Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Emblem Editions (2009), Edition: 1st, 376 pages
Description
The eagerly anticipated novel from the bestselling author of A Student of Weather and Garbo Laughs. Harry Boyd, a hard-bitten refugee from failure in Toronto television, has returned to a small radio station in the Canadian North. There, in Yellowknife, in the summer of 1975, he falls in love with a voice on air, though the real woman, Dido Paris, is both a surprise and even more than he imagined. Dido and Harry are part of the cast of eccentric, utterly loveable characters, all transplants from elsewhere, who form an unlikely group at the station. Their loves and longings, their rivalries and entanglements, the stories of their pasts and what brought each of them to the North, form the centre. One summer, on a canoe trip four of them make into the Arctic wilderness (following in the steps of the legendary Englishman John Hornby, who, along with his small party, starved to death in the barrens in 1927), they find the balance of love shifting, much as the balance of power in the North is being changed by the proposed Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline, which threatens to displace Native people from their land. Elizabeth Hay has been compared to Annie Proulx, Alice Hoffman, and Isabel Allende, yet she is uniquely herself. With unforgettable characters, vividly evoked settings, in this new novel, Hay brings to bear her skewering intelligence into the frailties of the human heart and her ability to tell a spellbinding story. Written in gorgeous prose, laced with dark humour, Late Nights on Air is Hay's most seductive and accomplished novel yet. On the shortest night of the year, a golden evening without end, Dido climbed the wooden steps to Pilot's Monument on top of the great Rock that formed the heart of old Yellowknife. In the Netherlands the light was long and gradual too, but more meadowy, more watery, or else hazier, depending on where you were. . . . Here, it was subarctic desert, virtually unpopulated, and the light was uniformly clear. On the road below, a small man in a black beret was bending over his tripod just as her father used to bend over his tape recorder. Her father's voice had become the wallpaper inside her skull, he'd made a home for himself there as improvised and unexpected as these little houses on the side of the Rock -- houses with histories of instability, of changing from gambling den to barber shop to sheet metal shop to private home, and of being moved from one part of town to another since they had no foundations. --From Late Nights On Air… (more)
Media reviews
This book will no doubt be remembered as Hay’s “Yellowknife novel” or even her “radio novel” – it follows the lives of a handful of people running a northern CBC station in the 1970s. The characters’ various hang-ups are magnified and elevated by the lonely vastness....That city crops
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up in many of Hay’s works, through explorations of Canadian history and through what she calls a north-south/hot-cold fixation. But this novel is the first time she explores the territory deeply, as much as she explores the medium of radio deeply. “What actually was on my mind more than Yellowknife was the whole dilemma of shyness,” she says. “For some strange reason, shy people are frequently drawn to radio as a workplace...That effort has culminated in Late Nights on Air, with its adventure, entanglements, and suspense. But the book also has plenty of emotional insight Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member vanedow
I liked this book so much more than I expected to. It was given to me by a friend who wanted to know if it was accurate, since I grew up in Yellowknife, NWT, where the book's events take place. Actually, the book is set in the 1970's, around the time when my parents would have moved to the 'knife.
Hay's narrative style is compelling and insidious. I don't mean that in an entirely good way. Her style does have a certain pompous feel to it that I tend to find in "criticly acclaimed" novels. Early in the story, I kept noticing it and being annoyed. Within a few chapters, however, I was completely involved with her characters. She gets inside your head. Her understanding of character is such that the people in her books feel alive in all their glories and sorrows.
This book really captures frontier feel of Northern life that is close to unique in the last 50 years. I recommend this book for anyone interested in Canada's North, and also for anyone who just loves a well-written tale.
Side note: Late Nights on Air touches on many of the issues of the time, most notably land claims, native rights, and the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline. If you're going to read this book and you're not familiar with these issues, it might be worth hitting wikipedia before you crack open the book.
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I'll have to send the book along to my mom and find out if her descriptions of what the town was like at this time are accurate. I can speak from my own experience that her descriptions of the landscape are both accurate and poetic.Hay's narrative style is compelling and insidious. I don't mean that in an entirely good way. Her style does have a certain pompous feel to it that I tend to find in "criticly acclaimed" novels. Early in the story, I kept noticing it and being annoyed. Within a few chapters, however, I was completely involved with her characters. She gets inside your head. Her understanding of character is such that the people in her books feel alive in all their glories and sorrows.
This book really captures frontier feel of Northern life that is close to unique in the last 50 years. I recommend this book for anyone interested in Canada's North, and also for anyone who just loves a well-written tale.
Side note: Late Nights on Air touches on many of the issues of the time, most notably land claims, native rights, and the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline. If you're going to read this book and you're not familiar with these issues, it might be worth hitting wikipedia before you crack open the book.
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LibraryThing member Bcteagirl
The phrase I would use to describe this book is that it is smoother book. It is slower to get started, you don't feel the need to read large chunks for hours and hours on end, especially at the start. Yet it is an enjoyable and comfortable book. Not heavy reading, not chick lit. It does make you
This is the kind of book it is really fun to be reading when you have a few books on the go at any time. Best read in short bursts. I do think it s a book worth coming back to.
The book centers around a small group working in a small radio station in the NWT. Aside from the people who have been there all their lives, most have come either fleeing something or looking for something. In most cases both. They are trying to find themselves in a landscape that is very different from what they have come from.
The book does a great job of describing the summers of endless light. Since the focus is on the parts where they are outdoors, it tends to rush a bit over the winter. Given how long winter is in the NWT, I would have liked to experience more of that.
The book really takes off once they start planning a canoe trip to see the remains of Hornby's cabin (He and his crew starved in the Barrens) and I loved reading about the trip. I also loved the references to other books, and growing up with books. I have written down a few titles that I am going to have to add to my ever-growing wishlist.
I think this book is a bit like the north itself. A little bit different, perhaps a little bit slower or more subtle. But definitely very interesting and well worth the trip.
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think, and eventually pulls you in, although it takes a bit longer to get to that point.This is the kind of book it is really fun to be reading when you have a few books on the go at any time. Best read in short bursts. I do think it s a book worth coming back to.
The book centers around a small group working in a small radio station in the NWT. Aside from the people who have been there all their lives, most have come either fleeing something or looking for something. In most cases both. They are trying to find themselves in a landscape that is very different from what they have come from.
The book does a great job of describing the summers of endless light. Since the focus is on the parts where they are outdoors, it tends to rush a bit over the winter. Given how long winter is in the NWT, I would have liked to experience more of that.
The book really takes off once they start planning a canoe trip to see the remains of Hornby's cabin (He and his crew starved in the Barrens) and I loved reading about the trip. I also loved the references to other books, and growing up with books. I have written down a few titles that I am going to have to add to my ever-growing wishlist.
I think this book is a bit like the north itself. A little bit different, perhaps a little bit slower or more subtle. But definitely very interesting and well worth the trip.
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LibraryThing member katylit
I truly enjoyed this book. Elizabeth Hay's writing captured the dichotomy of the Arctic, it's beauty and danger, how fragile the environment is, yet how enduring remnants from the past can be. The characters of the book were as fragile and enduring as their environment. This is a book I will
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definitely be re-reading, one from which I took many quotes. Beautifully written. Show Less
LibraryThing member nursejane
A few thoughts:
I found this book very romantic in a less conventional sense... Reminds me of Joni Mitchell's Case of You song.
You might have to love Canada to love this book (though you may not love this book even if you do love Canada).
Some passages were a little heavy handed... but I think that
I think I'll read everything you ever write from now on, Elizabeth Hay
I found this book very romantic in a less conventional sense... Reminds me of Joni Mitchell's Case of You song.
You might have to love Canada to love this book (though you may not love this book even if you do love Canada).
Some passages were a little heavy handed... but I think that
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this book resonated so deeply with my sense of romance, adventure and Canadianism that I don't care at all.I think I'll read everything you ever write from now on, Elizabeth Hay
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LibraryThing member LynnB
This is the Giller Prize Winner for 2007. It is the story of a group of people, mostly whites from southern Canada, who are working at a Yellowknife radio station in the 1970s. It tells a bit of their past lives and what brought them to the North, and delves into their relationships with each
I liked the sparsely written style of the book. I was very interested in the characters and how they turned out, but wasn't deeply affected by any of them -- even deaths and lost love lacked a sense of poignancy. I think the inordinate amount of overt foreshadowing dulled any sense of shock or surprise I might otherwise have felt.
The background story of the real-life Berger Inquiry into northern development was well done and added a lot of context about attachments to place and to wanting to control your way of life.
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other, and with finding or running away from themselves.I liked the sparsely written style of the book. I was very interested in the characters and how they turned out, but wasn't deeply affected by any of them -- even deaths and lost love lacked a sense of poignancy. I think the inordinate amount of overt foreshadowing dulled any sense of shock or surprise I might otherwise have felt.
The background story of the real-life Berger Inquiry into northern development was well done and added a lot of context about attachments to place and to wanting to control your way of life.
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LibraryThing member porch_reader
I picked this book up when I was in Montreal. It is a Giller Prize Winner and was also on the staff recommendation shelf. It even has a sticker on the front that says, “Le choix d’Heather.” I didn’t meet Heather while I was there (although I did get a recommendation from another employee on
Late Nights on Air captures a few months in the lives of the employees of a small radio station in Northern Canada during the mid-1970s. Each character is unique (quirky, almost) and precisely described. We learn about them through their approach to their work at the radio station, their relationships with each other, and their connections to the natural environment around them. All of the characters have faults and seem to be trying to find themselves. We are provided with an omniscient view of this identity work and get to figure out, along with the characters, who they are and who they are becoming.
The small town of Yellowknife and the wilderness that surrounds it play an important role in the story. The weather patterns of the North – long winter nights followed by endless summer sunlight – affect the characters and infuse the story with a sense of place. The second half of the story takes place during a journey that four of the characters take into the wilderness, and it is in this setting that the characters have the space to figure out who they are.
This book excels as a description of a slice of life. It is not a plot-driven story. In fact, the story itself simply provides a gentle undercurrent that helps us understand the characters better. This works beautifully, except when the plot is pushed to the forefront. There is some extensive foreshadowing of a few of the plot elements, and that felt invasive to me, breaking the flow of the book. But that is a small complaint about this wonderfully written book.
In fact, it is the exquisite writing that is my favorite aspect of this book. The prose is like poetry at times, gentle and rhythmic. There are a thousand phrases that I wish I’d jotted down, but this one, from the first page of the book, will have to suffice:
“In was the beginning of June, the start of the long, golden summer of 1975 when northern light held that little radio station in the large palm of its hand.”
I began this book with no preconceived notions, except that Heather chose this as one of her picks. Perhaps that’s why I was able to settle into it so comfortably and enjoy the portrait that Hay so aptly draws with her words. I felt like I'd discovered a lovely surprise!
Highly recommended!
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that visit), but I like the idea that she thought I would like this book. She was right.Late Nights on Air captures a few months in the lives of the employees of a small radio station in Northern Canada during the mid-1970s. Each character is unique (quirky, almost) and precisely described. We learn about them through their approach to their work at the radio station, their relationships with each other, and their connections to the natural environment around them. All of the characters have faults and seem to be trying to find themselves. We are provided with an omniscient view of this identity work and get to figure out, along with the characters, who they are and who they are becoming.
The small town of Yellowknife and the wilderness that surrounds it play an important role in the story. The weather patterns of the North – long winter nights followed by endless summer sunlight – affect the characters and infuse the story with a sense of place. The second half of the story takes place during a journey that four of the characters take into the wilderness, and it is in this setting that the characters have the space to figure out who they are.
This book excels as a description of a slice of life. It is not a plot-driven story. In fact, the story itself simply provides a gentle undercurrent that helps us understand the characters better. This works beautifully, except when the plot is pushed to the forefront. There is some extensive foreshadowing of a few of the plot elements, and that felt invasive to me, breaking the flow of the book. But that is a small complaint about this wonderfully written book.
In fact, it is the exquisite writing that is my favorite aspect of this book. The prose is like poetry at times, gentle and rhythmic. There are a thousand phrases that I wish I’d jotted down, but this one, from the first page of the book, will have to suffice:
“In was the beginning of June, the start of the long, golden summer of 1975 when northern light held that little radio station in the large palm of its hand.”
I began this book with no preconceived notions, except that Heather chose this as one of her picks. Perhaps that’s why I was able to settle into it so comfortably and enjoy the portrait that Hay so aptly draws with her words. I felt like I'd discovered a lovely surprise!
Highly recommended!
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LibraryThing member polutropos
An odd, frustrating, exhilarating, life-affirming, low-key, thoughtful book. It won the Giller Prize and comes recommended with comparisons to Annie Proulx and Alice Munro. Yet too many times I was considering not finishing it, and some when I felt like throwing it across the room. Hay is masterful
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at creating the atmosphere of the Far North – Yellowknife and the northern barrens. Her portrayal of life in a radio station in 1975 also rings true. However, throughout the first two thirds of the 360-page book I found the central characters unlikable and difficult to care about. The key passage of the book, when the four take a six-week canoeing trip in the northern isolation had me howling, “What a waste,” foreseeing the inevitable end to their trek. But there are also many lovely images and passages. Towards the end of the book a grey, gaunt mangy fox is captured by animal control officers and we are told “the fox had seemed magical to her. A creature from one world passing through another. But he didn’t make it.” Each of the characters can be seen as working on passing through one world to another, usually not making it. The inevitable sadness of relationships is central, with people misunderstanding, missing out, looking the wrong way, “since isn’t it the hardest lesson in the world, learning to appreciate people if you’ve never felt appreciated?” The real life hero of the novel is Justice Thomas Berger who was commissioned by the Canadian government to examine the implications of building a pipeline through the north. Berger, contrary to all cynical expectations of the power of big money and influence, spent three years truly listening to all, going from native village to village, compiled 40,000 pages of testimony, and recommended “no pipeline now, and no pipeline across northern Yukon ever.” It is against the background of Berger’s quiet decency and eventual heroic stand that the plot of the novel unfolds, with lives marked by indecision, lacking ardent drama. The low-key characters seem for much of it plodding and anemic. In the end, though, there are rewards for the reader; the conclusion is quietly satisfying, supporting a reluctant recommendation. Show Less
LibraryThing member sjmccreary
Not at all the kind of book I normally enjoy. This is the story of a group of co-workers at a small radio station in Yellowknife, Northwest Territory, Canada in the mid-1970's. The big issue in the town at the time is whether a gas pipline will be permitted to be built from across the northern
The first half of the book is spent following all these people around - and slowly getting acquainted with each of them and with the town. Then, several of the station employees take a long canoe trip into "The Barrens" - a remote wilderness in the far north - in the summer. I enjoyed that part, since interesting things were happening. The end of the book acts as an epilogue - looking ahead at some of the characters several years in the future. Actually, the best part of the entire book was the many descriptions of the city of Yellowknife, of northern Canada and its native people, the landscape and wildlife, the pace and rhythm of life, and the contrast of short summers with long days and long dark winters.
It's probably a pretty good book, but these long character studies are just beyond me. I loved the descriptions of the place, and I enjoyed the adventure of the canoe trip, but the rest of the book spent listening to people think about their lives and their relationships got real old, real fast, for me.
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tundra bringing fuel to the cities in the south, with native people and environmentalists opposing the big oil companies. The Canadian government is committed to listening to all veiwpoints before making a fair and informed decision about whether to allow the project and so conducts a long series of formal and informal hearings in communities all over the country. The book focuses on the interrelationships within the group as couples form and break-up, and as those new to the business learn about radio from the old-timers. Everyone has come from a different "place" in the past and has different dreams and goals for their future. The first half of the book is spent following all these people around - and slowly getting acquainted with each of them and with the town. Then, several of the station employees take a long canoe trip into "The Barrens" - a remote wilderness in the far north - in the summer. I enjoyed that part, since interesting things were happening. The end of the book acts as an epilogue - looking ahead at some of the characters several years in the future. Actually, the best part of the entire book was the many descriptions of the city of Yellowknife, of northern Canada and its native people, the landscape and wildlife, the pace and rhythm of life, and the contrast of short summers with long days and long dark winters.
It's probably a pretty good book, but these long character studies are just beyond me. I loved the descriptions of the place, and I enjoyed the adventure of the canoe trip, but the rest of the book spent listening to people think about their lives and their relationships got real old, real fast, for me.
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LibraryThing member lit_chick
Having lived in Canada's far North, it was the fact that Late Nights on Air is set in Yellowknife which attracted me to the novel. I was impressed with the authenticity of Hay's portrayal of life beyond the tree line. The characters, all of whom are originally from somewhere other than Yellowknife,
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are original, well-drawn, and memorable. Indeed, the North is not for the faint of heart! Show Less
LibraryThing member AJBraithwaite
This novel is deeply embedded in Canada's north. It conjured up the bleakness, isolation and danger of those distant lands in a convincing and fascinating way. I enjoyed every chapter.
I did find that there was a bit too much foreshadowing, which in the end seemed unjustified, but that's only a
In the end, the story seemed to be about the arbitrary nature of human lives, loves, and losses, as well as the deep impact that one individual can have on those they meet.
I did find that there was a bit too much foreshadowing, which in the end seemed unjustified, but that's only a
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minor quibble. The background detail of disastrous Arctic explorations gave an interesting historical aspect, while the more recent impact of the 1970s Berger inquiry into the Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline was also educational in its recognition of the rights of Canada's aboriginal peoples.In the end, the story seemed to be about the arbitrary nature of human lives, loves, and losses, as well as the deep impact that one individual can have on those they meet.
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LibraryThing member TimBazzett
Where to even begin? Elizabeth Hay's eloquence and utter humanity has nearly struck me dumb. I loved this book, LATE NIGHTS ON AIR, so much that I didn't want it to end.
Canadian writers have fascinated me for years, maybe because I'm always so amazed that many great and well-known authors in Canada
And there is Linden MacIntyre, the award-winning CBC journalist, with his Cape Breton novel trilogy and his lovely memoir of that region, CAUSEWAY. I simply can't understand how those books have not caught on here.
But now here is Elizabeth Hay, who has obviously been around for quite a while now and won some prestigious literary awards, and I am just now discovering her. Or thought I was, until I remembered I had read A STUDENT OF WEATHER some years back, a book I found, sadly, in a remainder bin. (Where I often find some of the very best books.)
LATE NIGHTS ON AIR is a literary gem, written from an omniscient point-of-view with love and care for its several main characters, who have all been turned and polished so that all of their facets and flaws are revealed under the light of careful and appreciative reading. And I did appreciate these fictional folks, make no mistake, all of whom worked at a small Northern Services radio station in Yellowknife, Northwest Territory, an historical settlement on the shore of Great Slave Lake.
First there is Harry, a embittered veteran of radio who peaked early, tried TV and failed, and is now, in his mid-forties, back where he started twenty years before.
The story unfolds in the mid-70s and begins with Harry hearing a voice on his own radio station, a late night radio voice that he hasn't heard before. The voice belongs to Dido Paris, a new hire, a beautiful young woman with a past and indeterminate sexual preferences, who leaves her lasting mark on Harry, as well as on all the other people whose lives she touches.
There is Eleanor Dew, the station's receptionist, who has her own unusual story which includes a brief unconsummated marriage. And Ralph, the station's book reviewer and nature photographer. And Eddie, a Vietnam vet and the station technician, and Harry's rival for Dido's affections.
But the novel's central character is Gwen, young and - mostly - innocent, still groping for her proper place in life, looking for a start in radio. Under Harry's guidance and Eleanor's friendship she gradually grows from a frightened young broadcaster into a confident and inventive late night radio personality with her own persona, 'Stella Round.'
Also key to the novel's forward impetus is the story of the Canadian explorer of the Barrens, John Hornby. Harry, Eleanor, Gwen and Ralph are all so fascinated by this man's legend and tragic end that they embark on a summer canoe trip retracing Hornby's last journey. (Both Hornby's trip and the retracing of it by this novel's characters made me remember Jon Krakauer's bestseller, INTO THE WILD.) And there is also the subtheme of an ongoing study by a federally appointed judge of the effects a planned pipeline would have on the fragile arctic ecosystem.
LATE NIGHTS ON AIR makes use of both of the most common themes in fiction: 'a new person comes to town' and 'someone goes on a journey.' And they are used and interwoven in a masterful manner. The book is filled with wonderful details that evoked so many memories and associations. The mention of Miles Davis' seminal album, KIND OF BLUE, made me remember my own introduction to that jazz masterpiece, at a remote army base in northern Turkey. The book's very title, and its theme, evoked memories of another more obscure but favorite album, Katy Moffatt's MIDNIGHT RADIO. And the description of the travelers' encounter with a massive herd of migrating caribou brought to mind Mowat's own similar experience in NEVER CRY WOLF.
There is nothing forced or contrived in LATE NIGHTS ON AIR. It has elements of tragedy, humor, and pathos. But what shines through the strongest is its utter humanity. As I said earlier, I wanted the story to go on and on. But its ending, while certainly not a happily-ever-after conventional sort of ending, is richly, deeply, and profoundly satisfying. I loved this book and recommend it highly.
Canadian writers have fascinated me for years, maybe because I'm always so amazed that many great and well-known authors in Canada
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are all but UNknown here in the U.S. I remember discovering the funny and oh-so-human SMITH novels of Paul St Pierre many years ago. And of course there is always Farley Mowat, who is pretty well-known down here in the 48, probably mostly for his memoir, NEVER CRY WOLF. But his other two memoirs, BORN NAKED and AND NO BIRDS SANG are equally good, and they are all but invisible here in this country.And there is Linden MacIntyre, the award-winning CBC journalist, with his Cape Breton novel trilogy and his lovely memoir of that region, CAUSEWAY. I simply can't understand how those books have not caught on here.
But now here is Elizabeth Hay, who has obviously been around for quite a while now and won some prestigious literary awards, and I am just now discovering her. Or thought I was, until I remembered I had read A STUDENT OF WEATHER some years back, a book I found, sadly, in a remainder bin. (Where I often find some of the very best books.)
LATE NIGHTS ON AIR is a literary gem, written from an omniscient point-of-view with love and care for its several main characters, who have all been turned and polished so that all of their facets and flaws are revealed under the light of careful and appreciative reading. And I did appreciate these fictional folks, make no mistake, all of whom worked at a small Northern Services radio station in Yellowknife, Northwest Territory, an historical settlement on the shore of Great Slave Lake.
First there is Harry, a embittered veteran of radio who peaked early, tried TV and failed, and is now, in his mid-forties, back where he started twenty years before.
The story unfolds in the mid-70s and begins with Harry hearing a voice on his own radio station, a late night radio voice that he hasn't heard before. The voice belongs to Dido Paris, a new hire, a beautiful young woman with a past and indeterminate sexual preferences, who leaves her lasting mark on Harry, as well as on all the other people whose lives she touches.
There is Eleanor Dew, the station's receptionist, who has her own unusual story which includes a brief unconsummated marriage. And Ralph, the station's book reviewer and nature photographer. And Eddie, a Vietnam vet and the station technician, and Harry's rival for Dido's affections.
But the novel's central character is Gwen, young and - mostly - innocent, still groping for her proper place in life, looking for a start in radio. Under Harry's guidance and Eleanor's friendship she gradually grows from a frightened young broadcaster into a confident and inventive late night radio personality with her own persona, 'Stella Round.'
Also key to the novel's forward impetus is the story of the Canadian explorer of the Barrens, John Hornby. Harry, Eleanor, Gwen and Ralph are all so fascinated by this man's legend and tragic end that they embark on a summer canoe trip retracing Hornby's last journey. (Both Hornby's trip and the retracing of it by this novel's characters made me remember Jon Krakauer's bestseller, INTO THE WILD.) And there is also the subtheme of an ongoing study by a federally appointed judge of the effects a planned pipeline would have on the fragile arctic ecosystem.
LATE NIGHTS ON AIR makes use of both of the most common themes in fiction: 'a new person comes to town' and 'someone goes on a journey.' And they are used and interwoven in a masterful manner. The book is filled with wonderful details that evoked so many memories and associations. The mention of Miles Davis' seminal album, KIND OF BLUE, made me remember my own introduction to that jazz masterpiece, at a remote army base in northern Turkey. The book's very title, and its theme, evoked memories of another more obscure but favorite album, Katy Moffatt's MIDNIGHT RADIO. And the description of the travelers' encounter with a massive herd of migrating caribou brought to mind Mowat's own similar experience in NEVER CRY WOLF.
There is nothing forced or contrived in LATE NIGHTS ON AIR. It has elements of tragedy, humor, and pathos. But what shines through the strongest is its utter humanity. As I said earlier, I wanted the story to go on and on. But its ending, while certainly not a happily-ever-after conventional sort of ending, is richly, deeply, and profoundly satisfying. I loved this book and recommend it highly.
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LibraryThing member DoraG
Following the intimate interrelationships of a group working at the local radio station in Yellowknife. This book has a placid, easy pacing to it, allowing you to dip your toe in, as it were, to the lives and insights of the characters. I felt compelled to read this book, and thought about it often
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while i wasn't reading it, but I never connected emotionally with anyone. There were two major death incidents that didnt affect me emotionally, nor did I feel any sense of resolution when the book finished. I did however feel that the book was honest, and beautifully written. Show Less
LibraryThing member kateburt
is it possible that this book was marketed to the wrong crowd? that's the only thing i can think of that would explain all the poor reader ratings. this is easily one of my favorites.
LibraryThing member Zara.Garcia.Alvarez
Late Nights on Air
By Elizabeth Hay
The first half of the book sets down the foundation of flawed characters who slowly woo you into the landscape of the North, its isolation, yet the closeness and intimacy of their township, and the realism and authenticity of their unique, yet easily recognizable
The latter half of the novel becomes an expedition into the Barrens of Yellowknife, a lovely, yet detailed and intelligent view of a land rarely visited or seen by man. It weaves Canada’s historical pioneering heroes while documenting the northern wilderness. At the same time, the characters themselves experience the glory of its vastness, abundance, and beauty, while resisting and overcoming its treachery and harshness.
It is a story about journeying, crossing boundaries, and surviving. Not only in the extreme climates of the northern wilderness, but also of the extreme climates of relationship and love. The characters who you come to care for are intelligent, witty, passionate, humbling, and resilient. It’s a beautiful and beautifully written novel.
By Elizabeth Hay
The first half of the book sets down the foundation of flawed characters who slowly woo you into the landscape of the North, its isolation, yet the closeness and intimacy of their township, and the realism and authenticity of their unique, yet easily recognizable
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personalities. They are rich and substantial, lacking stereotype. And their relationships with one another reveal their longings, their failings, and their complexities---especially in the forms of love.The latter half of the novel becomes an expedition into the Barrens of Yellowknife, a lovely, yet detailed and intelligent view of a land rarely visited or seen by man. It weaves Canada’s historical pioneering heroes while documenting the northern wilderness. At the same time, the characters themselves experience the glory of its vastness, abundance, and beauty, while resisting and overcoming its treachery and harshness.
It is a story about journeying, crossing boundaries, and surviving. Not only in the extreme climates of the northern wilderness, but also of the extreme climates of relationship and love. The characters who you come to care for are intelligent, witty, passionate, humbling, and resilient. It’s a beautiful and beautifully written novel.
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LibraryThing member shelion
Great sense of place as well as interesting characters, make this book a delightful read.
LibraryThing member Gail.C.Bull
Hay explores the variety of forms love can take through a group of co-workers at a radio station in 1970's Yellowknife, Canada. Dido is a charismatic beauty who manages to hide the cruel streak in her nature until she takes up with Eddy -- a man who takes pleasure in causing chaos. Gwen is a young,
The subject matter of this book would seem kitchy and even a little predictable in the hands of a less skilled writer, but Hay isn't afraid to show the dark side of love. She makes her readers painfully aware of how finding the person who "completes you" doesn't necessarily mean becoming your best self.
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timid woman whose unnoticed reserves of confidence only show themselves when she falls for Harry, a washed-up radio personality who is so out-of-touch with his own feelings that he isn't even aware of the fact he's falling in love. Eleanor and Ralph work with each other, hardly noticing each other, for years until a summer paddling trip through "the Barrens" -- a land which has claimed countless lives -- makes them amare of how much they care for each other. The subject matter of this book would seem kitchy and even a little predictable in the hands of a less skilled writer, but Hay isn't afraid to show the dark side of love. She makes her readers painfully aware of how finding the person who "completes you" doesn't necessarily mean becoming your best self.
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LibraryThing member Niecierpek
Good, effortless reading. The story revolves around a group of people connected to the CBC radio station in Yellowknife in 1970s, and centers on their relationships. The people come and go, seem transient, don't want to stay there, but the bonds they form there endure.I felt the North was there in
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a bigger capacity than just the background, and not only in terms of nature, even though it was its most prominent role there no doubt; it endured too, but also in the snippets of everyday northern life, native issues and current events like the work of the Berger Commission. Show Less
LibraryThing member HannahHolborn
A character in Elizabeth's book describes good script writing as having simplicity, directness, and intimacy. Late Night on Air achieves all three. Whether we love or hate the main characters by the end of the book, we also know them as well as our own skin. And we know something of the north--its
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timeless fragility, and its ability to both save and destroy those who venture there. Show Less
LibraryThing member sushidog
I loved much of the writing of this book, but it felt unfocused. I kept having the question, who is this book about? Who can I identify with here? So much time was spent with Dido in the beginning and then she disappears. While we feel close to Harry in the first half, by the time we get to the
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camping trip that dominates the second half, he feels more like a supporting character, and Gwen more the centre. It was always shifting underneath me. Show Less
LibraryThing member RobinDawson
Just a wonderful novel – interesting story, powerful setting, solid characters and masterful prose – what’s more to need! It took me to worlds I’ve never known – radio broadcasting, and the deep north of Canada, with interesting strands concerning past explorers of the region, the
As an Australian, much of this was foreign to me – and yet – much of it is similar. We share in common the powerful forces of landscape and climate, complex issues with our indigenous people, and a drive to develop resources that is causing numerous tensions and conflicts.
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indigenous people and the threat posed by a huge oil pipeline.As an Australian, much of this was foreign to me – and yet – much of it is similar. We share in common the powerful forces of landscape and climate, complex issues with our indigenous people, and a drive to develop resources that is causing numerous tensions and conflicts.
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LibraryThing member autumnc
First, I love public broadcasting. The relationships that Hay portrays in this story are REAL, they are so reflective of the actual familial development that happens in a small radio station. Second, I love (the idea) of adventure travel. So traveling with this group on the Barrens was only amazing
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to me. I was wrapped up in this. I absolutely loved it. Show Less
LibraryThing member littlegreycloud
A book about lost love, missed opportunities, wrong turns taken, potential not realized -- and about the chance of getting it right after all. A very lyrical book with many sensory aspects -- and yet, I didn't like it nowhere near as much as I thought I would. Somehow the pane of glass between me
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the reader and the protagonists never shattered. I could appreciate how finely crafted this book was, but something stopped me from caring about the characters (with the possible exception of the poor fox killed for the sake of yet another metaphor). Show Less
LibraryThing member Cecilturtle
Patience is essential to reading this novel. Sluggish, ill-focused and fraught with heavy-handed foreshadowing, it didn't grab my attention at any point and I had a really hard time plodding through it. It was poorly constructed: the main character Dido mysteriously disappeared half-way through the
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novel; the secondary character sort of took over but there was no growth in her relationship with others and the story finishes in a flourish in a desperate attempt to tie all the loose ends. A disappointment. Show Less
LibraryThing member kmaziarz
Harry Boyd, once a successful radio personality, returns to the medium after a disastrous experiment in television. Disgraced, he becomes the acting manager of a radio station in the remote northern Canadian town of Yellowknife, bemoaning all the while the incursion of television into radio’s
The small dramas of the characters’ every day lives play out against the expansive backdrop of the Northwest Territory’s frozen wastes and the larger drama of a potential oil pipeline cutting through the sacred lands of the native peoples of the region. Exquisitely observed are both the awe-inspiring and deadly environment into which Harry, Gwen, Eleanor, and Ralph fling themselves on a weeks-long hiking trip which will prove life-changing to them all, and the more mundane, quotidian details of life in a small town hovering on the edge of both civilization and of modernization.
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territory and protesting the coming of the town’s first television station. Yellowknife itself is a haven for misfits, loners, criminals, and people running away from life; and indeed, all of Harry’s coworkers at the station fit into one or more of those categories, including Harry himself. Smoky-voiced goddess Dido Paris, the station’s newest and most popular newsreader, fled her marriage after an ill-conceived affair with her father-in-law, only to find herself the object of contention between earnest loser Harry and dangerous rogue Eddy, the station’s taciturn engineer. Erudite and eccentric book-reviewer Ralph quietly nurses deep affection for receptionist Eleanor, another refugee from a bad marriage. And awkward ingenue Gwen Symon turns up in Yellowknife almost by accident, drawn north by childhood memories of a radio program about northern explorer John Hornby and her romantic notions of a career in radio, only to find herself stuttering and inarticulate on-air and relegated to the late-night shift when no one is listening.The small dramas of the characters’ every day lives play out against the expansive backdrop of the Northwest Territory’s frozen wastes and the larger drama of a potential oil pipeline cutting through the sacred lands of the native peoples of the region. Exquisitely observed are both the awe-inspiring and deadly environment into which Harry, Gwen, Eleanor, and Ralph fling themselves on a weeks-long hiking trip which will prove life-changing to them all, and the more mundane, quotidian details of life in a small town hovering on the edge of both civilization and of modernization.
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LibraryThing member pinkcollar
The foreshadowing in this book is really clunky and terribly obvious, and for most of the book I felt like I was getting hit over the head with a CanCon stick. The last third of the book, the canoe trip, is better than the rest but still, I can't understand the selection for the Giller.
Subjects
Awards
Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 2009)
Scotiabank Giller Prize (Longlist — 2007)
Libris Award (Winner — 2008)
Ottawa Book Award (Winner — English Fiction — 2008)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2007-09-18
Physical description
376 p.; 5.39 inches
ISBN
0771038127 / 9780771038129
Local notes
Winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize (2007)
Ottawa Book Award (2007)
Ottawa Book Award (2007)