This is an open blog forum for Coben's very short story "The Key to My Father". You decide what you would like to post. You may like to consider characterization/the descriptions of the father, genre/point of view, the symbol of the key, your response to the text and so on.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
54 comments:
I also liked this story very much You go inside to the story so quickly because of the writer's style. It ıs so easy to read and also fluent.
I think the key represents the importance of someone's life. The key that makes you happy, be proud of yourself. We see what does a family means.The sacrifices that the father made to prepare a comfortable and peaceful future to his family show us the importance of being a real family.
actually ı hate that kind of stories because it always affacts me badly nevertheless, thats a wonderful story. ı liked very much and also writers language is easy to understand.
I have liked the ways that author used to draw attentions of audience and through chain of events, everyone could read this story without being bored. Especially if I talk about the content and message of the story, I understand that there is a father who sacrifices his life to his family. He has made and tried everything to provide better life conditions to his family. He wanted them not to feel same pains as he suffered during his lifetime therefore he adored his life to his family. In my opinion , it made me feel sad at the end of the story because although spending all energy for a family is an admirable work and is filled with pride, it leads reader to feel sadness as reading story.
İ think the son is acting like a teenage, he loves to critisize his dad and always find something wrong to depriciate. The father is not happy at all, this is what i think when i read the text, Marc made me think in that way.He is the man who does not like his job or does not have anything to praise himself. At the end of the story when the father dies, his son stars to understand or for the first time he gives an importance and try to understand his father. Things always go in that way for some people, they do not recognize the value of having that person in their life till s/he dies.
Yes, Dilara, unfortunately that's usually true: We don't appreciate what we have until it's gone. This is a very poignant story indeed.
Melisa, why do you hate this kind of story? Do you mean because it's so emotional?
I think that the key here is the struggle to understand a dad profile who sacrifices for the benefit of family, further more without expecting any over interest. As audience, the story seem quite simple; but full of potential analysis by the each sentence Marc says. Relating the story to Gallagher, such father is the example of what marriage creates and what marriage forces a parent (for the child).
The metaphors narrator uses are quite beautiful like “someone lifting a car to a save a trapped loved one” and “the world is his family”. All favors the love within the soul towards inner family relations. The most meaningful, containing the theme, phrases would be “He could have been a popular man. People liked him. He could feign charm and warmth, but there was a coldness there. He cared only about his family” It states “family ties”. I think it's a nice story with no boring extra.
absolutely yes. also that is about fathers I m so sory but because of this ı dnt like
I do not like this kind of stories. They remind me Turkish films which are very emotional and boring. When I finished reading it, adolescence came to my mind, because we have been talking about it and Marc seems rebellious and do not appreciate his father. Whereas, according to his father the world was his family, but Marc does not realize it until his father dies. Marc recognizes his father’s merit. It is human beings’ characteristics; we do not comprehend values before losing it.
i think this story is short but still effective. Coben describes successfully what one feels when he loses someone important. The way the son blames the others in the funeral is typical. the way the father is described and the details given easily creates an image of a caring father in your mind which makes the story absorbing. i think the key represents the family bonds and the importance of it. the fact that the father still thinks about his family just before he dies shows that. of course the end of the story is sad but that is another point that makes the story worth reading.
I think it is nice and dramatic story. Author’s father dies because of heart problems and he thinks that he is responsible for his father’s death. He remembers old day with his father. He also says that they buried him on Father’s Day. It is probably so hard and sad for a son. His father’s last words to the doctor that they would need a place at night to stay and to check his pocket. He finds a key in his father’s pocket. It shows that his father was thinking about his family while he was dying.
The father is very considerate and he thinks of nothing but the welfare of his family. Although he hates his job, he takes it for his family. Even when he was dying, he was caring for his son and wife. Not to make his son and wife sad, he says he's fine despite his medical sufferings.
The boy blames himself for not having been an easier son and also blames his father's boss and other ill men for his father being dead and they are not.
The genre is short story and the point of view is first person's.
The key symbolizes much of father being caring and loving towards his family. The notion of not upsetting his son and his wife while he's dying, should be appreciated.
I enjoyed reading this short story. It's quite intensive in emotions and thoughts and the language flow is easy to catch-up. Coben has succeeded in catching the reader's interest, using his way of writing.
When he found the key in his fathers pocket, he also found the key to his father. By that key, he understood what he have lost and what his father meant for him. Because even his father was dying, he care about his son. Present cannot be judged. You have to lost that moment, it had to be past to recognize what that moment is. Marc is the concrete example for this. His father was such a thoughtful and nurturant person that even Marc was going to bathroom, he asked that is there something wrong. But Marc was a teenager, and like me he opposes his father with absolutely non-sense, to the guy that have a world which is only his family.
I think the main idea explained very clearly by simple language and clarifying metaphors. It is a dramatic story, and because it is so emotional the main point emphasized strongly.
This is a very dramatic story with a language that strikes the reader. It makes you feel discomfortably. I liked the story as most of my friends did. The father figure's importance for the son and father's tragic fall makes it unforgettable for the reader.
(This story may be more popular with a Turkish audience than pther audience due to existing paternal family structure of Turkish families. The popularity of father-son relations as a theme for Turkish audience can be understood by the success of the film "Babam ve oglum")
I think the message or Coben's so clear, he mentioned importance of father, and he wrote this story for father's day. It was so dramatic and so sad for people. There is a father who pays lots of atention to his family and his son did not really care of his father's life etc. However his father always loves his son and he always thinks his son when he was ill, he found the key of room for his son this was last thing that he did. Shortly it was sad but wonderful story.
The key shows the importance of happiness like in the family ties, actually it is like a typical turkish movie, but anyways i like that kind of stories and I like the way of authors explanation.
Zeynep Karakaş
DENİZ D KİPGE
Firstly i have to confess that thise writers style amazed me it was so fluent that i couldnt stop reading.the father is trying to give a wonderful life to his family working and trying hard so there children will not suffer the same pain that he had during his life.but the son is acting like a fool or we can say a claasic teenager.. after the fathers die than the kid starts the understand that how much his dad mean to him how much he had done for him.. so my point is that we never understand the value of the people until we lose them how much they do to us..when we realise it want to thank them we see that they have already left....
As most of my friends I liked the story. It is tragic rather than dramatic but it highlights a significant point that unrecognizing the value of people till to their death. This, the writer's message, makes the story beautiful although it makes people sad.
The father lives only for his family. He works for a job to make his family comfortable; although, he doesn't want to work for such a job. Marc knows this and he knows his father consider the world as his family. However, Marc didn't realise their real means until he found the key. The key helps him to understand his father feeling /cares for his family. He cares his family even when he was dying. Marc comprehended value of his father in a terrible way but IT MIGHT NOT BE LIKE THIS FOR YOU SO HURRY UP! DON’T WAIT KEYS TO BE GIVEN YOU!
Harlan Coben picturizes the father’ all appearances from the son’s perspective. The son tells how his father bad in performing physical activities and in his social life in terms of having less friends. This shows us that he does not share his inner world with other people, out of family. However, there is a strong contradiction that he even does not share it with his own family. We can easily make it out from son’s word “He never expressed any of that to me”. Therefore, it is nearly impossible to analyze the father’s character profoundly.
I think general role of the father in family is very significant because he is a symbol of authority and reliance. Coben’s story especially emphasizes the figure of father in Marc’s life very well. In adolescence, teenagers tend not to care about their parents decisions and things they do for them. For instance, in this story Marc’ s father who is a very good man with caring mind always thinks about his family, struggles for them but his son does not understand the importance of those things until he lose his father. There was a quote in the story and it says “ You know those stories about someone lifting a car to save a trapped loved one?” and it shows father’s struggle on eyes of his child. In addition, final part of story affected me more because when he encounters with death he still thinks about his family. Also according to me key symbolizes how he dedicate himself for family.
when i finished reading this story actually i recognised that it was like an Turkish film because marc behaves like that he does not care about his father and his decisions. on the other hand father in a family is a very important person. ın general father earns money and struggle for family to survive. fathers, or parents want their children to have good future. ı think marc behaves like this due to being in a period of transition form children to teenager.. but unfortunately he understood his father's value when he lost him. ın general, people recognise sth's value when they lose it unfortunatley..
i said it is similar to Turkish film becuase it ends with unhappy mood. and it is a really dramatic story.
I liked the story as most of my friends. The first reason of this is the language of story. It is very easy. Moreover the story is about son and father relationship and I liked this topic. Another factor that make this story exiting is the father's tragic end and his sons attitudes after he died.
This story made me think:You don't know what you got until it's gone.The way Marc describes his father, makes the reader understand that they were not very close.This is not the father's fault though,he's very caring about his family.He doesn't have a lot of friends and the reason for that is that his world consists of his family.They are not very close-father and son-because there are a lot of things he didn't know about his father:him not liking his job,being in the military.
Finally he confesses that he was an uneasy son and partly blames himself for his death.He appreciates his father and what he has done for his family,sadly,after his death.It's a very dramatic story and also very realistic.
Without a doubt i can say that, it was the story which impressed me the most between all the short stories and essays we read this semester.After i finished the story, the first thing i wanted to do was to call my father.
I've always known being a parent means making sacrifices and thinking about someone more than yourself and loving without expectations. This story shows what they are clearly.
I think, the key symbolizes all the love and caring a father can give to his son. Before the writer has learned about the key, he has seen his father as an ordinary man who cares about his family. However, after he talked to the doctor and touched the key, he realizes the how much he's been love and cared about. He sees clearly that even his comfort for a night is more important than his father's life to his father.
I'd also like to mention the fluidity of Coben's language. Expect some different and unheard worlds foe me for description i read the text very easily. I also liked the way first he tells something directly then gives examples about it. For example, he says he is a terrible athlete then he gives the softball game example. I think, this style makes the reader understand the story and the point easier and more effectively.
Firstly, this story is fluent and easy to understand every detail due to it's writing style.Also, It was so thought provoking story. I liked this kind of stories because people could forget the meaning of their lifes and the important values. People could be very late to realize the importance of family or people who love them too much.
To me, the key represents the role of the father and his dedication to his family.
the key to my father want to shows audience how family ties could be strengthened by the main member of family,father. The writer's simple style enable us to understand and feel the story more deeply. Additionally, key is a very ironic and dramatic component of the story. I think, it somehow shows us efforts which are devoted to families will be successful.
I should admit that Coben's language is the most attracting language in whole semester, on the contrary the story is not. For myself I'm kinda bored of this stories, I know that nobody understand, appreciate what they got until they lost them. Even I am a member of this group. I rarely call my father, having quarrels with my mother. And I know that this story couldn't change my attitude. I should admit that after finishing the story, I kinda think for 2 seconds that if that was one of the scripts in the "Yeşilçam" movies. And also interrogated my self about the motivation to finish the story. After reading Deniz's (Türkçü) comment I know why. She really got the point, where Cohen explained by giving examples well.
Firstly, the most painful thing in this story i think, is to bury Marc's father in Father's Day. It really hurts and really killing pain and meaningful in the story in my opinion. Apart from this, the father's thought about the key even through his death is another point for his characteristic, to say last sentences thinking for the key and the pocket and it was emotional that Marc's words about the promise to keep the key among the medals. The story is really hurtful and made us to understand what we have and the worthy of people we love. As we all do, young people never understands our relatives' worth and act as stupid and after a while we do but that time would never come up when we think about Marc we could see his feelings and previous thought before his father death.I wish nobody feels Marc's emotions..
I agree with most of you about this story - it is sad and beautifully written and reminds us of the importance of family. But I think it doesn't really lend itself to much critical thinking, which is why I asked you to read it outside class. Perhaps it could be used as an easy introduction to the theme of Family Ties and to the concept of literary symbols since you were all able to interpret the key quite easily.
it is a good story.it can be read easily.Coben's story is very emotional but it can be true. I like the name of story very much. It symbolizes the importance of father for a family. Story explains us that father always loves his son or his child even if his child cannot give importance to his father. I think it is a little bit dramatic story
i really liked this story because firstly it was easy to read and the language was not too hard to understand. however, the content of story influenced . As like some of my friends, the death of someone, especially if he/she is from family, affects me very badly. After i read this story, again i appreciated the importance of fathers in family ties.
i liked the authors style because it was easy to understand and he had an ordinary language. in the story there is a father who was doing all to do better for his family and dont want to show them the difficulties and pains of life as he lived. the end was a simple example of a drama. Also i want to add that it shows readers the importance of the father in family ties.
he talked about his father as he is ordinary and not cool man but he also focused on the his own treats after he learned about his illness. I think this story was written to show readers the importance of parents on our life, even they seem ordinary and not cool. And also, it focused on people's appreciation about his loosen things.It has an fluent language and easy to understand.
I liked the story as most of my friends. It is very effective story and the main point of this story is emphasized emotionally. The language of the story is not difficult, it helps me to read and understand it easily. The father work hardly in order to give a perfect life to his family. But his son is a stupid teenager, acts like a fool. The father still thinks his family, before he dies. I mean why cannot we understand the value of people until we lose them?
In this story the father works very hard for his family. He just want a good future for his family. He always make sacrifice. He thinks his family just before his death. He died because of heart problems. In spite of all these sacrifices his son is not really aware of the importance of his father.
writers choice of words enables us to read and understand the story easily. the key symbolizes the sincere feelings of the father towards his family.
after i read the story, i come up with the question: what is the best way about learning something's or somebody's importance? Do the humans always chooses the hardest way?
I agree with my friends about how a well written short story it is. Sometimes I had the feeling of listening to somebody face to face while I was reading it. That is because he used some sentences like 'if u know, what I mean' in between. It is emotional, I felt bad about the boy, because they buried him on Father's Day. I thought about my relationship between me and my father and how important he is for me, after I read it. In my personal opinion I would be impressed more, if I were a boy; because the son-father relationship is usually a little bit different from the daughter-father relationship. Man to man they usually share more things. Anyway, it is a story, which teaches us that we should appreciate our family - in fact everything before we lose it.
I like this kind of stories so I found that the story is very interesting. Story shows that the father try to stick together family and provide best conditions as possible and it is aim of his life. He devotes himself and he dies due to heart problems. The key in pocket is important symbol in story. I don't know exact mean of key for author but in my interpretation, father may try to tell that money play key role for family or like that.
I liked this story. It is very dramatic. The father at the story sacrifices his life to his wife and his son, even he is dying, he thinks about his family. He says that he have a key in his pocket, since his family need a place to stay. Marc thinks that he is responsible for his father’s death. He blames himself. After his father died he realizes his father’s mean to him. Marc understood the value of his father after he lost him. The key that his father gave to him, lead him to understand his father’s value.
İ realy like from this short story which is based on the relationship between father and son. Coben who is the son on the story has some problems with his father and he cannot show his good feelings to his father. and when his father died, he feel upset and guilty. Also, i like the language of writer for example symbols and the story is fluent, easy to understand.
This story was great. I like the way Coben tells the story. Little details given to describe full image (like Stephen King) quite well done. The story pulled me in it when i started to read first lines, then, suddenly, story was finished. Marc firstly narrates his father as a weak, unsuccessful person, but after he starts to praise him, especially while he learns that his father was struggling with death. The key part is what makes the story touching. Marc's father still thinks his family, even he is about the die.
this story impressed me very much. it makes me think about how my father and family important for me. when we lose one of our family member, i think we understand importance of this family member. for everything even a small thing belongs to us, we understand it is more important when we lose it.
this story generally easy to read and the author's speech is very fluent. Effect of the theme is written very impressive.
The story is a very sad one. I believe this is written professionally. The writer showed his abilities in a really good work. The usage of symbols and family ties was very nice. He made it clear, what he thinks about 'family'. We have discussed the word family a lot this semester. This is a very nice piece of writing that deserves to be used in this subject...
I'm sorry, that anonymous is me :)
The story is a very sad one. I believe this is written professionally. The writer showed his abilities in a really good work. The usage of symbols and family ties was very nice. He made it clear, what he thinks about 'family'. We have discussed the word family a lot this semester. This is a very nice piece of writing that deserves to be used in this subject...
This is a great and fascinating story, but unfortunately I had to look at the dictionary to understand because the words are really challenging:)
I think fathers have very interesting role in our life. When we are little child they are like a hero for us, they can do everything in order to make us happy. After we are little grown up they begin to seem not perfect at all and when we become teenager they starts to annoy us. Their attitudes towards us become unbearable. However, after the age of 18-20 we realize that our fathers are not such a bad person, we understand that they have reasons to behave like that. And in the end when we become a parent, we again accept that they were the hero in our life but its too late to tell him. This is a real fact for every person and I think this the key concept of the story
The writer tells too much in few sentences in this story effectively. I think the interesting part is the child's accusing himself and thinking about his sorrow saying that "I began to make deals with whatever higher power would listen, you know the kind, about what I'd do, what I'd risk, what I'd trade..." It is such an interesting emotion that when you lose someone close, you start thinking like that.
The writer tells too much in few sentences in this story effectively. I think the interesting part is the child's accusing himself and thinking about his sorrow saying that "I began to make deals with whatever higher power would listen, you know the kind, about what I'd do, what I'd risk, what I'd trade..." It is such an interesting emotion that when you lose someone close, you start thinking like that.
It is not too difficult to read this story as its language is fluent and the story is interesting. The key means a lot for the writer I think. The father figure in the story was very strong and never showed his real feelings to his son and also it is very sensual to bury him on Father's Day.
The story has an interesting language and good metaphors(the key was very nice). It emphasizes the importance of family values and to appreciate the presence of people while they are alive, as it can be seen in the case of the father. The son can't understand the value of his father until he is gone. I wasn't bored at all while reading and it affected me greatly.
I did not read this story on time. So when you ask me which story is your best, I could not say this one. I did not hope end like this, and I did not expect sensuality from teenager story. It began with explain the father as clumsy and I guess a relationship between father and son as our film 'American Beauty'. But it is absolutely different. It is explain the parents self denying. It was really affecting but when we turn back real life, I could not say everybody must appreciate his/her parent because there is lots of news we hear how parents consume their children. The most important fact that who effect transactions perfect from his/her family, he/she behave his/her children as his/her parents, and who bring up his/her children in restless fireside, his/her grandchildren bring up in peaceless family.
And I want to add why this story is my best. Except for narrative, it is not hard and not include much more complicated words:)
language is easy to understand i find the story interesting and beneficial the ley symbols that father amkes everything for their family
Post a Comment