Experts in a Dying Field Author: Patrick Freyne ISBN-13: 9781844886999Publisher: SandycoveGuideline Price: £16.99Patrick Freyne, a feature writer for this parish, has won a legion of fans for his offbeat, comedic journalism. His capacity for empathetic observations on the absurdity and profundity of the human condition found full voice in his essay collection, OK, Let’s Do Your Stupid Idea – a book that cemented Freyne’s status as one of contemporary Ireland’s funniest chroniclers. And so, it may surprise some readers that his debut novel, Experts in a Dying Field, is a more melancholy affair. Of course, there is Freyne’s trademark wit, which is especially evident in his dialogue, but humour is not the dominant element. Drawing on Freyne’s own extensive experience in the Irish music scene, the novel centres on the unintentional reunion of The Heathens: a band that considered themselves “the 1,000th best band of all time”, until a tour van crash killed their singer, Josh, and scattered the remaining three members to battle alone with their individual PTSD demons. Twenty years later they are forced to confront the past, and each other. It follows form that Freyne’s prose is most alive when immersed in the minutiae of both the band’s creative inspiration and the logistical trials of making it as a broke independent artist lugging gear around. Josh, however, reads as an echo of the author’s sensibilities when he suggests “there’s a strange magic in all of that too”. A chapter consisting of a journalist’s acerbic review of the band’s only album, The Heathens Greatest Hits, is particularly funny. Of their song Fox Shrieks he writes: “This is literally just a recording of a fox crying out at night. It’s the best song on the record by far.”Freyne’s ambition is admirable. In lieu of the stability of a limited point of view to narrate the novel from, he has elected a quasi-omniscience to offer us the story from multiple different perspectives. This ensemble cast consists of both minor characters on the margins of the band but also includes a fox, a ghost and the ultimate omniscient narrator of all, God. Dublin is represented throughout the novel as humming with the vibrations of another dimensionRather than write each of these perspectives in their own distinct voice, however, they are all interpreted through the primary narrator’s tone and lexicon. This does create a consistency across the narrative but feels like a missed creative opportunity that would maximise the literary potential that omniscience offers beyond the freedom to head-hop at will.Considered alone, some of these chapters could be cut with little impact. The cumulative power, however, enables the reader to experience a full kaleidoscopic account of the butterfly effect of human behaviour. It speaks to Freyne’s compassion for others, and their myriad complexities, that he can engage in this telepathic reading of such a broad spectrum of minds, human and otherwise.Running throughout the novel is a thrum of mystery surrounding the circumstances of the fatal crash. This serves as a perfect metaphor for the soul-searching that these Gen X middle-aged creatives are undertaking to try to understand, in the bigger picture sense, how their lives have transpired. For one of the characters, The Heathens who “were, for a spell, godlike to her, came into focus as both the hopeful, dreamy young people they were and the sadder, haunted, middle-aged people they actually are”. It is this quest for reconciliation of the dreams – and secrets – of the past with the reality of the present that is the novel’s driving energy. The book’s title, drawn from a song by The Beths, Expert in a Dying Field, perfectly encapsulates the ennui that comes with the discovery that the passions of youth – the obsessive knowledge or devotion – lose their currency in the middle years. The lyrics of the song crystallise Freyne’s meditations: “Thousands of lines on the page/All of my notes in a desolate pile/I haven’t touched in an age/ And I can burn the evidence/But I can’t burn the pain/And I can’t forget it.” In order to find peace, and move forward, The Heathens must face the truth.Dublin is represented throughout the novel as humming with the vibrations of another dimension; little moments of occasional magical realism that are accepted within the internal logic of the story. This tuning fork for mundane magic infuses the ordinariness of everyday struggles with the potential for greatness. If some of the more fantastical elements of the story stretch credulity, as such, they are within the spirit of the enterprise.Freyne is such a charming storyteller that he vanquishes cynicism. In essence this novel is a love song to music and all of its transformative magical powers, sung in Freyne’s inimitable style. His debut has inherited the beloved DNA of his personal essays but created something entirely new. This is one for the dreamers. Helen Cullen is the author of The Truth Must Dazzle Gradually and the forthcoming Iseult