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newson66's review against another edition
2.0
As disappointingly bland and beige as a lifetime spent trapped inside of a humdrum Midlands Today filler story.
bethtmorris's review against another edition
3.0
"Good read" but not as good as her first book. She does an amazing job of balancing humor with sadness. The concept of aging and legacy were interesting but this story just didn't hook me like the first one did.
blodeuedd's review against another edition
4.0
Catherine O'Flynn is a great writer, she transforms small things into a good piece of fiction. Nothing major happened, but there was great writing, and I do like great writing.
This is the story about Frank, a news anchor who has been in the business for 20 years. He likes where he is and never wanted to be bigger. He is also a joke, a man famous for bad one-liners. Something that he inherited from his mentor and friend, but he never did get them right. Now Phil is dead, in a strange accident. And Frank is left with his strange hobby as his wife calls is, going to funerals of people who had no one else coming.
Frank is a good guy, he likes his job (ok not the crap jokes), but he is a solid guy. He loves his wife and cute little daughter. And he searches for lost relatives for those people who have died without any family showing up. His mum seems constantly depressed, but he visits her. But there is something sad over him, perhaps cos if his search through out the book. But that will change too.
The book uses flashbacks to show some clues, Michaels past (the guy whose relatives he is trying to find), some moments from Phil's past, before his death and earlier, and lastly Frank's past. His dad who was always working and his mum who had good and bad days.
Life in general, and a search for that which is lost is what this book is about. From people gone, to his dad's buildings being torn down to make new for new ones. And the last sentence of the book tells you everything:
"Our absence is what remains of us."
It's beautiful and sad at the same time.
She has a way of telling is straight, but there is also a subtle humour in this book. A strange book, and a completely normal book at the same time. What I am left with is that she writes great fiction, easy fiction, and fiction that should be noticed.
Final thoughts: I do like my genres, and sometimes I need an author who can write beautiful prose, saying a lot, or saying nothing, and she is good. I sometimes like books cos of the story, sometimes for the written word, and this time it was the latter.
This is the story about Frank, a news anchor who has been in the business for 20 years. He likes where he is and never wanted to be bigger. He is also a joke, a man famous for bad one-liners. Something that he inherited from his mentor and friend, but he never did get them right. Now Phil is dead, in a strange accident. And Frank is left with his strange hobby as his wife calls is, going to funerals of people who had no one else coming.
Frank is a good guy, he likes his job (ok not the crap jokes), but he is a solid guy. He loves his wife and cute little daughter. And he searches for lost relatives for those people who have died without any family showing up. His mum seems constantly depressed, but he visits her. But there is something sad over him, perhaps cos if his search through out the book. But that will change too.
The book uses flashbacks to show some clues, Michaels past (the guy whose relatives he is trying to find), some moments from Phil's past, before his death and earlier, and lastly Frank's past. His dad who was always working and his mum who had good and bad days.
Life in general, and a search for that which is lost is what this book is about. From people gone, to his dad's buildings being torn down to make new for new ones. And the last sentence of the book tells you everything:
"Our absence is what remains of us."
It's beautiful and sad at the same time.
She has a way of telling is straight, but there is also a subtle humour in this book. A strange book, and a completely normal book at the same time. What I am left with is that she writes great fiction, easy fiction, and fiction that should be noticed.
Final thoughts: I do like my genres, and sometimes I need an author who can write beautiful prose, saying a lot, or saying nothing, and she is good. I sometimes like books cos of the story, sometimes for the written word, and this time it was the latter.
kaylielongley's review against another edition
4.0
The News Where You Are starts and ends with death. These events shape life, and the necessity of ending causes some to become bitter. Some long for the past while others cling to the present. O'Flynn delivers a surprisingly engrossing and tender novel about very real people as they explore these subjects. Themes like longing and lost span each page, but O'Flynn's grace in telling each character's story is remarkable.
After Frank's beloved friend and former predecessor Phil is mysteriously killed in a hit and run accident, Frank becomes obsessed with death. Both Phil and Frank are (were) small-town television anchors. 25+ years Frank's senior, Phil is liked by everyone, corny jokes and all. His existence is just below the surface, due to hair dye and face lifts. Yet Phil always feared the future, and his passing shocks many. As Frank continues to deliver increasingly depressing stories, he starts to explore the passing of the lesser folk: those who have died without any kin, those left to the wind after a 30-second spot on air. One particular case of Michael Church becomes a mystery after he's found dead at a park bench, cold and alone. Frank finds a connection between Michael and Phil, they are lifelong friends from their time serving in the war. Before Phil's passing, they lost contact. Such abandonment of friendship makes little sense, so Frank digs deeper into the past. On his quest, he meets a variety of individuals, including Phil's much-younger widowed wife, Michelle, who hosts an awful reality show. Through Michelle and Mikey's friends, we learn about the feelings of uselessness that can come with age.
Meanwhile, Frank struggles to understand his parents. Interlaced with the present-day chapters are Frank's recollections of his younger self, Francis. When he was a child, his father was an architect and rarely spent time with his family. While Frank is absorbed with the past, his father always looked to the future. His buildings represented a legacy, but after he dies, all but one of his buildings are destroyed, to make room for casinos and the hubris of the present. While Frank is filled with sentimentality, his mother's melancholia shows a different perspective. As a child, she had "orange days" with laughter and imagination and "purple days" with silence and nothingness. Her depression extends into adulthood. Placed in a backdrop of ever-changing Birmingham, England, these differences in character are sharp and reflect their city, but the changes in tense are sometimes unfocused.
Though this novel may seem to be simply about the comings and goings of a handful of people, it delves deep. O'Flynn truly respects each character, as well as the novel's landscape, so she takes time to develop the book. Some may find the pacing slow at times, but each character feels real. I'd read an entire book from the perspective of Frank's 8-year-old daughter, Mo. Mo is always eager to research, unintentionally crack a joke, and has so much fire. Overall, by exploring the everyday, The News Where You Are carefully mixes humor, retrospection, and despondency, and it reminds readers that both nostalgia and progressive-thinking pervade and distract from the present.
After Frank's beloved friend and former predecessor Phil is mysteriously killed in a hit and run accident, Frank becomes obsessed with death. Both Phil and Frank are (were) small-town television anchors. 25+ years Frank's senior, Phil is liked by everyone, corny jokes and all. His existence is just below the surface, due to hair dye and face lifts. Yet Phil always feared the future, and his passing shocks many. As Frank continues to deliver increasingly depressing stories, he starts to explore the passing of the lesser folk: those who have died without any kin, those left to the wind after a 30-second spot on air. One particular case of Michael Church becomes a mystery after he's found dead at a park bench, cold and alone. Frank finds a connection between Michael and Phil, they are lifelong friends from their time serving in the war. Before Phil's passing, they lost contact. Such abandonment of friendship makes little sense, so Frank digs deeper into the past. On his quest, he meets a variety of individuals, including Phil's much-younger widowed wife, Michelle, who hosts an awful reality show. Through Michelle and Mikey's friends, we learn about the feelings of uselessness that can come with age.
Meanwhile, Frank struggles to understand his parents. Interlaced with the present-day chapters are Frank's recollections of his younger self, Francis. When he was a child, his father was an architect and rarely spent time with his family. While Frank is absorbed with the past, his father always looked to the future. His buildings represented a legacy, but after he dies, all but one of his buildings are destroyed, to make room for casinos and the hubris of the present. While Frank is filled with sentimentality, his mother's melancholia shows a different perspective. As a child, she had "orange days" with laughter and imagination and "purple days" with silence and nothingness. Her depression extends into adulthood. Placed in a backdrop of ever-changing Birmingham, England, these differences in character are sharp and reflect their city, but the changes in tense are sometimes unfocused.
Though this novel may seem to be simply about the comings and goings of a handful of people, it delves deep. O'Flynn truly respects each character, as well as the novel's landscape, so she takes time to develop the book. Some may find the pacing slow at times, but each character feels real. I'd read an entire book from the perspective of Frank's 8-year-old daughter, Mo. Mo is always eager to research, unintentionally crack a joke, and has so much fire. Overall, by exploring the everyday, The News Where You Are carefully mixes humor, retrospection, and despondency, and it reminds readers that both nostalgia and progressive-thinking pervade and distract from the present.
lm_henderson's review
4.0
I had no idea what to expect from this book about a regional newsreader but I loved it.Nothing huge actually happens in the story but it is a really good read.I loved the character of Frank & got a real feel of how much he loves his family & how much it mattered to him that people are remembered no matter who they are .
mrsfligs's review against another edition
4.0
I was a big fan of O'Flynn's debut novel, What Was Lost, so I eagerly anticipated her second novel. Although not quite as satisfying as What Was Lost, The News Where You Are was a thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying read--combining humor with affecting examinations into the nature of loss.
Loss is a major theme in this book, as it was with her first novel. In this book, our "hero" Frank Allcroft is dealing with loss on all sorts of levels--the loss of his architect father's buildings (which are being knocked down one by one) and the loss of his friend and colleague Phil (who died in a never solved hit-and-run accident). As he shuffles through life, shackled with his corny on-air persona and a gentle loserish air he can't seem to shed (even with his own wife), Frank decides to investigate Phil's death on his own--seeking answers about why the vibrant and successful Phil made some strange phone calls to Frank shortly before his death and the connection between Phil and an elderly man found dead on park bench. Interspersed with this storyline is Frank's memories of his childhood--populated by his workaholic father and unhappy mother. As his father's buildings are demolished one by one, Frank realizes he must come to terms with his own past if he is to have a rewarding future.
As in What Was Lost, buildings and the physical surroundings of Birmingham play a large part in the story--becoming almost characters themselves. Like the Green Oaks Shopping Center in What Was Lost, buildings, new subdivisions and the assisted-living center become part of the story--given as much attention by O'Flynn as her human characters. O'Flynn tends to anthropomorphize cities, buildings and houses--imbuing them with meaning and personalities. I personally enjoy this aspect of O'Flynn's books; it makes for interesting reading.
"That's what I liked about this city."
"What? That it's crap and everything fails?"
"No. That it has these ridiculous dreams, that it always tries to reinvent itself, to be the city of the future, but then always changes its minds about what the future should be. I love the little glimpses you catch of the old dreams, the old ideas of what Utopia should be. I think if you get rid of the, no matter how embarrassing or naive they are, then you lose something essential about the place."
I think O'Flynn's greatest talent lies in the way she is able to capture with pinpoint accuracy and humor all the little foibles and interior conversations we all have with ourselves but rarely share. I saw so much of myself in Frank as I read--from his need to be polite causing him to be enmeshed in unwanted relationships to his sense of doubt in his own abilities. Consider this excerpt:
The motorway was quiet, but he stayed in the slow lane tucked behind a beaten-up van traveling at fifty. Frank secretly held a strong suspicion that he should not be in charge of a vehicle after dark. On city streets all was fine, but on country lanes or unlit stretches of motorway he was alarmed at the sullen lack of communication between his eyes and his brain. Something had gone wrong between them in the last year or two and now the brain would periodically choose to ignore or willfully misinterpret visual input. The familiar patterns of taillights, road signs and oncoming headlights had broken down into free-form floating abstract projections through which Frank hurtled wide-eyed on leather upholstery. At times he mistook the retreating taillights of the car ahead for headlights coming toward him, at others he would mistake reflections on his side window for vehicles swerving into his lane. His progress along a deserted stretch of motorway was often punctured by sudden braking at phantom hazards on the road ahead.
When I read this paragraph, I was smiling to myself as it is a perfect description of my own night driving. (And, if I'm completely honest, occasionally my day-time driving.) I'm forever mistaking leaves blowing across the road for squirrels and braking suddenly. I've hallucinated deer darting in front of the car that were merely shadows. O'Flynn is a master of this type of detail, and I think that is what makes her characters so believable and relatable.
Although the story has sad and dark undertones, O'Flynn never wallows in it or allows it to become overpowering. When Frank remembers his childhood, he describes his mother as having purple days and orange days.
On purple days, his mother pulls plants up in the garden, she looks out the window at nothing in particular for impossibly long stretches and speaks to her sister in a low voice on the telephone for hours. Sometimes she is cross at Francis, while at others, she doesn't seem to notice he's there at all.
On orange days she tells stories, she invents games, she takes Francis on expeditions and most of all she makes him laugh.
It is obvious his mother is suffering from severe depression, yet when Frank visits her in the assisted-living center, her unrelenting Eyeore-like gloom and refusal to admit to any type of pleasure becomes comical.
But the brightest light in this book is Mo, Frank's daughter. O'Flynn has a gift for writing children, and I would love to see her write an entire books from a child's point of view. (In What Was Lost, the parts with Kate were so endearing and charming that the whole book dimmed when she wasn't in it.) I also enjoyed the sections when O'Flynn writes as young Francis/Frank. She has a firm grasp of what it is like to be a child and how they view the world. Consider this excerpt where a young Frank is playing with his toys using one of his father's scale models:
Today, though, he was caught up in a difficult situation. An outsize Fresian cow is causing chaos in the shopping precinct. Francis had thought that this was surely the very kind of job the cowboys would be able to deal with, but they have shown themselves to be incompetent and cowardly, terrified by the sheer scale of the animal. They huddle at the entrance to the pedestrian subway. A British infantryman has taken the extraordinary decision to release a lion into the crowded precinct to capture the cow. His colleagues call for assistance, but everyone knows there is no direct vehicular access to the precinct. It look as if Little Cloud will have to save the day with a well-aimed arrow from his rooftop perch.
I feel like I've meandered a bit in trying to describe this book. From the book description, the book comes across as a bit of a mystery story. Yet I would hesitate to describe it as a mystery (OK ... I'll give it literary mystery) because the story is really more about exploring the nature of loss and how it infuses and affects our lives. Yet at the same time, the book is often very amusing and light. O'Flynn manages to work a whole lot into this gem of a book, but she makes is awfully darn hard to describe what the book is really like. So, I shall simply stop trying.
My Final Recommendation
O'Flynn's second novel combines humor with everyday life with heart-rending examinations into the nature of loss. A difficult book to pin down, I guess I'd simply say that if you like good writing that can amuse you while also making your heart ache, The News Where You Are would be a satisfying read.
Loss is a major theme in this book, as it was with her first novel. In this book, our "hero" Frank Allcroft is dealing with loss on all sorts of levels--the loss of his architect father's buildings (which are being knocked down one by one) and the loss of his friend and colleague Phil (who died in a never solved hit-and-run accident). As he shuffles through life, shackled with his corny on-air persona and a gentle loserish air he can't seem to shed (even with his own wife), Frank decides to investigate Phil's death on his own--seeking answers about why the vibrant and successful Phil made some strange phone calls to Frank shortly before his death and the connection between Phil and an elderly man found dead on park bench. Interspersed with this storyline is Frank's memories of his childhood--populated by his workaholic father and unhappy mother. As his father's buildings are demolished one by one, Frank realizes he must come to terms with his own past if he is to have a rewarding future.
As in What Was Lost, buildings and the physical surroundings of Birmingham play a large part in the story--becoming almost characters themselves. Like the Green Oaks Shopping Center in What Was Lost, buildings, new subdivisions and the assisted-living center become part of the story--given as much attention by O'Flynn as her human characters. O'Flynn tends to anthropomorphize cities, buildings and houses--imbuing them with meaning and personalities. I personally enjoy this aspect of O'Flynn's books; it makes for interesting reading.
"That's what I liked about this city."
"What? That it's crap and everything fails?"
"No. That it has these ridiculous dreams, that it always tries to reinvent itself, to be the city of the future, but then always changes its minds about what the future should be. I love the little glimpses you catch of the old dreams, the old ideas of what Utopia should be. I think if you get rid of the, no matter how embarrassing or naive they are, then you lose something essential about the place."
I think O'Flynn's greatest talent lies in the way she is able to capture with pinpoint accuracy and humor all the little foibles and interior conversations we all have with ourselves but rarely share. I saw so much of myself in Frank as I read--from his need to be polite causing him to be enmeshed in unwanted relationships to his sense of doubt in his own abilities. Consider this excerpt:
The motorway was quiet, but he stayed in the slow lane tucked behind a beaten-up van traveling at fifty. Frank secretly held a strong suspicion that he should not be in charge of a vehicle after dark. On city streets all was fine, but on country lanes or unlit stretches of motorway he was alarmed at the sullen lack of communication between his eyes and his brain. Something had gone wrong between them in the last year or two and now the brain would periodically choose to ignore or willfully misinterpret visual input. The familiar patterns of taillights, road signs and oncoming headlights had broken down into free-form floating abstract projections through which Frank hurtled wide-eyed on leather upholstery. At times he mistook the retreating taillights of the car ahead for headlights coming toward him, at others he would mistake reflections on his side window for vehicles swerving into his lane. His progress along a deserted stretch of motorway was often punctured by sudden braking at phantom hazards on the road ahead.
When I read this paragraph, I was smiling to myself as it is a perfect description of my own night driving. (And, if I'm completely honest, occasionally my day-time driving.) I'm forever mistaking leaves blowing across the road for squirrels and braking suddenly. I've hallucinated deer darting in front of the car that were merely shadows. O'Flynn is a master of this type of detail, and I think that is what makes her characters so believable and relatable.
Although the story has sad and dark undertones, O'Flynn never wallows in it or allows it to become overpowering. When Frank remembers his childhood, he describes his mother as having purple days and orange days.
On purple days, his mother pulls plants up in the garden, she looks out the window at nothing in particular for impossibly long stretches and speaks to her sister in a low voice on the telephone for hours. Sometimes she is cross at Francis, while at others, she doesn't seem to notice he's there at all.
On orange days she tells stories, she invents games, she takes Francis on expeditions and most of all she makes him laugh.
It is obvious his mother is suffering from severe depression, yet when Frank visits her in the assisted-living center, her unrelenting Eyeore-like gloom and refusal to admit to any type of pleasure becomes comical.
But the brightest light in this book is Mo, Frank's daughter. O'Flynn has a gift for writing children, and I would love to see her write an entire books from a child's point of view. (In What Was Lost, the parts with Kate were so endearing and charming that the whole book dimmed when she wasn't in it.) I also enjoyed the sections when O'Flynn writes as young Francis/Frank. She has a firm grasp of what it is like to be a child and how they view the world. Consider this excerpt where a young Frank is playing with his toys using one of his father's scale models:
Today, though, he was caught up in a difficult situation. An outsize Fresian cow is causing chaos in the shopping precinct. Francis had thought that this was surely the very kind of job the cowboys would be able to deal with, but they have shown themselves to be incompetent and cowardly, terrified by the sheer scale of the animal. They huddle at the entrance to the pedestrian subway. A British infantryman has taken the extraordinary decision to release a lion into the crowded precinct to capture the cow. His colleagues call for assistance, but everyone knows there is no direct vehicular access to the precinct. It look as if Little Cloud will have to save the day with a well-aimed arrow from his rooftop perch.
I feel like I've meandered a bit in trying to describe this book. From the book description, the book comes across as a bit of a mystery story. Yet I would hesitate to describe it as a mystery (OK ... I'll give it literary mystery) because the story is really more about exploring the nature of loss and how it infuses and affects our lives. Yet at the same time, the book is often very amusing and light. O'Flynn manages to work a whole lot into this gem of a book, but she makes is awfully darn hard to describe what the book is really like. So, I shall simply stop trying.
My Final Recommendation
O'Flynn's second novel combines humor with everyday life with heart-rending examinations into the nature of loss. A difficult book to pin down, I guess I'd simply say that if you like good writing that can amuse you while also making your heart ache, The News Where You Are would be a satisfying read.
eleganthedgehogs's review against another edition
Quite a slow read about a local news reporter, some characters interesting. Was felt to be not that great - except for the interesting chat we had about the part of the book about 1970’s Birmingham architecture and buildings which were once thought good but now being demolished. ( the newpreporte’s father had designed them) This was because Penny said she thought the architect of the buildings was a relative of hers who had designed buildings in Birmingham in 70s. She brought some information along.
fates_fables_golem's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
tiffanytcole's review against another edition
4.0
"The News Where You Are" by Catherine O' Flynn
"The News Where You Are" starts with a walk, a revelation, and a death. Six months later, Frank and Mo, his eight year old daughter, visit the building that Frank's father designed, the building that will soon be demolished. Frank takes a picture of Mo standing in front of the building in an effort to prove, if even just to himself, that the building will be remembered.
This pattern of Frank feeling the need to remember the forgotten appears in almost every interconnected plotline: Why does Frank's mom act the way she does? Will someone ever want to purchase Frank's house? Is there any value in Frank preventing the demolition of his dad's last building? But the biggest question of all, the question that Frank investigates the most, concerns the glamorous Paul, the silent Michael, and the comedic Cyril:
How does Michael's death connect to Paul's death, and where does Cyril fit in?
Though loss is the focus point, this story isn't particularly depressing or sappy. It reads like a snapshot collection of pictures that switch between the past and present. "The News Where You Are" is a novel that executes reality very well. The characters easily feel like people I could've passed up on the street yesterday.
There is as much to look forward to as there is to look back at, and "The News Where You Are" does a beautiful job reminding readers of that.
_______________________________
My name is Tiffany Cole, and I'm a book reviewer for Suspense Magazine. I am also an aspiring young writer. Savior of the Damned, the supernatural/dark urban fantasy novel I've been writing and editing for five years, is one step away from the agent/publisher hunt. You can find me in many places:
[email protected]
tiffanyrambles.blogspot.com
thesavior.tk
tcole.tk
http://tinyurl.com/27x9sdz {My Facebook}
"The News Where You Are" starts with a walk, a revelation, and a death. Six months later, Frank and Mo, his eight year old daughter, visit the building that Frank's father designed, the building that will soon be demolished. Frank takes a picture of Mo standing in front of the building in an effort to prove, if even just to himself, that the building will be remembered.
This pattern of Frank feeling the need to remember the forgotten appears in almost every interconnected plotline: Why does Frank's mom act the way she does? Will someone ever want to purchase Frank's house? Is there any value in Frank preventing the demolition of his dad's last building? But the biggest question of all, the question that Frank investigates the most, concerns the glamorous Paul, the silent Michael, and the comedic Cyril:
How does Michael's death connect to Paul's death, and where does Cyril fit in?
Though loss is the focus point, this story isn't particularly depressing or sappy. It reads like a snapshot collection of pictures that switch between the past and present. "The News Where You Are" is a novel that executes reality very well. The characters easily feel like people I could've passed up on the street yesterday.
There is as much to look forward to as there is to look back at, and "The News Where You Are" does a beautiful job reminding readers of that.
_______________________________
My name is Tiffany Cole, and I'm a book reviewer for Suspense Magazine. I am also an aspiring young writer. Savior of the Damned, the supernatural/dark urban fantasy novel I've been writing and editing for five years, is one step away from the agent/publisher hunt. You can find me in many places:
[email protected]
tiffanyrambles.blogspot.com
thesavior.tk
tcole.tk
http://tinyurl.com/27x9sdz {My Facebook}