The Midcoast: A Novel

 We read Midcoast: A Novel by Adam White for September.  There were mixed reviews from our group.  I had suggested the novel having spent time in Damariscotta, I was interested in the evolution of some of the mid coast Maine working towns and their transformation from visitors from away.  Everything effects everything else.  How does a community and the people who live in it interact from those from away who have a higher standard of living?  Also, what attracts people from away-the rusticity and simplicity becomes transformed when visitors have a need for their place away to be like their home towns and cities. One needs to bring back a souvenir and then there are t-shirt shops.  One needs a latte and then there is a coffee shop dedicated to sophisticated drinks.  And maybe someone didn't pack the right clothing and needs an upscale clothing store.  It is about the eco system of the intersection of different lives, cultures, trades and socio-economic factors.

Someone pointed out that all of the main characters were men and that some of it just didn't seem realistic.  The morality that changed based on relationships with others and what one needed from another was interesting.  Mixed reviews altogether.  

Next month we are reading The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare.  We are meeting at Mindy's on November 17th at 5:30.

The Overstory

 We read The Overstory by Richard Powers in August. This novel which focuses on a story about the relationships between trees and people is long and complex.  We took some time to read it and met to discuss at Chrysanne's.  The Overstory won the Pulitzer Prize in 2019.  Richard Powers created a novel that features not only humans as characters, but trees as well.  He challenges his readers to think about trees as more than plants with their abilities to defy disease and to communicate when distressed: Chestnuts, Maples, Oaks, Redwoods, Mulberry, Bunyan to name a few. Powers brings to life nine or ten main characters whose life stories intersect with their relatedness to trees.  At the same time, he inspires the reader to think about trees and their role in the ecology of our world.  

“This is not our world with trees in it. It's a world of trees, where humans have just arrived.” Richard Powers

Everyone was glad to have read The Overstory.  The writing was lauded as poetic and beautiful.  We read a few passages to one another.  At times, because of the length, it seemed long and sometimes following the characters was a little confusing for us.  

For September, we are reading The Midcoast, A Novel by Adam White.  We will meet at Terry's at 5:30 on September 28th.