Drabblecast 279 – The Country Doctor

[StalinSays]

Feature: The Country Doctor by Steve Utley



Thursday, April 11th, 2013
Gardner was drowning, and strangers were laying hands on the bones of my forebears. I felt obligated to see that liberties weren't taken with my grandmother, my great-grandmother, and other good, God-fearing ladies, so I put the business on auto pilot and made the drive as if on auto pilot myself.

Ghost Seas by Steven Utley
Art by Roo Vandegrift
Poem: Taunting the Sea by Steven Utley

Twabble: “ We stood outside the news station in protest against miscommunication. I still don't think our message got through.. ” by Scarecrow

[Goldenrat]

Great show, Norm. I definitely have to check out some more Utley stuff. The main fiction was great but what killed me was the last poem. Wow. And the Sigur Ros background music was the perfect choice for it. You knocked it out of the park with that show, man!

[strawman]

Steven Utley would have been delighted, just as he predicted.

Which is a great backstory for the worthy episode that followed.

You might devote a month featuring authors who have end-stage terminal diseases, sending them a copy of Episode 279 and asking if they wouldn't like to be remembered this way. Norm, I give you permission in advance to do this when my time arrives. Only since I haven't written anything noteworty, I'm hoping you can find some good out-of-copyright stuff you can attribute to me. Hint: I always thought Ovid was pretty good.

[scarcrow]

Steven Utley sounds like an intriguing man. May he rest. I say "sounds" rather than "sounded" because I am a firm believer in a person's memory being preserved through their work, as is the case with The Country Doctor. I really liked this piece, it was bland at first but took an unexpected twist at just the right moment. By the end I still didn't know what to think, but still walked away from the story with a feeling of enjoyment. It is out of my character to make requests, but if at all possible I'd love to hear some more of his work in future episodes...








For Steven.

[tbaker2500]

This was an excellent episode. It was an excellent tribute to Steve Utely. I didn't know his works, but I will look into him now.

I liked the story. Very atmospheric, and great concept.
So what do people think- Was the good doctor fathering children, or just experimenting on them?

[sandrilde]

A little slow at the beginning but a nicely different alien story.

[scarcrow]

Was the good doctor fathering children, or just experimenting on them?

I'd like to think the good doctor was just on retirement and needed a hobby to kill some time.

[tbaker2500]

That could still be taken either way.
If the doctor was siring children, the deformities could be due to incompatible genes, etc. If he was just doing experiments, well the world is his oyster.
And of course it's possible that this is all just too much inbreeding, and the doctor was innocent?

[scarcrow]

truth be told, there's way too many possibilities to be able top make a sound call. In the end (no pun intended) I think that is what makes this story so unique. We, as the reader/listener, are left wondering just as the main protagonist was...

[scarcrow]

Something else I've been wondering for quite some time now, the piano score that plays at the beginning of the story... What is it called? I've heard it before and really like it but I can't seem to find the title to it anywhere.

[Leslianne]

This was a spectacular story and a very well done production.

[Varda]

Very, very sorry to hear about Steve Utley. This was a lovely tribute all around. Thanks, Norm.

[ROU Killing Time]

Steven Utley would have been delighted, just as he predicted.

Which is a great backstory for the worthy episode that followed.

You might devote a month featuring authors who have end-stage terminal diseases, sending them a copy of Episode 279 and asking if they wouldn't like to be remembered this way. Norm, I give you permission in advance to do this when my time arrives. Only since I haven't written anything noteworty, I'm hoping you can find some good out-of-copyright stuff you can attribute to me. Hint: I always thought Ovid was pretty good.

Get in contact with Iain M. Banks. Don't dally.

[Richmazzer]

Great episode, great tribute. The poem at the end really got to me. Based on his Moby Dick/Little Women mash-up alone I have a feeling Steve Utley would have been right at home on the Drabblecast.

[Kibitzer]

Just WOW! I never heard of this guy before and I think I need to go hunt up his tales. Honestly, this one started out pretty average but when we got to the meat of it... WOW.

[eric_marsh]

I run podcasts while I'm out working in my shop. I'd been catching up on old Drabblecasts when I came across this one. A great story - it built slowly and then suddenly went in an entirely unexpected direction. Yeah, I'm going to have to read some more Utley.