Then, in a park above a western city after dark, the air is training messages. A woman sits on the ground, leaning against a pine. Its bark presses hard against her back, as hard as life. its needles scent the air and a force hums in the heart of the wood. Her ears tune down to the lowest frequencies. The tree is saying things, in words before words."
- Richard Powers, The Overstory.
The beginning section (Roots) of this Pulitzer Prize winning novel is so entertaining, powerful, and full of universal truths that it might just be the best thing I've ever read. Powers introduces eight different narratives, each one in its own short story and it's one hell of a ride - filled with love and disillusionment and betrayal and random acts of cruel fate. It feels real. The later sections of the book weave the characters together in different ways and so far (I've been reading the rest of the book in slow sips, saving and savoring its taste like a rare scotch) it's still excellent but does pale, just a bit, in comparison with that tour de force of an overture. Pick it up - you wont be disappointed.
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