The Tree Sitter
Suzanne Matson
(Reviewer - Coletta Ollerer)
2005 W. W. Norton & Co
ISBN: 0393060462

A college junior leaves her tidy life for the Oregon forest to live in the branches of an ancient Douglas fir.

Associate Reviewer Coletta Ollerer writes:

Julie Prince, a girl from a well-to-do & highly achieving family, meets Neil & finds herself enchanted. Observing him at a party she noticed “the tilt of his head when he listened, the way he'd cock an eyebrow skeptically, the silent nodding he;d do through someone's point when you could tell he'd already anticipated what they were going to say. I could see he was smart.” (p.18) Neil is a dedicated environmentalist. His graduate studies look as if they will lead to a life in higher echelons of the halls of environmental academia. She has finished her third year at Wellesley & agrees to go when he suggests they spend the summer in the endangered forests of Oregon with a group of activists. “I began to want the forest the way I wanted Neil -- its dampness, sharp smell, furred outline, protective arms, and softly breathing dark. . . I agreed to go.” (p.28)

They trek into the deep forest to meet the others. The trail was confusing but they went forward & came across a deer who stopped & stared at them, then moved on. “We kept our part of the silence around us, and when we went forward into the space the deer had emptied, I imagined I was stepping into her neutral calm, her peace. And so began my bargain with the woods.” (p.58)

They agreed to tree-sit, that is, to occupy a platform in suspension ten stories from the forest floor close to the trunk of the tree itself. This was in rebellion against those who would cut the very old growth tree down. “I felt perfectly safe, as long as I lay stretched out between Neil and the tree trunk, and I was lulled by a swaying sensation, perhaps imagined.” (p.87) She was scared at first but she found that she loved it. Sometime during their stay in the tree the tree cutters began to shout & swear at them. They were warned that it was unsafe to remain in the tree longer as the loggers would cut trees around them & they might get hurt. Julie became angry then at the intruders. “I did know rage suddenly played a role in what I believed. I had met the enemy.” (p.130)

The thought of returning to city life seems repugnant to Julie “the pavements, the sidewalks and traffic.” (p.137) She loved the “ever-present undervoices of the woods, its hoots and whistles, rustling and high-pitched cries... How to describe how the air and light seemed to permeate my cells, the oxygen sparkling there, my neurons relaxing away from unnatural electric light at unnatural hours.” (p.138)

The euphoria fades as she sees Neil becoming interested in the more extreme reactions to loggers & a society which seems uninterested in his agenda for reform. She finds it necessary to take a closer look at what she has become involved in.

I enjoyed this foray into the lives of environmental activists & began to understand their dedication. Their camp in the woods has its charms & it's easy to see how one would become enchanted with the natural surroundings & the comraderie of those who occupy that life style. Suzanne Matson's writing gifts take us right into the events. She's an exceptional novelist & the story moves along swiftly & with great energy. A pleasurable read.

More from Suzanne Matson: The Hunger Moon & A Trick of Nature & more.
(05/21/06)

Coletta
2006©Coletta Ollerer
A RebeccasReads.Com Associate Reviewer

Reviewer's Bio:
I have always enjoyed writing. As a teenager I submitted to magazines like Seventeen, & was politely rejected. As a young mother, I had several poems published in The Chicago Tribune. Born in Chicago in 1932, I still live in the area. Since I retired, I have had some success on the Internet with my book reviews, stories & poetry. I enjoy historical fiction mostly, but will read anything uplifting, informative & fun. When I'm not reading & writing, I'm making jewelry, sewing needlepoint, & painting.