Thank you to everyone who joined us live for the Nature Connections Book Club.
For anyone who couldn’t join us, a summary of our discussions and details of our next meetup are below.
Your Thoughts on... The Overstory by Richard Powers.
This was our community’s first dive into a fiction book. We found it to be a thought-provoking and inspiring read. Readers described it as an epic novel, weaving together extraordinary stories about ordinary people and the trees they love. It was an inspirational read and a fascinating blend of the mystical and mundane.
The book opens with part one, called Roots. This section is a collection of short stories introducing our characters and their relationship to trees. We began our book club by exploring and sharing our own ‘tree origin stories’ from our childhood, careers, family relationships, meaningful tattoos and even our names. We reflected on the connection that builds from revisiting a tree over a lifetime or connecting with a tree throughout the seasons. We shared in the wonder and awe that trees can inspire and spoke of the importance of trees in urban settings, schools and gardens in supporting connection with Nature.
This theme of connection was evident throughout each part of this book and called to mind ties to our previous book, Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Throughout the book, Powers connects distances of time through the lifespan of a tree and connects the characters through the interwoven narrative. We discussed how the book connects the reader to Nature and trees by making them characters in their own right. One tree is the sole constant over multiple generations of people, while another is named and becomes a friend to the people who love it. Factual information is also shared throughout the book, and we finished the book reminded of our love of trees.
Activism is present throughout the story, with characters engaging in activism through protest, education and small acts in their own lives. Our group discussed the importance of supporting those who take action and of sending a clear message that we care about Nature. While some characters in the book choose extreme and/or illegal means of activism, others opt for small community movements or efforts to affect policy change. Our group reflected on these different avenues, and the message from the book that everyone has a role to play in fighting for Nature’s rights. One of our key takeaways was that we all need to discover our niche and find a role we are comfortable fulfilling in support of Nature. We finished the book inspired to take action for Nature every day, no matter how small.
Taking Your Book into Nature
This book club is about building a connection to Nature through literature and taking what we’ve read into Nature. The theme of taking action for Nature runs throughout The Overstory. Whether through direct action against deforestation or simple acts of allowing Nature to flourish in a garden, we can each do something to take action for trees and Nature. Before our next session look for ways to connect to your inner activist, find the right role for you and lend your voice, skills or time to Nature.
We can’t thank everyone enough who came along and contributed to this session. If you’d like to join the discussion you can share your thoughts with us at learning@treesisters.org or join our next book club meet-up through the link below.
Our Next Book:
We Will Not Be Saved by Nemonte Nenquimo
Wednesday 23 October at 7pm BST, 2pm EDT & 11am PDT
Tickets are £3 and available now via the button below.
If you know of a great book and would like to suggest it for a future book club, please let us know using our book suggestion form.
Kommentare