large family. He is a sensitive and discreet child who observes things in depth. He conducts an experiment to observe an anthill but is accused of plagiarism in the competition he enters. His father planted a tree for each of his children, Adam's is a maple tree. Disappointed by this first experience of human betrayal, he begins studying sociology.
• Ray Brinkman and Dorothy Cazaly meet at an amateur theatre session. Their passion for books unites them. He is an intellectual property lawyer and she is a courtroom scriptwriter. Each year they are married, they plant a new species of tree in their garden, which gradually becomes a forest - which all the neighbours will want to see disappear when it becomes too wild for their taste.
• Douglas Pavlicek is a US Army veteran of Polish origin. During a plane crash in his last days in Vietnam, he is saved by a tree that catches him and saves his life, leaving him with only a few broken bones. After becoming aware of deforestation and the futility of replanting to cut down twenty years later, he joined the active struggle of environmental activists.
• Neelay Metha is the son of an Indian immigrant whose father introduced him to computers at a very young age. He shows a devouring interest in this field and following an altercation with his college teacher who has stolen the notebook in which he writes down all his ideas, he falls from the tree in which he had taken refuge. Paralysed from the waist down, this does not prevent him from designing a successful immersive video game. Little by little, he too becomes aware of the fragility of the world that humans have developed at the expense of Nature.
• Patricia Westerford is a shy child, handicapped by a partial deafness that prevents her from expressing herself as she would like. For this reason, her father, a great connoisseur of trees, takes her out of school and she spends her youth following him on the road. She became a tree researcher and after discovering that trees exchange signals and pheromones, the community mocked the results of her study and began a long period of isolation until she was rehabilitated. In particular, it will launch an organisation to preserve the seeds of species that are tending to disappear in the environment abused by the human race.
• Olivia Vandergriff is a dissipated, even borderline, student who spends more time smoking hash than attending classes at the university. One night she is electrocuted and dies, but a higher power brings her back to life. When she returns, she hears voices ordering her to take up the cause of defending trees. It is around her that almost all the other main characters meet.

This novel takes place over several decades, from the childhood of the characters to their old age. The chronological canvas thus goes from the 1960s to the present day, passing through the September 11 attacks and the Occupy Wall Street movement. The structure of the text is completely organic and fluid, like its main subject, trees and the forest as the world's most successful ecosystem. Trees, the best beings that have evolved over millions of years. This is a book in which you learn a lot without it weighing down the story line. This one was originally given to me by my mother who had just read it and of course liked it a lot... It took me more than a year to get into it, a bit out of contradiction, telling myself that if I hadn't decided to read it myself, it wasn't worth it. I was all the more surprised and felt a bit stupid not to have started earlier! Ah, the pride and ego that sometimes makes us think we know everything about everything !... ^^

It's really a book that transported me and I can only recommend it to everyone and in particular to people sensitive to the environment, to Nature and to life in general !

I look forward to your feedback on this article or on other books written by the same author if you have read some of them :)

Have a good weekend, I hope you are all well !

<3

@anttn

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Salutations à tous !

Je viens de terminer la lecture de L’Arbre-Monde de Richard Powers et je dois dire que cela faisait un bon moment qu’un ouvrage ne m’avait emporté à ce point ! Peut-être était-ce parce que je lisais davantage d’essais ou de livres théoriques, de philosophie ou de jardinage. Pourtant, comme beaucoup je crois, mon amour de la littérature est vraiment venu de la fiction et non l’inverse !

L'Arbre-monde (titre original : The Overstory) est le douzième roman de l'écrivain américain Richard Powers, paru aux éditions Norton le 3 avril 2018 et publié dans sa traduction en français le 6 septembre 2018 aux éditions du Cherche midi. Le roman reçoit le prix Pulitzer de la fiction en 2019.
SOURCE

C’est un livre assez conséquent, il fait environ 740 pages, mais la lecture est fluide si l’on s’accroche, surtout au début. Je dis surtout cela pour les gens qui lisent peu, moi je n’ai pas rencontré ce problème ^^ Mais j’ai en effet eu plusieurs retour de gens qui n’on pu dépasser la première centaine de pages. Il faut reconnaître que la structure est un peu flottante, et semble incertaine... Mais ce n’est qu’une impression. Au cours de la première partie qui doit environ faire un tiers du livre, l’auteur nous présente à tour de rôle des personnages qui ne sont presque reliés par aucun sujet. Un seul fait exception et comme vous vous en doutez sûrement, ce sujet et ce domaine-là, ce sont les arbres. Ce roman début donc comme une véritable symphonie avec chacun des instrument qui fait son solo. Après cette première partie, dont les chapitres sont séparés de façon visible, l’auteur brouille les pistes en passant d’un personnage à l’autre, sans autre transition qu’un saut de ligne et d’un nouveau paragraphe. Je comprend que cela puisse en perdre certains, mais personnellement, moi c’est vraiment ce que j’aime. Me perdre dans la structure tissée par un auteur, ne pas forcément tout comprendre lorsque je le voudrais, mais me laisser porter de noeuds en noeuds, souple et comprenant petit à petit là où l’on veux m’emmener...

Les personnages principaux sont au nombre de huit, enfin neuf car il y a un couple parmi eux. Les parties sont au nombre de quatre : « Racines », « Tronc », « Cime » et pour finir « Graines ».

Je vous ai mis une photo de la table des matières pour que vous puissiez vous y référer...

• Nicholas Hoel grandit dans le Midwest. Depuis trois générations, ses ancêtres photographient un châtaignier planté par leur aïeul et qui est un des seul survivant de cette espèce végétale. À l’âge adulte, il part à Chicago pour étudier l’art.
• Mimi Ma est la fille d’un immigré chinois, ingénieur en information un peu excentrique mais qui ne souhaite pas se faire remarquer et qui joue le « bon Américain ». On comprend vite que sa famille autrefois riche à dû fuir aux États-Unis, notamment à travers la présence d’un parchemin représentant des moines en méditation et qui selon son père, est un trésor inestimable. Adulte, Mimi a suivi les traces de son père et elle est devenue ingénieur. Cette fois, le lien avec les arbres est principalement fait autour de trois bagues en jade avec un motif d’arbre sculpté dans la pierre et qu’elle reçoit - avec ses deux sœurs - en héritage.
• Adam Appich est issu d’un fratrie nombreuse. C’est un enfant sensible et discret qui observe les choses avec profondeur. Il réalise un expérience d’observation d’une fourmilière mais au concours auquel il s’est présenté, on l’accuse de plagiat. Son père a planté un arbre pour chacun de ses enfants, celui d’Adam est un érable. Déçu par cette première expérience de la trahison humain, celui débutera des études de sociologie.
• Ray Brinkman et Dorothy Cazaly se rencontrent lors d’une session de théâtre amateur. Leurs passions des livres les uni. Lui est avocat de la propriété intellectuelle et elle est script pour les tribunaux et les dépôts de plaintes. À chacune de leur années de mariage, ils plantes une nouvelles essences d’arbres dans leur jardin qui devient petit à petit un forêt - que tous les voisins voudront voir disparaître lorsque celle-ci deviendra trop sauvage à leur goût
• Douglas Pavlicek est un vétéran de l’armée américaine d’origine polonaise. Au cour d’une chute d’avion, lors d’un de ses derniers jours au Vietnam, il est sauvé par un arbre qui le réceptionne et lui sauve la vie, ne lui laissant que quelques fractures. Après avoir pris conscience de la déforestation et de l’inutilité de replanter pour couper vingt ans plus tard, il rejoindra la lutte active des militants écologistes.
• Neelay Metha est le fils d’un immigré indien que son père initie très jeune à l’informatique. Celui-ci montre un intérêt dévorant pour ce domaine et à la suite d’une altercation qu’avec sa professeur de collège qui lui a dérobé le carnet dans lequel il note toutes ses idées, il tombe de l’arbre dans lequel il s’était réfugié. Paralysé de tout le bas du corps, cela ne l’empêchera pas de concevoir un jeu vidéo immersif à succès. Peu à peu, lui aussi prends conscience de la fragilité du monde que les humains ont développé au détriment de la Nature.
• Patricia Westerford est une enfant timide et handicapé par une surdité partielle qui l’empêche de s’exprimer comme elle le voudrait. Pour cette raison, son père, grand connaisseur des arbres la retire de l’école et elle passe sa jeunesse à suivre ce dernier sur les routes. Elle devient chercheuse liée aux arbres et à la suite de sa découverte d’échanges entre les arbres, via des signaux divers et des phéromones, la communauté raillera les résultats de son étude et commencera une longue période d’isolement jusqu’à ce que celle-ci soit réhabilitée. Elle lancera notamment une organisation de préservation des semences des espèces qui tendent à disparaître dans l’environnement malmené par l’espèce humaine.
• Olivia Vandergriff est une étudiante dissipée, voir assez « border » qui passe plus de temps à fumer du hash qu’à suivre ses cours à l’université. Une nuit elle meurt électrocutée, mais une force supérieure la ramène à la vie. À son retour, dès le début de cette nouvelle vie, elle entends des voix qui lui ordonnent de s’engager pour la défense des arbres. C’est notamment autour d’elle que se constituera la rencontre de presque tous les autres personnages principaux.

Ce roman fleuve et chorale se déroule sur plusieurs décennies, de l’enfance des personnages, jusqu’à un âge avancé pour certains. La toile chronologique va donc des années 60 jusqu’à nos jours en passant par les attentats du 11 septembre et le mouvement Occupy Wall Street. La structure du texte est complètement organique et fluide à l’image de son sujet principal, les arbres et la forêt comme écosystème le plus performant au monde. Les arbres, les meilleurs êtres qui ont évolués sur des millions d’années. C’est un livre au cours duquel on apprend beaucoup de choses sans que cela n’alourdisse la trame de l’histoire. À la base celui-ci m’avait été offert par ma mère qui venait de le lire et l’avait bien entendu beaucoup aimé... J’ai mis plus d’un an avant de m’y mettre, un peu par contradiction, en me disant que si je ne l’avais pas décidé moi-même, cela ne valait pas le coup. J’ai été d’autant plus surpris et me suis senti un peu bête de ne pas m’y être mis plus tôt ! Ah, l’orgueil et l’égo qui parfois nous fait croire que nous savons tout sur tout !... ^^

C'est vraiment un livre qui m'a transporté et je ne peux que le recommander à tous le monde et en particulier aux personnes sensibles à l'environnement, à la Nature et à la vie en général !

Au plaisir d'avoir vos retours sur cet article ou bien sur d'autres livres écris par le même auteur si vous en avez lu certains :)

Bon weekend à tous, j'espère que vous allez bien !

<3

@anttn

Comments

[ligayagardener]

It looks like another 'must read' for my library of books inspired by plants

[anttn]

exactly ! even with a lot of knowledge that revolves around these subjects, I learned quite a lot :)

Have a nice weekend and take care 🌿

[ligayagardener]

You too!

[hindavi]

After you summarized this book feels like a really good book to read but I have a problem with reading.
My eyes get very tired after 20 pages. this happening since I had an operation on both eyes. Before I was like a bookworm. Anyway the summery helped me to understand this book. Something similar I read many years before in my mother tongue Marathi.Thank you for sharing. 🙏

[anttn]

yeah, it was definitely a good one !

Aîe ! that's really not nice, especially if you love that... What was the title of this book you're talking about ? I'm curious !

I imagine you tried audio books ?

[hindavi]

It was a long time before I didn't remember the title but I remember the story about the tree and the people belonging to that tree. In the countryside, the people lived together and had one old tree in that area. . They were very attached to that tree, when they had a problem they go to that tree and ask for blessings, everybody respected that tree like an old adult in the family. They worship it
The people believe the tree is a protector for them. and when the road construction started the tree was in the way the contractor wanted to cut tree. but people gathered they did protest to save the tree. made a protective wall around the tree they don't want the tree chopped. They stayed without food, they didn't go home they slept there only under the tree. But crazy politicians played a game with them and they lost that tree. people were very sad but one old woman find a solution to bring the people out of sadness. She suggests they start planting new trees. And they started planting trees and sowing seeds to get their pleasure back and remember that old tree. where ever they found safe places, so nobody can destroy the trees. It was something like that. When I was working in the hospital for the emergency night watch. Sometimes quiet nights gave me a chance to read something. if I remember the name sure I will late you know.That book I had finished in one sitting that time.
Nowadays I hear audiobooks but mostly in Marathi. Like your language, my Marathi is very special for reading. and it is very hard to translate because many words are not easy to translate in another language. So many books are not available in other languages.

One thing like to ask you as you are a long time here in the hive sometimes when I going to open a new page or refresh the page before my photo comes to the page one red figure appeared with covered eyes. do you know or have any idea about it? what is it?? please give me some guidance. good night. 🙏

[anttn]

Thanks a lot for this summary, it really made me want to find and read this book ! At the moment, I think it's books about trees that I want to read and discover :)

I understand that many particular and specific ideas are attached to words that don't necessarily exist in other languages, that's where you understand the depth of language...

For this figure with eyes covered, could you take a screenshot and send it to me ?... I don't think I've seen it here yet !

I hope your doing well and I wish you a great day dear @hindavi 🌻

[hindavi]

Hi dear, anttn, here is this figure or photo pop out before my page open just flash few seconds i used 4k settings to grab it it also appears to my husbands page also. can you please find out what it is?

[bambukah]

2 things for this bug :Hey @hindavi !

• Update your browser
• Maybe update your graphics card drivers

After this, if you always have this bug, just tell me, I have another solutions :)

(thank you very much @anttn for the mention ;) )

[hindavi]

Hi, @bambukah thank you 🙏very much I will do it thanks a lot. greetings Thanks🙏 Anttn

[anttn]

Thanks a lot :) !

[hindavi]

Hi, @bambukah still the problem didn't go the figure is keep flashing on the page. Even my husband also getting the same. I am sorry to trouble you. just want to know, it doesn't make any problems in the future. Thanks for your attention. regards 🙏

[anttn]

Do you still have access to your pages ?hello @hindavi, I really don't know what it could be !

I mention here two people who surely could know way more than me about this. I hope we'll find out...!

@arcange & @bambukah, auriez-vous des idées à propos de ce bug ci-dessus, j'espère que la mention ne vous dérange pas, mais je suis moi-même désarmé !

[arcange]

Difficile de dire d'où cela peut provenir dans about accès au PC. Il serait plus facile de fournir du support vous un canal Discord.

[hindavi]

Thank you 🙏 for your attention anttn.

[anttn]

@itharagaian c'est ici :) merci beaucoup !

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