Lost in the Barrens

Late Nights on Air
Elizabeth Hay
McClelland

One of the weirder things about coming from the Great White North is the fact that most Canadians (something like 90% of the population) actually live within about 125 miles of the US border.  Globally, we are known as a winter nation and sure -- we do have polar bears, tundra and the midnight sun.  I would be willing to bet, however, that more Canadians have travelled to the Caribbean than to north of 60.  And that is just so damn sad.

Set in Yellowknife in 1975, Late Nights on Air tells the stories of the staff at CFYK -- the local CBC radio station.  Like most radio people, this particular bunch of characters have some definite quirks.  Like the landscape in which it is set, the story is unhurried, stark, beautiful, surprising, unforgiving, and above all else, inevitable.  This was definitely not the best book that I have read all year, but if you have ever been to a northern climate, you will recognize some truths in the writing.

My only criticism of Late Nights on Air is that it seemed, at times, to lack momentum.  I can't decide if Hay's narrative technique was intentional (a loaded word, I know) or happenstance.  Either way, it made for an interesting, if not urgent, read.  Three wandering grizzlies out of five.