A very Late review

Alright, so I finally finished Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay. Giller Prize winner, don'tcha know. As this is the first Giller Prize-winning book I've read, I can't say conclusively that it deserved to win. What I can say is that I can understand why it would win. It is a fantastic book.

Set in Yellowknife in 1975, Late Nights focuses on a radio station and the various people who work there, as well as the surrounding community. Harry had a failed television career and has returned to what he knows best. Dido was discovered off the street and immediately enraptures Harry, but Dido loves Eddy. Gwen drove across the country to try her hand at something she has always loved and slowly blossoms. Eleanor keeps things running smoothly as the station secretary. Ralph also works at the station and adds a debonair, educated air to the book. Mrs. Dargabble makes for an interesting neighbour, as she has her own secrets. As the characters' lives intertwine, you feel like you are watching any small town simply be.

It did take me awhile to get through this book, mainly because I never felt rushed. Even though there were plenty of times I wanted to know what would happen, I never had that sense of urgency to finish it. I find this is mainly due to Hay's way of writing and of creating a story that is calm and peaceful and almost quiet in the way it engages the reader. (Does that last part even make sense? I don't even know, but it's how I feel. So there.) Perhaps that is the main reason I like the book - by creating a story and characters that are so calm, Hay made me feel like these could be real people, real lives, real situations. Given, parts of the canoe trip felt a little far-fetched, but I've never canoed any great distance, so what do I know? Still, all the characters were flawed in real ways and all struggled to find what was right. And there was no rush to reveal all about the characters either; they continued to develop well into the book and still had a few surprises even towards the end.

Hay also managed something that quite impresses me for a Canadian author: she was able to write about small-town/wilderness life without coming across as "man vs. nature in a BATTLE TO THE DEATH" kind of way. In fact, Yellowknife became another character, moving and changing with the seasons and with the characters as they moved and changed through their lives. And when four of them set off on their canoe trip through the Barrens, the wilderness never felt oppressive or monstrous; rather, it was painted as beautiful and perhaps misunderstood, as alive and thriving and finicky as any living thing.

I think the best books are the ones that seem to be a snapshot of those involved, a slice out of their lives. You know more came before - and you may learn some or even most of it - and you know more will come after - and much could be hinted at what this will be - but what you are given stands alone as a whole, but you can still imagine it between this beginning and this end. Late Nights on Air is just like this.