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.

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 behind this story is to show the many tough lessons of life young Jody has yet to learn as he comes of age, but from my perspective, I'm sorry to say, this novel was pretty much a downer from start to finish with only a few enjoyable moments interspersed. Only 100 pages, but a long discomforting read. (especially if you're an animal lover)

Had to sit with this one for a while after finishing. Initially I felt a little disappointed - this is an episodic novella, with no traditional overarching plot or climax, and it felt almost incomplete or lacking in a way. However, as I thought about it, I recognized Steinbeck's reasoning in this line Jody's grandfather uses to explain why he tells the same stories from his past over and over:

"I tell those old stories, but they're not what I want to tell. I only know how I want people to feel when I tell them."

And I felt Jody's sadness and anger and love and helplessness. It has been really lovely sitting here and thinking about all of Steinbeck's works I've read, and how while he had wonderful and interesting stories to tell, what he wants is to capture a certain feeling in his telling. And I think he is very successful. Still going strong as one of my favorite authors.

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 to explore? Everything had been mapped and settled. Every place had at least a thin semblance of civilization. It was their great sorrow to not have a societal mandate of their own, some great expression of the human spirit meant for their age.

I think that is why the novel resonates. If they were already feeling this way a hundred years ago, maybe it helps to explain why people feel the way they do now. In the age of the internet and cell phones and social media we see that it's all been done before. Where in the world can we go that we could not find a hundred pictures of online with a little cursory searching? It is a sobering realization at best. It also explains why Science Fiction and Fantasy are now such immensely popular genres.

Well fudge me, that was a right bloody ordeal!

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. When the pony bites young Jody's hand, you wince with his pain. And that's how it is with this very visual novel.

This novel is broken down into three somewhat different stories, and the red pony only appears in the first which I thought a bit odd. The other sections dwell on different topics. The novel doesn't build to a climatic ending, it descends into nostalgic introspection. I give it 3.5 stars.

20th book of 2020.

A story about a boy and his red pony. Jody lives on a farm, he likes pretending to be a man. It's a sort of coming of age story, he grows up in the course of the book, or as the blurb cornily puts it - 'Jody starts to understand what growing up and becoming an adult really means.' I found this book in the children's/teenage section, which made it hard for me to read it as a serious adult Steinbeck book, and in a way it isn't. It's written very simply. There's quite a few animal deaths though, which I wouldn't necessarily read to a child but definitely not his finest work.

The Red Pony consists of four chapters: The Gift, The Great Mountains, The Promise, and The Leader of the People. Each chapter was published as a short story during the ’30s. All the chapters revolve around young Jody and his family living on a farm near Salinas, California. Classic Steinbeck. Idyllic scenes of nature juxtaposed with the brutality of a coming-of-age.

Ah well. I guess I had it coming. One does not simply read Steinbeck and expect to be OK afterwards. Nah, the way things always seem to go with this guy is: prepare to cry. And if you don't bawl your eyes out (like I sobbed after reading Of Mice and Men, which went through my heart like a bullet), then you'll have your soul crushed into tiny pieces and feel like a dark cloud is hanging over your head. Such is the case after going through The Red Pony.

Steinbeck's writing is exceptional. I can't believe this is the first thing he ever published. His love for that dusty land of California is tremendous (as is mine, although I've only touched samples of sand from various beaches as a birthday present), and it's being reflected out of every page.

Could this have been better? Yes, it wouldn't have bothered me had it been a little more dramatic and powerful. Is his writing in full bloom? Nope, not yet, that's something for the later years, I guess. Did this have the right length? Are you kidding me, it was short as hell. But the guy can write, lemme tell you that much.

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.

Challenging but excellent - - a warning, if you find abuse of animals difficult to read about, this is NOT the book for you. Some are harsh but probably necessary (medical treatments in an attempt to save an animal) while others are simply cruel. It's not a few pages here and there that you could skip because you would lose too much of the already short story.

Despite finding this unexpectedly harrowing, it's become a favourite and a reminder that I must read more Steinbeck, having loved "East of Eden" and now this one too. So far I have found his writing to be thoroughly depressing yet beautiful. I have a copy of "The Grapes of Wrath" that I will probably read this year.

***My edition only has three chapters/stories, so I am on the lookout for a copy that contains the fourth!***

Steinbeck face în "Poneiul roșu" ce știe mai bine. Se privește în ochi cu moartea, cu nașterea, cu pierderea. Înțelegerea câtorva lucruri sunt esențiale în viață. Dacă cineva este martor la un sfârșit si la un început, la o facere de viată și o defacere de ea, dacă deprinde așteptarea, grija, speranța și deznădejdea, aș spune că e pregatit pentru propria viață. Steinbeck pune în copilăria unui băiat aceste mari momente și o face într-un cadru universal valabil, în care nimic nu e artificial, contrafacut, denaturat. Legile naturii funcționează independent de om, omul este fie martor, fie personaj, având rareori puterea să schimbe cursul acestui șuvoi neabatut care se numește existență. Maturizarea este un proces lent și dureros. La o fermă americană izolată ceea ce înveți la școală este doar o parte din educație. Natura își revendică rolul de maestru suprem, iar copilul rolul de fraged ucenic. În absența oricărei urme de dulcegărie, un copil se educă sub ochii noștrii, în patru scurte episoade, aspru, just și fără ocolișuri.