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The Red Pony
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, a hot-tempered pony his father gives him. With Billy Buck, the hired hand, Jody tends and trains his horse, restlessly anticipating the mom...more
Paperback, 128 pages
Published
October 1st 1994
by Penguin Classics
(first published 1933)
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Sep 21, 2010
Architeuthis
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
literature,
1900-1949
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 Faulkner, flicking Mark Twain out of his way like a littl...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 Faulkner, flicking Mark Twain out of his way like a littl...more
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 snorting to the water-trough an...more
from the red pony:
"At last he walked snorting to the water-trough an...more
12 likes · like · see review
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.
Oct 28, 2007
k.wing
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Steinbeck fans
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 deal with their e...more
It is a little difficult to get into in the beginning, but overall, this book shows the raw and unpredicible way people deal with their e...more
Aug 27, 2008
Melissa
rated it
3 of 5 stars
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 is a collection of...more
The Red Pony is a collection of...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 reading some Steinbeck ever...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 reading some Steinbeck ever...more
9 likes · like · see review
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 at the end of ea...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.
7 likes · like · see review
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 the therapist chair and I'm back to finish the book review. T...more
Alright, I stopped hyper-ventilaing in the therapist chair and I'm back to finish the book review. T...more
20 likes · like · see review
Feb 23, 2011
jzhunagev
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to jzhunagev by:
the "Voice"
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, to which I, as of...more
12 likes · like · see review
Steinbeck writes beautifully. It doesn't matter what he's writing about, I think I'd read it anyway for the measured, deliberate, crystal-clear prose.
The Red Pony is not really about the pony. I'm sure as a lit student I could find a lot to say about it, but I'm happier sitting back and letting it happen. It's about growing up and coming to understand life, in stages, and as such it has no end: Jody's a little older and wiser at the end than the beginning, but he has a long way to go still too.
The Red Pony is not really about the pony. I'm sure as a lit student I could find a lot to say about it, but I'm happier sitting back and letting it happen. It's about growing up and coming to understand life, in stages, and as such it has no end: Jody's a little older and wiser at the end than the beginning, but he has a long way to go still too.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
4 likes · like · see review
This book made me want to live on a farm and get my boy a pony. It wasn't glamorized, but it was realistic depiction of farm life. (not that I really know). It is nice reading Steinbeck who fills his read with real detail after reading so many books lacking characterization and setting.
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 care o...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 care o...more
This cycle of coming-of-age stories tells of a spirited adolescent boy whose encounters with birth and death teach him about loss and profound emptiness, instead of giving him the more conventional hero's pragmatic "maturity."
ReviewBook of four related stories by John Steinbeck, published in 1937 and expanded in 1945. The stories chronicle a young boy's maturation. In "The Gift," the best-known story, young Jody Tiflin is given a red pony by his rancher father. Under ranch hand Billy Buck's g
Book Review- The Red Pony by John Steinbeck
Jonathan So
5th Period
4/1/13
The Novel "The Red Pony" by John Steinbeck, is about a boy named Jody who lives on a ranch and faces many horrible obsticles that fall in his path. Such as his horse, Gabilan dying and being eaten by vultures. In the end, Jody learns a lot about the ways of life, and the troubling times that we all have to face. This novel was very depressing and sad. One reason of that is becuase Jody tries his very best to make friends with...more
Jonathan So
5th Period
4/1/13
The Novel "The Red Pony" by John Steinbeck, is about a boy named Jody who lives on a ranch and faces many horrible obsticles that fall in his path. Such as his horse, Gabilan dying and being eaten by vultures. In the end, Jody learns a lot about the ways of life, and the troubling times that we all have to face. This novel was very depressing and sad. One reason of that is becuase Jody tries his very best to make friends with...more
THE GIFT: Abridged version of THE RED PONY
“Surviving Isolation of the Heart”
This abridged version of Steinbeck’s poignantly grim novella about a boy’s love for his new pony was beautifully packaged by Creative Education, Inc. in 1993. Dedicated to “the continuation of the fine literature for readers of all ages” this short book (64 pages) presents the story in non-chapter format. It highlights Jody’s relationships with Gabilan (the title pony), his taciturn father, Carl, and the horse-wise ra...more
“Surviving Isolation of the Heart”
This abridged version of Steinbeck’s poignantly grim novella about a boy’s love for his new pony was beautifully packaged by Creative Education, Inc. in 1993. Dedicated to “the continuation of the fine literature for readers of all ages” this short book (64 pages) presents the story in non-chapter format. It highlights Jody’s relationships with Gabilan (the title pony), his taciturn father, Carl, and the horse-wise ra...more
The Red Pony is all about loss and pain, which was what John Steinbeck was experiencing when he wrote the novella. His mother was in the hospital dying. He wrote the book as an outlet for the pain and loss that he was experiencing. The people, places, and events in the book were modeled after people and places that he knew, and events that he had experienced. He said that he knew that if he could write a book during a time like this that he could write good stuff at any time.
The theme of this b...more
The theme of this b...more
Feb 13, 2013
Katarina
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
i-want-my-life-back
To be fair, I might have appreciated this book more if I had read it yesterday rather than back in 8th grade. But I don't think I would have rated it much better.
Parts of the narrative remain vividly in my mind, like where Steinbeck describes the braining of a buzzard. Yeah, I don't need that. Ever. Sadly, many of the less graphic, more appealing parts of the story weren't memorable.
I wasn't impressed with the construction of the narrative, either. It's broken down into 4 more-or-less distinct...more
Parts of the narrative remain vividly in my mind, like where Steinbeck describes the braining of a buzzard. Yeah, I don't need that. Ever. Sadly, many of the less graphic, more appealing parts of the story weren't memorable.
I wasn't impressed with the construction of the narrative, either. It's broken down into 4 more-or-less distinct...more
I read this in the fifth grade, this was seven years ago, so this review should be read with that in mind.
I had been placed into an advanced reading class with a teacher who looked like a catfish and smelled like death, in a classroom the size of a closet with very little ventilation. Just put yourself at our oval table, and then imagine yourself reading The Red Pony, and you will hopefully understand why I refused to read--or complained without end about reading--anything that John Steinbeck ha...more
I had been placed into an advanced reading class with a teacher who looked like a catfish and smelled like death, in a classroom the size of a closet with very little ventilation. Just put yourself at our oval table, and then imagine yourself reading The Red Pony, and you will hopefully understand why I refused to read--or complained without end about reading--anything that John Steinbeck ha...more
The Red Pony by John Steinbeck (120 pages) (Young Adult)
The setting of the book is in a Native American ranch led by the Tiflin family. The protagonist of the story is Jody Tiflin, who is a young boy living in the ranch with his family. Carl Tiflin, his father, is the owner of the ranch and is characterized as stern, and unemotional but his love towards his son can be seen throughout the book. Another main character is Billy Buck, an only worker of the ranch, who is described as heart-warming an...more
The setting of the book is in a Native American ranch led by the Tiflin family. The protagonist of the story is Jody Tiflin, who is a young boy living in the ranch with his family. Carl Tiflin, his father, is the owner of the ranch and is characterized as stern, and unemotional but his love towards his son can be seen throughout the book. Another main character is Billy Buck, an only worker of the ranch, who is described as heart-warming an...more
The book The Red Pony by John Steinbeck is a wonderful account of the experiences of childhood. Jody is a ten year old boy who is growing up on a farm in Salinas, California at the foothills of the mountains. Throughout the book, Steinbeck tells four different tales that occur throughout Jody’s childhood. The reader is thoroughly engaged in the story not only because these chronicles are both riveting and descriptive, but because Steinbeck’s detailed descriptions bring the scenes to life in the...more
Steinbeck's purpose in writing The Red Pony was to teach the readers a lesson. In every different part of the book, there was a new lesson learned;always directed at Jody. Steinbeck used Jody's youth to make the lessons known.
The theme of the book relates to the purpose a lot. I think that the theme is coming of age, or maturing emotionally, rather than physically getting older. Steinbeck was trying to say that just because you are young, does not mean that you cannot be mature, or be able to un...more
The theme of the book relates to the purpose a lot. I think that the theme is coming of age, or maturing emotionally, rather than physically getting older. Steinbeck was trying to say that just because you are young, does not mean that you cannot be mature, or be able to un...more
The 1st best thing about this book is that it’s a small book of about 100 mini pages and I finished it in one hour.
2nd best thing about this book is that though pony dies, little Jody lives. Well reading Steinbeck’s book one can expect that naturally. Something bad happens first then comes worst. So when pony died in the 1st chapter I was worried for little Jody. Then in the 2nd chapter little Jody is kind of ok again, not very upset about his pony. He was out torturing dogs and toads, and other...more
2nd best thing about this book is that though pony dies, little Jody lives. Well reading Steinbeck’s book one can expect that naturally. Something bad happens first then comes worst. So when pony died in the 1st chapter I was worried for little Jody. Then in the 2nd chapter little Jody is kind of ok again, not very upset about his pony. He was out torturing dogs and toads, and other...more
I was completely blown away by this short novel. Completely. Blown. Away. I'm not going into a lengthy review here, but let me talk about some points.
Okay, so this novel isn't really about horses. I'm thinking there are a lot of people out there missing the point. The Red Pony isn't what I would call one cohesive novel, but rather a collection of several glimpses into the farm/ranch life of Jody. The whole point of the pony is that Jody is learning to grow up, and he's learning that life isn't...more
Okay, so this novel isn't really about horses. I'm thinking there are a lot of people out there missing the point. The Red Pony isn't what I would call one cohesive novel, but rather a collection of several glimpses into the farm/ranch life of Jody. The whole point of the pony is that Jody is learning to grow up, and he's learning that life isn't...more
This is not a single story, but a series of anecdotes about a prepubescent boy, Jody Tiflin, who lives with his parents on a ranch in the mountains beyond Salinas, California. Much of what John Steinbeck wrote is based in this area: he was born and raised here and he has an obvious affection for the place and its people.
Why did this book become a curricular standard at schools around the world? Was it because the protagonist was identifiable to school-goers? Is it even suitable for children? App...more
Why did this book become a curricular standard at schools around the world? Was it because the protagonist was identifiable to school-goers? Is it even suitable for children? App...more
What a fantastic collection of stories. Eric Clapton criticized them for being too depressing, but I think he seriously missed the point. Do the stories have happy endings? No, but neither does much of life. We stumble through everything, make mistakes, get stuck in terrible and unfair situations, and finally grow old and die. We have no control over most of this. It's an illusion.
These stories tell about the gradual stripping away of those illusions. You see Jody's relationship with Billy and h...more
These stories tell about the gradual stripping away of those illusions. You see Jody's relationship with Billy and h...more
2 likes · like · see review
Jun 27, 2012
Christine Boyer
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Old west, pioneer life, people nostalgic for the "old days"
Recommended to Christine by:
Julie
Wow! No wonder Steinbeck is considered one of the best authors ever! This is a small book that I almost missed on the library shelf - thanks, Julie, for the recommendation. It's set up as 4 short vignettes, but all featuring the same main characters, young Jody, his parents, and the ranch hand. We all know Steinbeck can write epic novels - many were turned into great movies. But I can't get over how effectively he can create something so powerful in such a short story. From a teaching perspectiv...more
John Steinbeck's The Red Pony — which some critics believe represents one of Steinbeck's best works — is divided into four separate sections, unlike standard chapters. The sections are held together by common characters, location, and themes, and they follow a similar time line, but the continuation of story line is not as smooth as the transition between normal chapters of a novel. They all follow the trials of Jody Tiflin, however, as he progresses through the rites of passage from young boy t...more
The Red Pony. Well, just by glancing at the cover and skimming over the title, you'd think it would be all about horses, right? Wow, wrong. Yikes. At most, about a third of the book was about a pony. One chapter in the beginning, and one chapter in the end. Granted the book had only five or six chapters, but the lack of horse in the text was astonishing. In the beginning, young Jody is an average ranch kid who goes to school and does his chores like a good young man -- I'm assuming it was set in...more
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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 up in the Salinas Valley...more
More about John Steinbeck...
In 1962 Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Steinbeck grew up in the Salinas Valley...more
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“The bird looked much smaller dead than alive. Jody felt a little mean pain in his stomach, so he took out his pocketknife and cut off the bird's head. Then he disemboweled it, and took off its wings; and finally he threw all the pieces into the brush. He didn't care about the bird, or its life, but he knew what older people would say if they had seen him kill it; he was ashamed because of their potential opinion.”
—
1 person liked it
“The old man slowly unwrapped the shining blade and let the lamplight slip along it for a moment. Then he wrapped it up again. 'You go now. I want to go to bed. He blew out the lamp almost before Jody had closed the door.
As he went back towards the house, Jody knew one thing more sharply than he had ever known anything. He must never tell anyone about the rapier. It would be a dreadful thing to tell anyone about it, for it would destroy some fragile structure of truth. It was truth that might be shattered by division.”
—
1 person liked it
More quotes…
As he went back towards the house, Jody knew one thing more sharply than he had ever known anything. He must never tell anyone about the rapier. It would be a dreadful thing to tell anyone about it, for it would destroy some fragile structure of truth. It was truth that might be shattered by division.”
Aug 28, 2011 09:08am
Sep 18, 2011 09:47am