Late Nights on Air

I'm reading this for a book club, and not liking all the foreshadowing. Does anyone else have any thoughts about this book?

I read it a few weeks ago, I thought it was well written but not very interesting. There is an extended scene towards the end of the novel which is interesting and well done. I didn't care for the characters, particularly the Dutch woman who got on my nerves. I just couldn't care for the obession the men had for her.I didn't think it was a great novel, competently written but certainly not a favourite of mine.

I found it very disappointing. Sluggish, sloppy... I had to try really hard not to fall asleep. The characters don't evolve; they ebb in and out of the story until the end where the author desperately tries to tie in every loose end; and the foreshadowing is so evident it actually makes you want more.
There were some poetic passages and it does make one want to listen to radio again, but it's not a book I would recommend.

I know so many people who found this book sluggish. What amazes me is that it was a bestseller for a year.
Who was buying the book?

I bought it and read it before it was a bestseller. I'd read two of her books previously, A student of weather and Garbo Laughs, read another one after, Small Change a book of short stories. I agree her books can be slow going at the beginning but they stay with you after finishing.

Maybe it is an age thing? I remember the 1970's very well, listening to the CBC radio every morning about women's issues, and about the north, (both important parts of the novel). I visited Yellowknife in 1998, the Yukon in 1999, Churchill in 2000, (and back to Alaska and Yukon again this year) why? Partly because of those days listening to the radio in the 70's I bet -- and Late Nights on Air takes you back there.

I loved Late Nights on Air very much, but I can see how others wouldn't. I can't think of why I loved it in particular except that I guess I found the story extremely interesting - personal taste type thing, maybe? Also, I was getting ready to be on my way up to the Yukon later that summer and am a freak for the CBC, I guess two things that made me feel personally interested in the story.

I also really love how unrepentantly Canadian the story is. I think Hay truly managed to capture some of the things that I love about our country.