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The Overstory by Richard Powers is an incredible read. It's a story about trees and humans -- and how they are connected in untold ways. The writing is truly fantastic and you learn a massive amount about the magic of trees and forests along the way.

For anyone who likes trees, FYI Richard Powers's latest -- "The Overstory: A Novel" -- is a Pulitzer-winning, beautifully-written, moving and powerful novel that features trees and forests... it's like nothing else I've ever read. Highly recommended.

Tangent: all you tree-loving readers should pick up Richard Powers's latest, "The Overstory: A Novel". It's beautifully written (deservedly won the 2019 Pulitzer), and is all about trees.

Charlie Kaufman is a perfect writer for the age. We live in a very self-absorbed time. An antidote might be The Overstory by Richard Powers. Humans are only one piece of the puzzle of life.

Currently reading The Overstory which seems like a great compliment to this.

Reading The Overstory right now, which is a Man Booker winning fictional exploration into the survival mechanisms? consciousness? endangered status? of forests.

Edit: I read the title as “fractured forests are endangered wildlife”... which goes to show what this book has me thinking about.

I've pretty much taken to automatically buying any book anyone recommends on HN[1]. So far it's lead me to a few interesting books I wouldn't have read, for example The Overstory is the most recent one.

[1] Within reason.

I recently finished reading The Overstory. I thought it was pretty interesting. It got me interested in video game programming (as did reading Ready Player One).

I was unfamiliar with the chestnut debacle until I read The Overstory - I immediately put the book down and went to read about chestnuts being wiped out in droves.

I have experienced a similar dip in the level of, uh, retention and engagement that books can elicit from me. Recently I kind of feel it turning around, and there seem to be two main causes: using time on airplanes to get deep into a book, and intentionally seeking out books that would suit my taste.

The airplane thing is a small one and may or may not suit your lifestyle. But the bigger thing is that as a child or a teen, everything is new to you. There are some books that are just about guaranteed to suck you in and expand your worldview if you've never encountered them before. They are the low-hanging-fruit curriculum books that just about anyone will benefit from. Once you've exhausted the Catch-22s, the Mark Twains, the Tolkiens or Austens or Heinleins of the world, you'll have to spend more effort to find books that really resonate with you.

For me, this meant following sites like The Baffler and Electric Literature. I hope if you figure out where online people are reviewing and promoting the books you enjoy, you'll find yourself funneled toward books that are capable of drawing you in again.

As a concrete recommendation, I just finished The Overstory by Richard Wright, which won the Pulitzer Prize in fiction this year, and absolutely could not put it down.

I will admit I never expected to open the front page of HN in 2021 and read a comment about someone who had read The Overstory. Richard Powers is the preeminent American novelist of our time. With respect to all his works, HN types will especially enjoy Plowing the Dark and Galatea 2.2.

There is no better way to dig deep into the effects of modern technology on society than to read Richard Powers. It is no exaggeration to say that reading Powers fundamentally changed the course of my life. Reading his work is absolutely worth your time.