Comments on: His Father’s Son — Chapter 9

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 18:09:48 +0000

FYI, most of the serials draw 50-60 readers for each chapter.

This one — this beaut of a treasure of a thing — has drawn better than 150 readers for each chapter.

I’ll have to hunt through the magazines for something just as bad next time I need to drive up the stats!

By: kevinf

kevinf — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 22:16:23 +0000

I will add that since this is the first of these long form serialized fiction items on Keepa that I’ve read, I’ll have to admit that it was actually fun, in a MST3K kind of way. All of your comments and the anticipation of “What absurd twist will happen next?” made this an enjoyable couple of weeks. Ardis, you may just have inadvertently generated a replacement for Oprah’s book club. Not that I ever read any of those, you know….

By: Mina

Mina — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 21:50:06 +0000

The Burbankian eugenic theme was announced fairly early, as several readers have consistently pointed out. I think this is one reason the ending is such an anti-climax. For all its eccentric and melodramatic twists, this subtext made the general course of the story pretty predictable. The rather sexist and racist stereotyping that kevinf points to can be folded into this, as well as being era-appropriate as Mark B. says.

Still, all in all, I enjoyed it. Its oddities were hilariously over-the-top entertaining. I wonder though how odd (or not) it may have appeared to its original audience?

(I’d love an illustrated re-print!)

By: Mark B.

Mark B. — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 21:02:01 +0000

Well, I think I’ll go have a shower. But I’ll go with a smile, thanks to kevinf for his reference to Monty Python’s Flying Circus–if you know what I mean.

Sadly, the casual anti-Japanese bigotry was probably appropriate–both at the time when this episode took place, and when it was published.

For the record, there is a “Parke Stradivarius” which apparently is owned by J. & A. Beare, of 30 Queen Anne Street, London. It’s not clear exactly when tney got it, since the last record I could find says that the previous owner “W.E. Hill and Sons[,] sold it in 1906 to a home that has since both appreciated and cared for it as it deserves.” Sounds like the Peter Smith/Haven household!

By: E. Wallace

E. Wallace — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 20:41:27 +0000

Hmm… “Ruthenia” is part of Eastern Europe, around Ukraine, I think. Maybe it’s a reference to that?

By: kevinf

kevinf — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 19:28:20 +0000

Good catch in #3 about Ruthiniana. That hadn’t occurred to ne. However, that seems a bit subtle for this story.

By: Coffinberry

Coffinberry — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 19:08:51 +0000

Yup. That was most definitely…. odd.

By: Bruce Crow

Bruce Crow — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 19:07:50 +0000

So this wraps up nearly everything, although chapter 8 was where the story revealed itself. Kareen, however, gets her dreams crushed. Too bad.

By: Grant

Grant — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 19:05:54 +0000

Trying to find the positive spin, maybe the message is “Utah is for everyone” including lost princesses, accomplished and hobby musicians (along with assorted Bohemians even if limited to one apartment complex), the physically deformed, certainly farmers, and even the, er, “Japanese.”

And is there any symbolism in the “Kingdom of Ruthiniana?” Should Kareen, perhaps, get the hint that her deceased husband’s people should be her people and she should have more respect for his family?

By: kevinf

kevinf — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 19:03:56 +0000

Anticlimax indeed. Despite all the weirdness along the way, this ending is rather a non-event. Richard III finds ultimate happiness in a state of genetic predestination, Richard I proves that indeed his will ultimately can not be denied. Kareen continues as a dysfunctional parent, always talking past her son, and never listening, while Richard III does the same. Kareen never does seem to register that she's found her long lost father. Almost a total lack of emotion. Richard III, if he ever marries, is going to be a total jerk to his wife, and never hear what she says, either. What a load of Burbank-fueled manure. As for stereotypes, not only are there the racial ones, but Kareen and Esther, and Mother Haven as well, really aren't valued all that much other than being pawns in the severe patriarchal Haven family. And poor Sleed in his flyblown office, drawling his words, is just a necessary prop. I also detect some underlying vibes that apparently, Oliver and Esther didn't, you know, wink-wink, nudge-nudge, know-what-I-mean until after their plastic surgeries. I guess it wouldn't have been proper in Ms. Stone's view. On the other hand, anybody thought about forwarding this story on to T.C. Christensen as a source for his next screenplay?