Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “The Red Pony” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

The Red Pony

John Steinbeck

3.44 · Rating details · 45,599 ratings · 1,969 reviews

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 ...more

Get A Copy

Paperback, 95 pages

Published March 3rd 2011 by Puffin (first published 1933)

More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about The Red Pony, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Read These In School - Would Have Preferred A Root Canal

442 books — 1,506 voters

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien

Best Books of the Decade: 1930s

670 books — 1,163 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

Average rating 3.44 ·

Rating details

· 45,599 ratings · 1,969 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Start your review of The Red Pony

Oct 03, 2013 Jason Koivu rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction

A story about a pretty, pretty precious pony? Hurray! This is going to be giggly-joyous, laughy-good pony times!...What? It's written by John Steinbeck? Fuck. Sorry pony, you or everyone you love is going to die.

Yes, these are tales of living on a ranch in the early days (well, early-ish) of California, but underneath they are more of the same Steinbeck: the vignettes of the hardscrabble life of immigrant farmers.

Specifically, it's second and third generation immigrants, such as seen in ...more

flag 128 likes · Like · see review

May 06, 2018 Mischenko rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This book was featured on Shabby Sunday @ https://readrantrockandroll.com/2018/...

I can still remember reading this book for the first time when I was in junior high school and I didn't like it. From the look of the cover and title, you'd think you'd be reading a happy little novella about a boy and his horse, but it's so much more than that.

The Red Pony is a collection of four short stories about a 10-year-old boy named Jody and his life on a ranch with his family. As time moves forward and he This book was featured on Shabby Sunday @ https://readrantrockandroll.com/2018/...

I can still remember reading this book for the first time when I was in junior high school and I didn't like it. From the look of the cover and title, you'd think you'd be reading a happy little novella about a boy and his horse, but it's so much more than that.

The Red Pony is a collection of four short stories about a 10-year-old boy named Jody and his life on a ranch with his family. As time moves forward and he matures, Jody is exposed to multiple events and learns many lessons on what it means to be a man. Much of what he learns comes from his father and the farm hand named Billy. He looks up to them both.

"Jody did not ask where his father and Billy Buck were riding that day, but he wished he might go along. His father was a disciplinarian. Jody obeyed him in everything without questions of any kind."

I don't want to summarize the four stories and spoil them for those that haven't read this, but I will say I had a good mix of emotions when reading it for the second time. I was sad and angry multiple times and didn't care for a few of the characters, but there was happiness here too, especially when Jody gains some responsibility and gets excited about upcoming future events like visiting with his grandfather, or caring for his pony by himself for the first time.

"Jody was glad when they had gone. He took brush and currycomb from the wall, took down the barrier of the box stall and stepped cautiously in."

One thing I didn't like, was how I didn't really see Jody's character change over time. With the death he's experienced, he certainly doesn't seem to be effected by it much and maybe that's because as a boy, he wasn't allowed to share his feelings vocally. His actions portray anger, but not a whole lot of sympathy for the animals themselves as he still continues to irritate them by throwing rocks, etc. He seems to forget about how sad he was to lose a friend to death and doesn't make the connection.

There are many themes in this book including coming of age, tragedy, death and disappointment to mention a few, but also one I didn't truly pick up on the first time I read it. It appears that the modern men in the story don't feel that they measure up to older men from the past. This is something I experienced myself--even as a female--when I moved out to the country. Being raised in the city meant that I didn't have the experience the country folk had as far as raising your own food, and in turn, putting the animals to death. A lady I met within the first year of living in the country told me that my generation weren't survivors and I had to stand corrected as I realized there was no way I was going to cut a chicken's head off with my hand like she did so effortlessly, in fact, I wasn't ever going to do it. There were multiple times in the book that I cringed because of the details that were given and it reminded me of this very moment in my life, but this is farm life, whether you're exposed or not and that's just part of it.

Overall, this is a powerful little novel and worth a try. You might end up hating it, or you might be sucked into the writing like I was because it's so descriptive and realistic. I wound up devouring this in one sitting when reading it for the second time.

My copy is from 1992, not very old, but still vintage. It's in good condition for the most part with mainly cover wear.

My rating is 4**** ...more

flag 121 likes · Like · see review

Aug 14, 2016 Henry Avila rated it liked it · review of another edition

Sometime in the early 1930's, on an isolated small ranch, in northern California's long, rugged, Salinas Valley, a boy of ten, mischievous Jody Tiflin, lives with his parents, stern father Carl, and the equally tough, but loving mother Ruth, they are poor like everyone else, in the area, yet manage to eke out a living, their only hired hand the very capable Billy Buck, an expert in taking care of horses...Two dogs, four cats, six horses and the same amount of cows, many pigs, and more chickens, Sometime in the early 1930's, on an isolated small ranch, in northern California's long, rugged, Salinas Valley, a boy of ten, mischievous Jody Tiflin, lives with his parents, stern father Carl, and the equally tough, but loving mother Ruth, they are poor like everyone else, in the area, yet manage to eke out a living, their only hired hand the very capable Billy Buck, an expert in taking care of horses...Two dogs, four cats, six horses and the same amount of cows, many pigs, and more chickens, various wild critters that roam the land, coyotes, rabbits, gophers, plenty of birds, and numerous rodents, etcetera, a typical place in that era. The lonely boy walks a mile to school every day, nothing changes in the harsh, dull territory, until after his father and Billy Buck, return from a trip to the city of Salinas, to sell cows, bringing a gift to Jody, a beautiful, amazing, red pony, his own horse, the ecstatic child promises to take good care of the animal, with the help and knowledge of Billy Buck. He trains the colt, shows him to his envious friends, now named Gabilan, after the mysterious local mountains, that Jody always wants to explore, asking questions, to everybody around, what's over there, (they don't know, his imagination runs wild) under the wise supervision of Mr.Buck, the kid can't wait until he can put the red saddle , that came with the horse, on the animal... disappointed it will be two lengthy years, until that is possible, still the pony he is constantly thinking about, is kept clean and well fed... a new respect his father shows him, the proud lad is happy, but the future is unclear...A stranger arrives, a very old man named Gitano, who's family had owned a vast ranch , here, until it was broken up into little pieces, in fact born nearby, in a mud house , that has fallen down, he wants to stay , and never leave, besides as a youth, he had once been to the mountains, which fascinates Jody, too ancient to work, and in the great depression, money is hard to make, still insists, he won't take no for an answer... In this episodic novella, Mrs.Tiflin's father, returns for a visit, Mr.Tiflin is not happy, ( but has no choice) since all he does, is tell old stories, how he led a wagon train across the plains to California, during the old wild west days, and the Indians stealing their horses , after many such recitals , they become very boring, and nobody listens other than Jody...A slice of Americana, that has long been gone, the ghosts still haunt the valley , these pioneers can never be totally forgotten, since they made California , what it is today... whatever that is... ...more

flag 114 likes · Like · see review

Jan 03, 2013 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: novel, animals, literature, young-adult, 20th-century, united-states

The red pony, John Steinbeck (1902 - 1968)
The Red Pony is an episodic novella written by American writer John Steinbeck in 1933. The stories in the book are tales of a boy named Jody Tiflin. The book has four different stories about Jody and his life on his father's California ranch. Other main characters include Carl Tiflin – Jody's father; Billy Buck – an expert in horses and a working hand on the ranch; Mrs. Tiflin – Jody's mother; Jody's grandfather – Mrs. Tiflin's father, who has a history ...more

flag 74 likes · Like · see review

Mar 04, 2017 Michael Finocchiaro rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, pulitzer-fiction, kids, nobel-lit, young-adult, novellas

My 7yo daughter hung in there for Ch 1, but with the unexpected sad ending, she didn't wish to continue. I went on to finish the last 3 chapters which were nearly as depressing as the first one. It is beautifully written as Steinbeck usually is, but also incredibly devoid of hope. The message seems to be, outside of your family, don't get attached to anything because it will betray you or die. I felt the father character Carl Tiflin was particularly heartless and Billy Buck, the hired hand, a ...more

flag 58 likes · Like · see review

Aug 24, 2010 Michael rated it liked it

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 ...more

flag 42 likes · Like · see review

Nov 28, 2014 Duane rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2016-book-challenge, american-classics, reviewed-books, rated-books

I don't think I could read a Steinbeck novel by the fire with a glass of wine. No, more like on the back porch wearing old jeans and a work shirt, because you feel like you may get your jeans dirty and your boots dusty, and maybe even a little blood on your shirt. That's the power of his writing, his characters and settings; he will draw you in, even if you don't want to be. Not much fun inside a Steinbeck novel, at least the ones I've read. That kind of power is on display here in The Red Pony. ...more

flag 43 likes · Like · see review

Jan 28, 2011 Jessaka rated it really liked it

Shelves: my-pre-teen-years, children-preteen, nobel-prize-for-literature

Not As I Remembered It 66 Years Ago.

I read this as a child, and I cried. It may have been the first real novel that I had ever read, as I was actually6 into reading comic books at that age.

My brother was reading The Grapes of Wrath at that same time and was asking our mother if it were true about the dust bowl and depression and what the people went through. It was, she said.

My father had given my older brother a collection of John Steinbeck books, so the reason we chose him to read. I grew to ...more

flag 30 likes · Like · see review

Aug 09, 2007 k.wing rated it really liked it

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 ...more

flag 29 likes · Like · see review

Sep 25, 2012 Jessika rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, fiction, classics

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

flag 26 likes · Like · see review

Dec 09, 2008 Alayna rated it it was ok

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 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 each short story/chapter.

Here's the thing. I've never liked Steinbeck on my first read, and this is no different. Spoiler alert - I'm going to tell you the plot and spare you reading this yourself:

Chapter 1: Boy gets pony. Pony dies.
Chapter 2: Stranger comes. Stranger takes old horse and leaves.
Chapter 3: Boy promised new pony. Difficult birth. To keep promise, mare must be killed.
Chapter 4: Grandfather comes to visit; tells same stories that everyone has heard before. Boy is considerate of Grandfather, proving his maturity.
Book Ends.

My most common reaction was "are you kidding me?!" I mean, pretty much at the end of each short story/chapter I was left saying those exact words - it just unnecessary killing off of people or things of meaning to this young boy, and then no extra explanation or reason or working it in to the broader context. Its the story of a boy growing up and and the disappointments he faces along the way, but we never learn to love or identify with him. The best character is Billy Buck (the farm worker) because we feel for him so dearly; how he doesn't want to disappoint Jody, but has to because ... life is disappointing sometimes.

So, the positive: characterization is very very well done. You get the very essence of a person from just a simple description. Excellently done. Billy Buck is a wonderful character. You get a thorough sense of the place, and time, and life on the farm, and the awkwardness between father and son then. The rural life; the virtues they appreciated then (horsemanship, hard work, etc.)

The only other thing I'll point out is that I wasn't clear if it was supposed to be 4 short stories or 4 chapters. Steinbeck seems to muddy the lines between that - the third chapter refers back to the first, but the fourth reintroduces people as if we did not know.

Time to look up some other people's analysis and so I can see if there was anything I can salvage out of this experience. ...more

flag 23 likes · Like · see review

Sep 11, 2007 Lisa Bodin rated it really liked it

Shelves: booksread

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.

flag 20 likes · Like · see review

Jan 05, 2017 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: read-long-ago

I hated this book when I was required to read it, and as it was I remember reading it alone in the library in 7th grade and writing a paper because the class was reading a book I had already read. Suffice to say I'm enjoying Steinbeck more now.

flag 19 likes · Like · see review

May 21, 2017 Trevor rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, classics, reviewed

I was feeling really conflicted about this novel until the last quarter, when I started to understood the scope of what Steinbeck was trying to say.

On the surface, the story is simply a look into the life of a young boy growing up on a farm. Underneath however is the angst of an entire generation; a generation that felt they could never live up to the legendary exploits of their elders, who had ultimately fulfilled manifest destiny.

And then comes another disquiet - what else was left for them ...more

flag 17 likes · Like · see review

Dec 04, 2009 Apokripos rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Apokripos by: the "Voice"

Shelves: classics, nobel-laureate-authors, 2011-reads, award-winning-books, drama, fiction-contemporary, young-adult, historical-fiction, dark-chest-of-wonders, from-book-to-film

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

flag 15 likes · Like · see review

Mar 19, 2013 Rowena rated it it was ok

Shelves: readalongs, american-lit, short-stories

I've learned not to feel guilty about not liking books by great authors. With that being said, I give this book a 2-star rating with no feelings of remorse. It's not a terrible book, I just never really connected with the story. In all honesty I was quite underwhelmed, considering how much I enjoyed Of Mice and Men. I will definitely be reading more of Steinbeck, I'm sure I'll enjoy his others a lot more than this one.

flag 15 likes · Like · see review

Jan 15, 2015 Bettie rated it it was ok

Shelves: film-only, young-adult, winter-20142015, ouch, coming-of-age, bucolic-or-pastoral, shortstory-shortstories-novellas, casual-violence, north-americas, lifestyles-deathstyles

(view spoiler)

flag 15 likes · Like · see review

Jan 21, 2008 Andy rated it really liked it

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

flag 14 likes · Like · see review

Jul 06, 2009 brian rated it liked it · review of another edition

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 ...more

flag 15 likes · Like · see review

Jul 02, 2014 Carol rated it liked it

Shelves: classics, coming-of-age, read-2014

Well.....this Steinbeck classic was not at all what I was expecting. It depicts the dark side of ranch life and the dreadful way animals are treated, sometimes out of necessity (but still hard to stomach) and other times out of down right meanness and cruelty.

I did not care for father Carl or his young son Jody (at times) and felt sorry for horses, dogs, cats, birds, the old lonely wandering man Gitano coming home to die, and the treatment of Jody's aging grandfather.

Of course, the purpose

...more

flag 15 likes · Like · see review

May 10, 2018 David R. Dowdy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classic, drama

John Steinbeck’s The Red Pony is a sweet book about a ten-year old boy named Jody who lives with his family on a ranch near the Gabilan mountain range in northern California. The book is novella length and has four chapters although each is a distinct story.

Set in the period following the last wagon trains from the East, this is a homestead Western that’s concerned with the family’s daily routines. Mainly, though, it’s about the world seen through a boy’s eyes. There is nutrition for the soul as ...more

flag 12 likes · Like · see review

Mar 21, 2013 Nikki rated it liked it

Shelves: classics

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.

flag 11 likes · Like · see review

Oct 07, 2007 Kate rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: no one

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.

flag 10 likes · Like · see review

Nov 03, 2015 Sara rated it really liked it

Shelves: literary-fiction, short-stories-novellas, catching-up-classics

Who captures the disappoint and tragedy of everyday life like Steinbeck? The Red Pony takes place on a farm (and for those of you who have never spent time on a real farm, I can tell you that life is hard and nature is cruel). The boy, Jody, is coming of age and being faced with what it is to be human, to cope with loss, to watch the death of dreams, and to do this in the shadow of a father who tolerates no sentimentality. The last section in this series of tales in Jody's life is the most ...more

flag 9 likes · Like · see review

Aug 25, 2008 Melissa rated it liked it · 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 is a collection of ...more

flag 9 likes · Like · see review

Dec 27, 2014 aPriL does feral sometimes rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, children, read-a-second-time, literary, illuminating

I read this short novel of linked events when I was in the fifth grade. At the time, I didn't like it much. I can see why I disliked it more clearly in reading it now as an adult, even though I think the stories are a good introduction to literary writing for older elementary children. However, I can't imagine a child understanding the book's depths unless given age-appropriate guidance from an adult. Even with that guidance, the book could seem dated or too distant from their present lives I read this short novel of linked events when I was in the fifth grade. At the time, I didn't like it much. I can see why I disliked it more clearly in reading it now as an adult, even though I think the stories are a good introduction to literary writing for older elementary children. However, I can't imagine a child understanding the book's depths unless given age-appropriate guidance from an adult. Even with that guidance, the book could seem dated or too distant from their present lives without any value from a child's viewpoint. But I imagine for many teachers the novella is a good opportunity for excellent learning moments to bring up discussions of those points of nature which forever endure - human and animal, particularly relationships. I imagine it is also useful in prodding kids to tell about any real family histories about farming or ranch life.

A child, Jody Tiflin, is growing up on a 19th century ranch near Salinas, California. Not only is the little ten-year-old boy being raised in the severe manner common to the era and this class of people, but his structured responsibilities to farm animals and his parents precludes much disobedience. Money is dear, but respect for work and working hard is the true coin of this realm. Jody is permitted free time only once his chores and school hours are done, but even with this strict hierarchy of job duties life is mostly an interesting one of new adventures. As he has a huge area of half-tamed land to roam in, as well as the fact a lot of his work involves dealing with killing pests such as rats in hay stacks, or helping with the slaughtering of pigs or taking care of horses, lambs and cows, he is no stranger to the realities of life and death, childishly limited as his understanding may be. Everyone around him, including adults, live and work exactly the same way with the same responsibilities as he has been tasked, differing only in quantity of effort, time and knowledge, with the exception of his mother. She stays and works - hard - inside the farmhouse.

The opening chapters of Jody's life show us a kid who still has daydreams without much basis in reality or emotional awareness. Even though he is a curious child eager to learn, he must give his father absolute obedience and deference. This seems to be something Carl imposes perfectly only on his son. In one of the episodic events of Jody's life told in the book, when Jody's grandfather comes to visit his daughter, Jody's mother, Carl has very little patience for the old man, but he tolerates his visit. On other days, a hired man, Billy Buck, expresses his irritation openly with Carl in a number of incidents, and Mrs. Teflin feels free to reprimand Carl for his disrespect to her father. Despite Carl's lightweight tyranny, I saw enough similarities between Carl's stunted emotional life and his demands for the controlling vote in the family which resembled my much harsher childhood with my farm-born father. The mild dictatorship of Carl was enough for me to dislike him a lot.

Jody is given a pony by his father, which makes Jody incredibly happy. (view spoiler) The horse becomes a major vehicle for life lessons that go much deeper than anything Jody has already learned. For the first time, he begins to see that not only are there life events beyond anyone's ability to control, but people, even people he childishly thought without blemishes, can make mistakes or fail to live up to the infallible image of them Jody had previously held. He discovers that he is developing feelings that put him in a position that contradicts his father's. His misbehaviors bring on a new awareness that he is acting shamefully. He suddenly realizes he has rarely thought much about what is beyond his home. Jody's worldview is expanding, and by the end of the final chapter, he is now aware that it's not all about him.

This is a very quiet book about the ordinary first steps in self-realization all kids take to grow up a bit, even if the details are 19th century features. I wonder if many parents can even be bothered to stop running enough through their own fascinating hours of urban adulthood to help a kid process a book this nuanced...

There is violence in the story common to farm and ranch life, with two particularly graphic scenes, which despite their brevity, upset adults, not to mention some children, although I suspect elementary-school boys generally think those two scenes are the best parts. ...more

flag 8 likes · Like · see review

Mar 31, 2012 Anne (Booklady) Molinarolo rated it really liked it

Shelves: literary-fiction, classics, permanent-library, spring-2012, great-literary-fiction, young-adult

Steinbeck is wonderful in these 4 loose vignettes that make THE RED PONY a small, but powerful novel. He brings his succinct crisp prose to create life lessons Jody Tiflin must learn without supercilious detail. Readers know Jody is a shy, quiet boy whose sensitivity brings tears to our eyes. He just wants his father’s love; barring that, someone or something that will give him affection. He learns that no man is infallible in life, in remembrance, in death, and there is quiet dignity in Steinbeck is wonderful in these 4 loose vignettes that make THE RED PONY a small, but powerful novel. He brings his succinct crisp prose to create life lessons Jody Tiflin must learn without supercilious detail. Readers know Jody is a shy, quiet boy whose sensitivity brings tears to our eyes. He just wants his father’s love; barring that, someone or something that will give him affection. He learns that no man is infallible in life, in remembrance, in death, and there is quiet dignity in everything.

In The Gift Jody is ecstatically happy to have a beautiful red pony to care for. Gabilan learns to trust the boy and gives him the affection, Jody desperately needs. But through the sudden sickness, suffering and gruesome, buzzard-pecked death of pony, Jody learns the hardest lessons of life – death and the infallibleness of man. Despondent and growing mean, Jody learns the lesson of quiet dignity in The Great Mountains. When Carl Tiflin refuses to honor an old paisano's, request to live out his remaining years on the ranch near where he was born, Gitano simply disappears into the lonesome mountains towards the west towards his “melted” adobe homestead, riding Carl’s old and decrepit mare ominously carrying only a sharp-bladed rapier.

Against this gloomy backdrop of loss, The Promise brings hope and reaffirmation, but culminates in the harsh choice between life of the birthing mare, Nellie, and her breech-positioned colt. The bittersweet outcome is difficult to accept but does offer at least a glimmer of optimism. The final story, The Leader of the People, neither mentions the loss of Jody's red pony nor his presumed raising of the newborn colt. Instead, the connection to the other stories and unifying message of the novella can be found, perhaps within the final scene "Grandfather was about to refuse, and then he saw Jody's face," leading him to accept Jody's offer to make him a glass of lemonade. Through the simple act of accepting Jody's offer, his grandfather nourished the boy's sense of purpose; while -Grandfather's own life purpose has withered: his unforgettable year leading a group of westward bound settlers decades ago. Steinbeck shows us readers that the boy’s life lays ahead full of potential and purposeful future. Each man must go through darkness before the dawn’s light shines upon his face.

...more

flag 7 likes · Like · see review

Apr 20, 2008 Emily rated it it was amazing

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.

flag 7 likes · Like · see review

Jan 09, 2009 Kira rated it did not like it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

flag 7 likes · Like · see review

Jul 12, 2017 Liisa rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2017, classics, my-read-books

It had been too long since reading John Steinbeck and I really missed his simplistic style, real and touching stories about ordinary people living in the America of the past. The Red Pony was surprising in the scarcity of characters and events and at some points it felt a bit too simple. But when thinking of the story after turning the last page I started to understand the beauty it has. Then I was once again amazed by Steinbecks brilliance. I love how his books always leave me analyzing the ...more

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Catching up on Cl...: The Red Pony - November 2015	37	146	May 06, 2018 02:36PM
Never too Late to...: [2017 September] Short Story: 'Red Pony' by John Steinbeck	24	33	Sep 30, 2017 07:21PM
burn it or don´t	3	34	Jan 22, 2017 12:33PM
Catching up on Cl...: * The Red Pony-Spoilers	1	38	Dec 04, 2015 11:41AM
The Red Pony	6	61	Aug 23, 2015 05:19PM

Readers also enjoyed

See similar books…

Genres

Classics

1,207 users

Fiction

929 users

Literature

167 users

Young Adult

121 users

Animals

111 users

See top shelves…

About John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck

16,326 followers

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 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 region of California, a culturally diverse place of rich migratory and immigrant history. This upbringing imparted a regionalistic flavor to his writing, giving many of his works a distinct sense of place.

Steinbeck moved briefly to New York City, but soon returned home to California to begin his career as a writer. Most of his earlier work dealt with subjects familiar to him from his formative years. An exception was his first novel Cup of Gold which concerns the pirate Henry Morgan, whose adventures had captured Steinbeck's imagination as a child.

In his subsequent novels, Steinbeck found a more authentic voice by drawing upon direct memories of his life in California. Later he used real historical conditions and events in the first half of 20th century America, which he had experienced first-hand as a reporter.

Steinbeck often populated his stories with struggling characters; his works examined the lives of the working class and migrant workers during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. His later body of work reflected his wide range of interests, including marine biology, politics, religion, history, and mythology.

One of his last published works was Travels with Charley, a travelogue of a road trip he took in 1960 to rediscover America. He died in 1968 in New York of a heart attack and his ashes are interred in Salinas.

Seventeen of his works, including The Grapes of Wrath (1940), Cannery Row (1945), The Pearl (1947), and East of Eden (1952), went on to become Hollywood films, and Steinbeck also achieved success as a Hollywood writer, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Story in 1944 for Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat. ...more

Books by John Steinbeck

More…

Trivia About The Red Pony

17 trivia questions
1 quiz

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from The Red Pony

“No matter how good a man is, there's always some horse can pitch him.” — 10 likes

“It became his habit to creep out of bed even before his mother was awake, to slip into his clothes and to go quietly down to the barn to see Gabilan. In the grey quiet mornings when the land and the brush and the houses and the trees were silver-grey and black like a photograph negative, he stole toward the barn, past the sleeping stones and the sleeping cypress tree. The turkeys, roosting in the tree out of coyotes' reach, clicked drowsily. The fields glowed with a grey frost-like light and in the dew the tracks of rabbits and of field mice stood out sharply. The good dogs came stiffly out of their little houses, hackles up and deep growls in their throats. Then they caught Jody's scent, and their stiff tails rose up and waved a greeting Doubletree Mutt with the big thick tail, and Smasher, the incipient shepherd-then went lazily back to their warm beds. It was a strange time and a mysterious journey, to Jody -an extension of a dream. When he first had the pony he liked to torture himself during the trip by thinking Gabilan would not be in his stall, and worse, would never have been there. And he had other delicious little self-induced pains. ” — 8 likes

More quotes…

See a Problem?

Preview — The Red Pony by John Steinbeck

The Red Pony

Get A Copy

Friend Reviews

Reader Q&A

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

Readers also enjoyed

Genres

About John Steinbeck

Books by John Steinbeck

Trivia About The Red Pony

Quotes from The Red Pony

See a Problem?

Preview — The Red Pony by John Steinbeck

The Red Pony

Get A Copy

Friend Reviews

Reader Q&A

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

Readers also enjoyed

Genres

About John Steinbeck

Books by John Steinbeck

Trivia About The Red Pony

Quotes from The Red Pony

new topic
Discuss This Book