Tuesday, 7 January 2025

Devotion

Helen Garner is one of my favourite writers. I have read so much of her past work - fiction, non-fiction, diaries - that I have often said I would read anything she writes, even her shopping lists! The last time I saw her speak was at the Sydney Writers Festival in 2023 when she was talking about crime and justice and was asked about what she was working on. Garner mentioned then that she was planning to write about AFL as she is a Bulldogs supporter. At the time I wrote 'I am not a fan of sports ball, but Garner can make anything interesting'.

Her latest work The Season (2024) is the book she was referring to. Her youngest grandson Amby plays in his local under-16s team - the Colts. Garner goes to the training and the matches and bonds with her grandson over their shared love of the game. She observes these boys, on the cusp of manhood, as they share the highs and lows of the season. 

This is not really a book about football. Garner writes:
'I'm surprised how many people jump to the conclusion that it's something polemical, a critical study of football culture and its place in society, informative, analytical, statistical. Really I'm trying to write about footy and my grandson and me. About boys at dusk. A little life-hymn. A poem. A record of a season we are spending together before he turns into a man and I die.' (p92)
This is what I love about Garner. She is forthright and does not shy away from writing about vulnerability - the frailties of aging, battling with Covid, loosing a game. Garner lives in the house next door to her daughter and three grandchildren. The family bonds are lovely as they share meals, watch footy, talk about haircuts. They are devoted to one another and to their love of the sport.

I lost interest when Garner wrote about various Bulldogs players and did not care for the mechanics of the game. But Garner is so good at looking at the human aspects of mateship and team bonding, as she describes the boys tackling one another and rallying to bolster their fellow players. While trying to keep her distance as an observer, Garner becomes quite attached to Amby's team  - Boof, Meth, Angus, Remy, Silas etc - and becomes familiar with the coach and various parents who cheer on from the sidelines. She writes lovingly of these young men and how they support one another on and off the field. And as I read, I cared for them too and was cheering them on from the sidelines as they advance towards the grand final. 

I have only ever been to one AFL match when my friend Susan took me to see the Sydney Swans play about twenty years ago. While I enjoyed the match, and my friend did her best to explain the rules to me, it never took hold of me the way that many of my friends have embraced the sport. 

So, did The Season make me interested in AFL. Nope! But I was interested in Garner's take on the sport, its rituals and fandom. 

Like much of her writing, Garner is ever present. She shares her anxiety about taking on this topic for a book and speaks with candour about her limitations. Now in her eighties, Garner writes about aging and her difficulty seeing and hearing the games played in the low light of winter. She describes not wanting to return a stray ball as it has been seventy years since she last kicked a ball and fears embarrassment.

The Season is not my favourite Garner, but I enjoyed reading it. This is a charming love letter to her grandson and the game she loves. 

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