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Summary: Sad But Great
Review: 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.
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Summary: Steinbeck is a master American novelist
Review: I believe you just don't like to read if you don't enjoy Steinbeck's novels. He is the best author I have ever read and this book does nothing to dimish that accolade. Life in those times, on a farm, kid growing up, learning life/death, how to take care of animals is all addressed in this novel as themes. I think this book should be read by all junior high school students. Students in the city will probably have a hard time relating but that is the best thing in a novel where it will take you places and times that you don't normally get an experience in.
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Summary: Apology
Review: I have never read the book and never wrote the above review.
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Summary: Classic stories of a rural boy's life
Review: John Steinbeck's "The Red Pony" is a group of four interconnected stories: "The Gift," "The Great Mountains," "The Promise," and "The Leader of the People." Each story focuses on Jody Tiflin, a 10-year old boy growing up on a ranch on the west coast of the United States. The other main characters are Jody's parents and the ranch hand Billy Buck. Also frequently appearing are the ranch dogs, Doubletree Mutt and Smasher."The Red Pony" is not a novel, so readers expecting the cohesion and unity of a novel will be disappointed. The book should, in my opinion, be evaluated for what it is. And once you appreciate its own peculiar structure, you may, as I did, acknowledge "The Red Pony" as a powerful and beautiful work of art. Steinbeck masterfully captures the cycles of life, death, and renewal in the lives of both his human and animal characters. He creates vivid, often visceral scenes, that are written in a quietly powerful language. There are moving moments of joy, horror, and heartbreak. "The Red Pony" is a significant achievement by one of America's enduring literary giants.
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Summary: A SOURCE OF SERIOUS CHILDHOOD TRAUMA
Review: Seriously, I don't know how this can be considerd an appropriate book for a kid. It was assigned reading when I was 12, and I was utterly traumatized to this day (20 years later) by "The Gift." I remember graphic descriptions of pus and the sadistic delight Steinbeck took in detailed accounts of the home surgeries on the horse, a bloody tracheotomy and especially the image of the buzzard eating the pony's eye, his beak dripping with thick, dark blood. What kind of crazy person gives this to a kid? I cried for hours upon hours and I have never, never forgiven Steinbeck, nor have I been able to make myself read Steinbeck again. Too bad. I hear he's a decent wrier.
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Summary: The Red Pony
Review: The Red Pony is a famous book written by John Steinbeck. It contains four events in a ten-year-old boy¡¦s childhood. Jody is a child who lives on a farm with his parents and a horse expert, Billy Buck, who was hired by the family. One morning before Jody had to go to school; his father and Billy Buck brought him to a box stall in a barn, and was given the red pony. It would influence his life thereafter. Steinbeck did a remarkable job catching the readers¡¦ attention. The Red Pony was written well with clear, lively, and expressive language. Throughout the book, detailed information and expressive descriptions of the environment helped me imagine the setting before my eyes while I was reading it. The vividly described actions of Jody towards the red pony made me feel that the red pony was the most significant thing in his life at the moment. Steinbeck did not need to use hard words to convey what he was trying to say; instead, the easier and more colloquial words portrayed his ideas perfectly. Although the language of the story was used to make the readers thoroughly understand it, the title and the story itself didn¡¦t really match. The first chapter talked about the relationship between the red pony and Jody, and the third chapter was about Jody and the mare that was bearing a colt. The colt would later on become Jody¡¦s colt. However, the second and fourth chapter focused on a stranger that came to the family and Jody¡¦s grandfather¡¦s visit, which are unrelated to the title, The Red Pony. Therefore, the theme, the red pony, only relates to the promise of the new colt as the pony had died in the first chapter. Although The Red Pony is short, it was written concisely and clearly. The author did an excellent job of showing a variety of feelings in each character without the need for them to express it themselves. Steinbeck¡¦s descriptions really draw the reader inside the story.
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