Loading...
12th out of 41 books
—
65 voters
My rating:
add to my books
The Red Pony
"The beautiful, spirited red pony is everything Jody ever dreamed of... Raised on a ranch in northern California, Jody is well-schooled in the hard work and demands of a rancher's life. He is used to the way of horses, too; but nothing has prepared him for the special connection he will forge with Gabilan, the hot-tempered pony his father gives him. With Billy Buck, t...more
Paperback, 100 pages
Published
January 1st 1992
by Penguin (Non-Classics)
(first published 1933)
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
15,078)
Next time you decide to make a printing of The Red Pony, feel free to borrow one of these free blurbs.
"Do you like people hanging around on a farm? Do you like horses and animals and stuff? Then you'll think this book is okay! It has horses, and grass, and farms and stuff, and is an easy read."
Or:
"John Steinbeck is a writer of amazing stature in American literature. He stands head and shoulders above just about anyone, wiping his feet on Fa...more
"Do you like people hanging around on a farm? Do you like horses and animals and stuff? Then you'll think this book is okay! It has horses, and grass, and farms and stuff, and is an easy read."
Or:
"John Steinbeck is a writer of amazing stature in American literature. He stands head and shoulders above just about anyone, wiping his feet on Fa...more
view all 15 comments
halfway into my morning hike there's a small trailer off the side of the trail and the guy who lives there leaves out a bucket of fresh water for passing dogs. it's my favorite part of the walk because jack doesn't lap at the water but dunks his entire snout in there and kinda gulps it down. he then pulls his face from the bucket and for the next thirty yards or so leaves two thin trails of water dripping down from either jowl.
from the red pony:
"At last he walked sn...more
from the red pony:
"At last he walked sn...more
I love this book. It's short, succinct, and encapsulates the dramatic, but realistic suffering side of life in three ways: the red pony, the black colt, and Jody's relationship with adults.
The Red Pony's also peppered with moments of human courage, brilliance and love. Jody's devotion to the red pony is sweet, and his idolization of Billy Buck is, I think, a realistic representation of how boys look up to men.
The Red Pony's also peppered with moments of human courage, brilliance and love. Jody's devotion to the red pony is sweet, and his idolization of Billy Buck is, I think, a realistic representation of how boys look up to men.
WARNING! HORSE-LOVERS: DON'T READ THIS BECAUSE YOU THINK IT WILL BE ABOUT HORSES AND DON'T REVIEW IT SAYING THAT THAT'S WHAT YOU EXPECTED BECAUSE I JUST WARNED YOU. I am sorry if you were forced to read this book for school - it would really take the beauty out of it if someone forced you to read The Red Pony. I feel that way about all Steinbeck books actually.
It is a little difficult to get into in the beginning, but overall, this book shows the raw and unpredicible way people de...more
It is a little difficult to get into in the beginning, but overall, this book shows the raw and unpredicible way people de...more
Melissa
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
fans of Steinbeck or short stories about ranch life.
Shelves:
2008
I sometimes don’t enjoy Steinbeck because his storylines can make me mad at the world. He’s not really known for happy stories, is he? Having known Steinbeck usually goes from bad situation to worse, I was not expecting a heartwarming horse story a la Misty of Chincoteague when I picked up The Red Pony. I daresay I was right. Staying true to form, it is free and clear of clichés, sentiment, and last minute miracles. If you hated the movie Spirit, you'll be pleased.
The Red Pony i...more
The Red Pony i...more
My reintroduction to Steinbeck began with The Red Pony.
Sure I had read Of Mice and Men and Grapes Of Wrath in High School, but that was a number of years ago, and I can hardly remember either.
I found The Red Pony (a mass market paperback edition) all worn and hidden on one of the bookshelves in the classroom I work in. Apparently before it was my room, the teacher used to use it as a classroom text for 4th graders. The cover was striking and I'd been meaning to start rea...more
Sure I had read Of Mice and Men and Grapes Of Wrath in High School, but that was a number of years ago, and I can hardly remember either.
I found The Red Pony (a mass market paperback edition) all worn and hidden on one of the bookshelves in the classroom I work in. Apparently before it was my room, the teacher used to use it as a classroom text for 4th graders. The cover was striking and I'd been meaning to start rea...more
I struggled to finish this book. And it has about 100 tiny little pages. I can read that in an hour or so. And yet, I struggled for at least 5 days to finish this book. In fact, the ONLY reason I forced myself to finish was so I could read the online cliff notes and try and figure out what I missed. What meaning or significance could make it worth my reading. This was not an enjoyable reading experience, to say the least - except for that baffling "you must be kidding" sentiment ...more
If I could give this less stars I would. It's not about a Red Pony...it doesn't even SYMBOLIZE a red pony, nor does the actual red pony, who turns out to be insignificant, symbolize anything. It's just loooong Seven Years in Tibet-length descriptions of the clouds and landscape. I swear he spent five frikkin' pages on the rancher's moustache. Just awful.
DIRTY CONFESSION: I've wanted to pick up "The Red Pony" since I first read "Matilda" by Roald Dahl. There's that ultra-fabulous scene where Matilda's weasel father rips up the book and calls it trash and so on, and Matilda defends "The Red Pony" by calling it "lovely," and inside I'm imagining all the times I had books taken from me and ripped and burned and thrown away because they were "trash."
Alright, I stopped hyper-ventilaing in...more
Alright, I stopped hyper-ventilaing in...more
Steinbeck’s Got a Hold in Me
(A Book Review of John Steinbeck’s The Red Pony)
It all started on a lazy Sunday afternoon, a day I presume to be just like any other. However, what made it a little bit interesting and special, at best unforgettable, can be attributed to one simple man who goes by the name of John Steinbeck, whose unassuming, not over a hundred pages, little book tilted The Red Pony is the ticket all I ever need to beckon me back to that country called the classics, ...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Plot Summary
The Red Pony is divided into four stories, all centered on a young boy named Jody Tiflin. Each part of the book tells critical events in Jody's childhood. The first story is called The Gift. This story describes Carl Tiflin's family and ranch, which will be the setting of all four stories. Jody is Carl's son. Another central character is Billy Buck, the ranch's employed hand. While Carl is a stern, strict man, Billy is kinder, and spends a lot of time teaching Jody how to take ...more
The Red Pony is divided into four stories, all centered on a young boy named Jody Tiflin. Each part of the book tells critical events in Jody's childhood. The first story is called The Gift. This story describes Carl Tiflin's family and ranch, which will be the setting of all four stories. Jody is Carl's son. Another central character is Billy Buck, the ranch's employed hand. While Carl is a stern, strict man, Billy is kinder, and spends a lot of time teaching Jody how to take ...more
Are you a member of PETA or the SPCA? If yes, please put this book back on the shelf and run away. Animal cruelty is inherent in farm stories but this really lays on the barnyard hurt.
This book takes place on the western side of America, in the pioneer generation just after the great crossing from east to west. It's set on a small farm in what seems to be California. The descriptions of the farm have a quiet beauty that is tempered by the rugged, cruel nature of life and death that ...more
This book takes place on the western side of America, in the pioneer generation just after the great crossing from east to west. It's set on a small farm in what seems to be California. The descriptions of the farm have a quiet beauty that is tempered by the rugged, cruel nature of life and death that ...more
While this isn't my least favorite Steinbeck work, it certainly won't hold a place near and dear to my heart. This book follows a young boy named Jody in four different short stories about events in his young life, two of which surround Jody's father giving him a new pony to look after, one of which dies of the strangles soon after he becomes Jody's. While I do not particularly like the first or third stories, which deal with Jody and his horses, the second and fourth story are particularly inte...more
Idyllic and saddening, this novella is really a collection of 4 short stories involving the same characters, a family of ranchers in the Salinas Valley. Each story centers on the young Jody Tiflin, a 10 year old boy who is on the edge of boyhood and manhood as he spends days daydreaming and fulfilling the chores expected of him by his stern, but loving father. In each of the stories, The Gift, The Great Mountains, The Promise, and The Leader of the People Jody lives through the tragedies, los...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Steinbeck never disappoints.
Still, I was a little less enraptured with The Red Pony than I usually am when I pick up a Steinbeck novel I've never read. There are a number of brilliant scenes as usual, including a few extremely dramatic (and perhaps surprising) ones. These are emotionally packed and precisely and intensely relayed.
These powerful scenes aside, the energy J.S. is able to infuse in even the most basic observations always astounds me. He was truly both gifted and,...more
Still, I was a little less enraptured with The Red Pony than I usually am when I pick up a Steinbeck novel I've never read. There are a number of brilliant scenes as usual, including a few extremely dramatic (and perhaps surprising) ones. These are emotionally packed and precisely and intensely relayed.
These powerful scenes aside, the energy J.S. is able to infuse in even the most basic observations always astounds me. He was truly both gifted and,...more
This is Steinbeck?
I will preface thisreview by saying that I am a huge fan of Of Mice and Men. One time I tried to read Grapes of Wrath and got about 50 pages into it before putting it down. I put it down because it was far too black and white for me. The humble, hard working and family oriented Christian farmers versus the evil, greedy bank men and soul less machines. You just knew what point the author was trying to make without reading it, it was too pronounced, and I'm just not a...more
I will preface thisreview by saying that I am a huge fan of Of Mice and Men. One time I tried to read Grapes of Wrath and got about 50 pages into it before putting it down. I put it down because it was far too black and white for me. The humble, hard working and family oriented Christian farmers versus the evil, greedy bank men and soul less machines. You just knew what point the author was trying to make without reading it, it was too pronounced, and I'm just not a...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
In general, Steinbeck's work was often praised for its positive view of life. When he used California as a setting, critics believed that his work flowed more naturally and clearly, such as in The Red Pony, The Grapes of Wrath, and Of Mice and Men. Although his male characters were often well developed and thus highly complimented by reviewers, Steinbeck was often criticized for neglecting the women in his stories, for leaving them flat and stereotypical.
John Steinbeck's The Red Pony...more
John Steinbeck's The Red Pony...more
I was less than impressed with this book. While the details of running a farm and caring for horses were vivid and interesting, the four "chapters" (which read more like individual vignettes) were disjointed. It seemed like four separate stories where the characters just happened to have the same names. The stories were rarely linked together nor was any idea of time duration explained. Jody is always a "young boy," despite at least one year passing throughout the book.
...more
...more
The Red Pony is about a boy named Jody and his miniature adventures in life. The book is broken up into four parts which read more as four separate stories in Jody's life, as opposed to sequential chapters.
The first part tells how Jody gets a red pony who he loves and adores, and dreams of the adventures they will have together; but after he trains it the horse dies/has to be put to death.
The second part tells of how a man Gitano comes through and stays with Jody's fam...more
The first part tells how Jody gets a red pony who he loves and adores, and dreams of the adventures they will have together; but after he trains it the horse dies/has to be put to death.
The second part tells of how a man Gitano comes through and stays with Jody's fam...more
Our library has a 1945 edition published by Viking Press with color illustrations by Wesley Dennis. In 27 years it has circulated 22 times. I wondered about its "Young Adult" classification.
The book is composed of four unconnected stories featuring a ten year old boy named Jody who lives on a ranch in the Salinas Valley some twenty miles inland from the coastal town of Monterey, presumabley in the 1920's or 1930's.
The first story is about Jody's first hors...more
The book is composed of four unconnected stories featuring a ten year old boy named Jody who lives on a ranch in the Salinas Valley some twenty miles inland from the coastal town of Monterey, presumabley in the 1920's or 1930's.
The first story is about Jody's first hors...more
This book is comprised of 4 short stories, all centering around a family living near Salinas, California. The first story, after which the book is named, explores the joys of hope, and the reality of loss.
The second story, called "The Great Mountains" is my favorite of the four. In it, a stranger comes to visit, one who holds a secret, that neither the reader nor the characters are allowed to know. At one point, the young boy, Jody, discovers something about the stranger. ...more
The second story, called "The Great Mountains" is my favorite of the four. In it, a stranger comes to visit, one who holds a secret, that neither the reader nor the characters are allowed to know. At one point, the young boy, Jody, discovers something about the stranger. ...more
This was my first Steinbeck, and it won't be my last. The primary story was centered around Jody, a farm-raised, precocious, mouse-killing yet likable boy, who loved horses and dreamed of one day reaching the ocean.
Picture 1920s America, out west, on a farm that is a 3-mile walk from its closest neighbor, with a large barn, farmhands, and a wife whose hands are perpetually raw from her time spent in the kitchen, and a father whose personality is perpetually raw from his time spent livi...more
Picture 1920s America, out west, on a farm that is a 3-mile walk from its closest neighbor, with a large barn, farmhands, and a wife whose hands are perpetually raw from her time spent in the kitchen, and a father whose personality is perpetually raw from his time spent livi...more
One of the most vivid books my mom ever read-aloud to me when I was a girl. I still distinctly remember the images that were painted in my mind with this vivid portrait of the rough life of a ranching family.
Jody's need to love and be loved by his brusque father, and the sudden understanding of death and its contrast to life are so stark; it made my sisters and me weep hot tears as my mom read. I still remember the way my heart heaved and ached as I heard the climax of this story.
Jody's need to love and be loved by his brusque father, and the sudden understanding of death and its contrast to life are so stark; it made my sisters and me weep hot tears as my mom read. I still remember the way my heart heaved and ached as I heard the climax of this story.
The Red Pony is about a boy named Jody and has four parts which are like short stories making up the whole book. The short stories tell about different events in Jody's life.
The first part tells about how Jody gets a red pony who he loves and trains. But something happens that changes everything. The second story tells about a stranger who is passing through and stays briefly with Jody's family. The third story is about Jody waiting for a colt that he is promised, which makes him...more
The first part tells about how Jody gets a red pony who he loves and trains. But something happens that changes everything. The second story tells about a stranger who is passing through and stays briefly with Jody's family. The third story is about Jody waiting for a colt that he is promised, which makes him...more
In the red pony,by Steinbeck, there is, i believe one important theme, which is that the son of Carl Tiflin, Jody, who is the protagonist and is given a small horse, as i like to see it, or a pony as others including the author describe it, must mature and take care of the pony that is given to him by his father Carl, which is named Gabilan. Personally i like the book since it is about a boy maturing and becoming responsible, which relates to me since i was always immature and never really did ...more
I’m sitting here trying to think of the best way to describe the reasons why I like John Steinbeck. I can’t put my finger on it; maybe if I was a better writer I could do him justice.
There’s a kind of atmosphere that Steinbeck creates, perhaps you can only know that atmosphere if you’ve lived in the country somewhere in the states. Maybe for that reason I can notice his attention to detail with some clarity, it feels real to me. What amazes me is that he takes the ordinary and munda...more
There’s a kind of atmosphere that Steinbeck creates, perhaps you can only know that atmosphere if you’ve lived in the country somewhere in the states. Maybe for that reason I can notice his attention to detail with some clarity, it feels real to me. What amazes me is that he takes the ordinary and munda...more
If you read my Travels with Charlie review, you'll see that I do not entirely appreciate John Steinbeck and his works. Nevertheless, this one was acceptable as the plot took us on a sort of "Old Yeller" journey. But with a horse.
Also, if this book were even a page longer I would immediately downgrade it to 2 stars. But since you can roll through this novelette, as it were, in less times than it takes me to eat lunch, it is passable.
Also, if this book were even a page longer I would immediately downgrade it to 2 stars. But since you can roll through this novelette, as it were, in less times than it takes me to eat lunch, it is passable.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Red Pony | 5 | 37 | Sep 17, 2011 02:07am |
John Steinbeck III was an American writer. He wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath, published in 1939 and the novella Of Mice and Men, published in 1937. In all, he wrote twenty-five books, including sixteen novels, six non-fiction books and several collections of short stories.
In 1962 Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Steinbeck grew u...more
More about John Steinbeck...
In 1962 Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Steinbeck grew u...more
Share This Book
6 trivia questions
1 quiz
More quizzes & trivia...
1 quiz
“No matter how good a man is, there's always some horse can pitch him.”
—
1 person liked it
More quotes…
