The Red Pony (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century)

As a piece of literature, for an older reader, 30 years later I can admit it has merit.

The problem is that because it's a "classic", it tends to be on school reading lists. And because the title is "The Red Pony," naturally teachers (or parents, or students themselves) recommend it to readers interested in horses. This happens especially because there are few if any animal books on the standard "great books" lists.

For a student of 16 or 17, this might be fine.

I read it at the age of 9.

For a 9 year old, this story is too graphic, too traumatic, too nasty for its nuance or lessons to be appreciated. It left me angry and in tears, especially horrible as some cruel joke that the only way an animal-oriented book could be on the reading list was to have the pony die a terrible death and then for the boy to have to watch the pony's eyes plucked out and eaten by vultures. As my revenge I absolutely refused to touch another Steinbeck book for 20 years.

Don't let this happen to your kids. Introduce them to Steinbeck via one of his other works, and wait on this one until they are older.

Gory? Depressing? Well, if you want all that unrealistic (...), go read Harry Potter for the 20th time. Steinbeck is not talking about California last year, or even last decade. This is a different time, where people weren't so "civilized" (...). Myself, I prefer "over-descriptive" language when it helps put me in a time and place that no longer exists. Who else writes about nature and setting better than Steinbeck? I read the "Red Pony" when I was 12 and "The Leader of the People" was what inspired me to higher literature and writing. I guess it didn't have all the "action" of a pokemon cartoon, or a comic book. In real life people don't fly and always win. People and animals die. One day someone you know will die. How will you write about it? People do have "angst" and (...) things do happen still, to people of all ages. Eventually one must set their feet on the ground and look around and realize that life is most beautiful when you can acknowledge the negative. It is only then is the positive worthwhile and of any weight or value. What (...) are our kids reading nowadays?

I have never been to Salinas Valley, but Steinbeck's short stories in his The Red Pony bring me to that very scene. Of the four jewels in this fiction, "The Great Mountains" stands out. The wizened geezer Gitano rides the old nag Easter with that rapier he inherited from his father to do two things in mind: to kill the old nag and himself. He was riding with no saddle but with a piece of rope for a bridle. He didn't need either a saddle or his old sack containing pairs of worn-out socks on his way to the Great Mountains, that is to Heaven. Requiescat!

I have read the short version and the long version (which includes a middle chapter about an old Indian man). Neither version is one I would give a child, unless I wanted to put them off horses for life.
The boy on a small ranch is given a pony which contracts a disease called strangles and dies.
The old Indian steals an old horse that's worth nothing and rides off on it.
The boy is promised a foal from a mare but when the mare's foaling goes wrong a ranch hand bashes her head in and cuts her open to rip out the foal.
Still think it's suitable for young people? It's not.

Having finished this book a few minutes ago, I thought I'd pop onto the store to read some interpretations of what the connecting factor might be between the four short stories. Thank goodness for the top three reviews, because hardly anybody else seemed to be able to get over the fact that the pony dies 40 pages in. (Maybe this is an indication that the novel is addressing something other than a red pony? Any basic English course would explain that literature requires a bit of digging.)

Perhaps I'm jumping the gun a bit by reviewing this now (I still need to think it over some more), but my initial reaction was that this is a book to be savored. I found myself rereading passages again and again, trying to get the gist of exactly what was being explained. Having read several of his works (East of Eden being my favorite), I've never viewed Steinbeck as being a pessimist. There's always a glimmer of hope, albeit subtle, in each of his seemingly hopeless scenarios. The Red Pony is no different. It may be blunt, bloody, and cruel at times, but the novel marches on with new scenarios to be explored, new mistakes to be made, and new difficulties to be endured. And when the sting of the event has passed, we find, to our surprise, new pearls of wisdom in our possession that serve to further enrich our understanding of life and love and loss.

Such is life. Such is The Red Pony.

The Red Pony

By John Steinbeck

In The Red Pony by John Steinbeck, a boy named Jody is raised on a

ranch in California. Jody is really good at ranching. But nothing will

prepare him for this connection with Gabilan. Jody tends and trains his

horse every day so he can ride Gabilan someday, but when Gabilan falls

ill, Jody figures out there is a lot more he had to do with his horse

than what he had been doing.This book is not recommended, because there

is no real action in the book. An opinion of the book is that the author

needs to add more action to the book, like Jody meets someone and they

push him around and he has to go to the emergency room because the bad

friends hurt him. The only good part some people liked was that Jody

tried to jump in the middle of his shadow with every step, and the people

liked it because it looked fun and the other part I liked was that

Gabilan dies and Jody is going through a really rough time. Jody has to

try to deal with the fact that Gabilan died

If I could I would give it negative one million!!!!!!! I understand that this story is about life and death. But I had to read it for school the cussing and vivid metaphores are too much for kids 15 or under. Example The smell of intestines mingled with the fresh morning air. He beat the buzzerds head untill it was a red mushy pulp. All the kids reading it with me said that it scarred them for life especialy ones that love horses. As they discribe the sound of metal against bone as Bill Buck kills Nellie cuts her open takes out the foal dropes it at Jodys feet and says theres your foal just because he promised him he'd get it. If you have children or are not parchale to bad language do not read this book. This book is a crime against humanity and people that want to grow up in a safe nonviolent world were you don't have to be horrible people to keep a silly little promise.

While there are other, greater works by Steinbeck, this one combines his disarmingly simple prose style with a number of concepts from his work in the 30s and early 40s. Mainly, the strange and ultimately destructive drive of humans in industrial society (as shown in the 4th story). The rest is a fascinating portrait of a boy's coming-of-age and alienation from his father. maybe people are tired of coming-of-age stories. but that doesn't mean Steinbeck's version isn't well-done.

The story takes place on a ranch in northern Calafornia. This story is in modern times but they use horses to get around. The author is very descriptive in this book, espesally when discribing the ranch.
The main character is Jody Tifflin. He is very obedient with his parents. He does exactly what his parents tell him to do. He can also get very angry at times. He never lets anyone see his anger because he always goes somewhere else to let it out.
Another important character in this book is Billy Buck. Billy is very mysterious. He keeps to himself a lot. He only talks if he has to, and he never tells anybody about himself.
This book is about a boy who dosn't have any real friends so his father buys him a horse. Something happens to this horse. Read this book to find out what.
I hated this book. I thought it was way to descriptive. Maybe you will like this book but I did not!

The story takes place on a ranch in northern Calafornia. This story is in modern times but they use horses to get around. The author is very descriptive in this book, espesally when discribing the ranch.
The main character is Jody Tifflin. He is very obedient with his parents. He does exactly what his parents tell him to do. He can also get very angry at times. He never lets anyone see his anger because he always goes somewhere else to let it out.
Another important character in this book is Billy Buck. Billy is very mysterious. He keeps to himself a lot. He only talks if he has to, and he never tells anybody about himself.
This book is about a boy who dosn't have any real friends so his father buys him a horse. Something happens to this horse. Read this book to find out what.
I hated this book. I thought it was way to descriptive. Maybe you will like this book but I did not!

I noticed when reading "My Friend Flicka" that the critics compared it to this book, so I went ahead and bought it. Trying to figure out why it has not gone out of print is now one of my puzzlers.
The horse dies in the first chapter. The characters are completely unlikeable. The book has no plot or storyline. I get tounge-tied every time I try to tell someone how stupid this book is. My vocabulary just isn't large enough.
I guess I should read it again, to see if I get anything out of it. Some reviewers appear to think it's brilliant.
If you want great literature about horses, read the "My Friend Flicka" trilogy instead. There you'll see genuinely great characters with something like a plot to tie them together.

Like so many of Steinbeck's other novels, The Red Pony is full of vivid imagery, raw emotion, and touching themes. However, unlike many of Steinbeck's other works, I found the Red pony to be a very unsatisfying novel. It has wonderful character and plot development, but it dosn't take us anywhere. We are introduced to the Pony, but it dies. Nothing is accomplished by its death. Each chapter of the story finishes like this. The reader is given very little completion at the end of eachc hapter and less at the end of the book. over all, the style was good, the plot development was good, the themes were powerful, but there was nothing to bring it together in the end. Of Mice & Men and The Pearl are both much more enjoyable novellas by Steinbeck.

Having reread Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath this year, I had a clear memory of Steinbeck’s power to tell a story both in action and in feeling. And then I read The Red Pony. Wow. Can I say that I think Red Pony may be an even better book than Grapes? Hard to believe, I know, but true, I think. A 1001 CBYMRBYGU.

Even though the book "The Red Pony", by John Stienbeck, was one of the saddest books I have ever read I would recommend it because the plot has many interesting turns and the theme is very emotional. "The Red Pony" was about a young boy, Jody, and his family who live on a ranch. The book consists of four short stories, each of which involves Jody learning a lesson of life. It is so tragic because in every story, something dies. In "The Gift" and "The Promise", two horses die, in "The Great Mountains" it is implied that Gitano committed suicide, and in "The Leader of the People" a part of Grandfather dies when he realizes that Westering has passed. When he realizes this, his whole motivation is gone, so a part of him is missing, or dead. My favorite story in "The Red Pony" was "The Promise", because I enjoyed the way Jody would imagine things about what he was doing on the way home from school, and about what the new colt would be like. Over all, I found this book very enjoyable, even though it was so melancholy.

A great collection of stories about real life where sometimes things go wrong and it's ok to be sad and angry. I think it would be a good selection for a preteen although older would be fine. I enjoyed the way Steinbeck wrote to make the reader experience what the boy feels.

This book is so full of symbols, metaphores, and comparisen to the real world that those who interpret this book as that of sadness and depression will be lost in those feelings. It is true that the pony dies (something quite on the forbidden track as an educational book considering that it should be something leading to a bit more benificial conclusion) and the book mainly talks about how the boy suffers from this loss. But is this all that Steinbeck tells? Isn't telling of a suffering the best way to tell the story of overcoming one? The ending is critiqued mainly because it doesn't tell the reader of how it all ends. Is it a happy ending (than didn't Steinbeck over do a bit on the suffering?) or is it a sad ending? The ending is for us to choose. Unlike other books where the "happily lived ever after" rings in your mind echoing in a hollow way, Steinbeck makes the reader ponder over it. He never says everybody becomes happy because growing out of a childhood(which is the progress this story tells) is not a happy ending... is never! a happy ending in this harsh world. But in the last secene, Steinbeck implies a success, a success of overcoming the loss of the pony and the success of growing out of childhood. After the last lines are read, after the book is closed on someone's lap, it will make them think furiously.. is this a tragic story, or is it a triumphant one. And then they will see a bit of themselves in this story.. and ask: have i succeeded.

Meandering, pointless, tons of loose ends (and not in a good way). What happened to the colt? What happened to the Indian (Mexican?) that showed up? I give this two stars simply because it is John Steinbeck. Otherwise ... one star. How he could write East of Eden and Grapes of Wrath, and still let this see the light of day is beyond me. It's like he just kept coming up with random plot lines, used them for a few pages, then moved on.

This book was very boring. It's hard to understand the plot of life and death and doesn't go into much detail or develop the characters. The book skips around and does not make the chapters connect. Some readers say that it has a lot of symbolism in it and yes, there is some. But if you're looking for something that grips you and actually makes want to read farther than chapter one, then read something else like Richard Wright's Native Son. If you ask me, this book was a waste of trees. Definetly not Steinback's best.

I do not recommend "The Red Pony'' to anyone else, or to anyone wanting to read a good story, and if you're planning to read this junk, I urge you to think twice. If you read this, I tell you, you will experience boredom...The novel is a badly written story, and what's worse, it is not always about a red pony, Gabilan, who only makes a appearance in the first chapter, and, shocking, he dies. The book is divided into three chapters, each containing a different story. The first is about a red pony, the second is about a dumb old man, and third, oh jeez! It's about a horse, again!
And what's even worse it that this deals with characters dying, because it deals with the seriousness of life and death, and throughout the book, you'll find stories concerning that! First, Gabilan dies (previously, he gets a shocking surgery,his troat gets cut in order to remove some poison), next, the old man wants to die in the place of his birth, and then a horse named Nellie gets pregnant (a surgery is performed).
Ta-da! That's the story of the Red Pony, and it isn't even a good one...it is about life and death, but is poorly done...please do NOT read this book, or else you'll suffer hours of boredom!! This junk deserves zero stars. Star away from it!!!

In the story," The Red Pony" which was written by John Steinbeck was written in four different stories. These stories consisted of parts. The main character of the book is a boy named Jody Tiflin. He is a boy who lives on a ranch with his family. Also another main characteris a man named Billy Buck who works on the ranch. Billy is a very kind person who teaches Jody many things about all of the horses.
Throughout the four difernent stories Jody learns to do many things with horses including watching them progress and watching them go through various difficult things. He also learnes various leasons about how his father treats outsiders and even his own family. Thoughout the story Jody and Billy gain trust and lose it, they become very close though trust.
When I was reading this book I had mixed reactions toward it. In certian parts of the book there was alot of action while in other parts it was very slow. But overall the book was very entertaining and gave me a good idea of what a boy has to do to take care of a horse, alot of work and determination.
In conclusion, I strongly suggest you go out and read this book, it has a very strong theme and plot. I really enjoyed reading this book and I encourage you to go out a reed this book.

Even though i am not quite finshed with this book i can tell that is amazingly well written. I'm a horse lover so naturaly this book was very sad for me. I am 12 but i think this book is more for young adults/adults, it consists of four stories about a boy named Jody who live on a ranch in California. Each story Jody learns a life lesson. The way Steinbeck wrote this makes you feel like you know the characters and when something tragic happens you find yoursef crying. I highly recomend this book it is a good one:)

I have read several of John Steinbeck's short novels and he is one of few authors that possesses the intelligence to cram more meaning and sybolism into less than 100 pages than your feeble minds can comprehend. This book is not about a pony....It is about real life and real death and how a young boy can learn to accept it. Steinbeck is simply a genius......

Steinbeck does it again. Some people do not like this book, but if you sit down and spend the time really reading and listening to it, you'll understand what steinbeck is trying to tell us. It's not just about a boy and a pony, it's about life and slowing down to look at it. I don;t want to give the book away, but all I can say is read it with your heart and not you eyes.

I don't understand why some of the reviewers dislike this book. Or rather, I do understand. A reader has to concentrate, think, and feel to appreciate Steinbeck (or any other good work of fiction). If doing that makes you queasy, maybe you should read Dean Koontz or Tom Clancy or John Grisham -- candied popcorn for the mind. THE RED PONY reaches deep into the human experience and is as much a classic today -- when the farms are gone, or starving for rain -- as it was 60 years ago. The characters are unforgettable, and the setting is profoundly evocative.

My interpretation of this offbeat story is a bit different than most, I suspect. I saw it as the story of a boy being completely set up for failure in life by his father. Jody's dad, a stern traditionalist who believes that showing compassion to either people or animals will merely make them "soft," sets up a couple of opportunities for Jody to take on the responsibility for an animal. The problem is, both situations backfire badly, and the father apparently doesn't bother to help his son through it -- to help him learn from it, put it in perspective, whatever. He also criticizes the boy relentlessly. The result: With each episode, Jody actually seems to regress in maturity and become more withdrawn and impotently angry. I labeled my review "chilling" because when the story was over, I couldn't help imagining what kind of adulthood Jody might be headed for. (The passages in which Jody abuses animals are especially disturbing. I have no idea whether Steinbeck knew this, but animal abuse by children is a predictor for violent criminal behavior later in life, up to and including serial murder.)

So: While not exactly a "fun" read, I would rate this as a dark, brooding, effective slice of life that skates close to the horror genre in its implications. I would recommend getting the version with John Seelye's thoughtful introduction, which certainly helped me make sense of the story.

ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZ Sorry do you want me to give a review of this? Let me wake up from this awful book. O.K. now I am up. It was pretty boring. Even a couple of my friends fell asleep while the other kids read it out loud. Wait now the kids are reading it again!! ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz

These four stories are well written but their is absolutely no flow between the four stories. If this was submitted as four short stories I think that it would be easier to swallow. The first three stories interconnect but then you are left hanging as to whatever happens to the newborn colt. The fourth story doesn't really fit as a final chapter either. In the end I would have to say that this is a sorry waste of time to read for entertainment.

I thought the book was interesting. I did not love it, but it was OK. But, if you have a passion for horses, then this is a book for you. The characters were realistic and fun to hear about. I would reccomend it to my horse-loving friends of all ages.

I thought the book was interesting. I did not love it, but it was OK. But, if you have a passion for horses, then this is a book for you. The characters were realistic and fun to hear about. I would reccomend it to my horse-loving friends of all ages.

The book is very intresting and exiciting. The Red Pony had great details in every sentence. The main charactor is a very well thought out work of art. The Red Pony is awsome for pleasure or school reading. This book is throughly enjoying.

Like most of Steinback's novels, "The Red Pony" takes place in a ranch in California. It deals with a kid growing up to be a man and going through lifes stages. Though this books is read by younger kids it really takes many years in life to understand its subtle meaning.

I would not recommend this book to anyone not even my worst enemy because it is so boring. It's torture to make someone read it. The first part was the only part that actually mentioned the red pony. The second part was so boring. It was about an old man. This is 2000 what teenager would want to read about an old man? NONE! The third part was sad because the horse, Nellie, died. The forth part was the most boring of them all. All it said is people talking and talking. I hate dialogues and reading them is even worse. I like books with action this book has no action. Well, that's my opinion. *Thais Teotonio

I was pleasantly surprised at the power of these stories. I consider this to be an adult book which happens to have a child narrator. As adults, it's important to reflect on the painful process of growing up and facing this world. This book describes this journey almost better than any other book I've read.

This book is rated poorly only by foolish children bored in English class, who lack even the slightest shred of taste in literature, spending their time fawning over teenage vampires in the Twilight novels or reading whatever drivel hack author Dan Brown has spewed lately.

In this short hart breaking story a young boy gets a special gift. This little red pony is all Jody, the main character, cares about. One day he lets the pony out and it starts to rain and the pony got very ill. Jody does all he can to save the pony but can't. Later on one of the mares on Jody's farm is pregnant. His father promised him the colt of Nelly. This story was a very sad and hart breaking one but it was a really good story that was hard to put down. I recommend this to anyone who likes sad animal stories.