I finally finished The Game by Ken Dryden. It took me forever and ever, amen. I’m not a slow reader—actually, I probably read too quickly to a fault most of the time. But this book was slow going for me.
I think there was a basic problem: this book has been written for hockey fans in the 1980’s and I am neither a) a huge hockey fan or b) aware of what hockey was like in the 1980’s/living in the 1980's.
Ken Dryden is writing for people who want to understand the nuance and rhythm of the game – but the writing was almost prohibitive if you weren’t terribly well-versed in hockey names/personalities of the mid-century game. And while my FIL knew every single person, I struggled with who was on what team. And when I am having trouble following the train of thought, I tend to feel frustrated and give up. But I didn't. And I'm glad I stuck it out. Either Dryden got more interesting, or I was better able to engage the subject matter, but the end was better than the beginning.
There are some great points about superstition, luck and the strange culture of professional sports (dynamics between teams, managers, coaches; the locker room during practice, before, during and after games; and what its like to be 'on the road'). Dryden also makes great points about the interaction between sports and money. These topics certainly were interesting…if a bit long winded. I also appreciated his explanation of how the game developed (the history geek in me loves a historical recap) but I didn’t need all the stuff around it.
The book was missing was a consistent thread to hold on to. I often lost sight of where I was, what had happened and where I was expecting to end up. The content seemed much more commentary than story driven, which is fine, but a central strand to hold onto can really help the inexperienced (ie, me) engage the commentary being provided on a certain topic (in this case, hockey). Perhaps more of a base story would have helped with all the moments I really had no idea what was going on.
Okay, so The Game is not getting my vote (not that CBC is asking me) but I am better versed in hockey culture and history—which will come in handy hanging out with my husband, father in law and brothers in law on the couch enjoying a hockey game. And that is always a good thing!
Next up: The Tiger by John Vaillant. The subtitle: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival. I’m both completely intrigued and a *little* scared!
