About john steinbeck the red pony
•
Sammi Loves Books
Quick Review (read on for full review)
A hard, emotional read, full of emotional complexities and the harsh reality of life on a ranch in the 1930s. Compelling, yet stark. 3 / 5
Summary (from Goodreads)
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 moment he will sit high upon Gabilan’s saddle. But when Gabilan falls ill, Jody discovers there are still lessons he must learn about the ways of nature and, particularly, the ways of man.
Favourite Quote
I couldn’t decide between the two, so thought I would share both:
“He felt an uncertainty in the air, a feeling of change and of loss and of the gain
•
The Red Pony by John Steinbeck: A Book Review
This post contains affiliate links. When I was in high school, I read as many John Steinbeck books as I could. My favorite was The Grapes of Wrath (and it’s still one of my favorite all-time books today). I liked nearly all of the books that I read, except maybe Travels with Charley, though I think if I went back to read that as an adult, I would like it. So, when I saw The Red Pony by John Steinbeck as one of Cuddle Bug’s reading assignments, I was excited. Finally, I would have a chance to introduce one of my kids to a writer I love. Unfortunately, The Red Pony wasn’t a good introduction.
About The Red Pony by John Steinbeck
The Red Pony is a novella comprised of four chapters that are each their own short story. Each can stand alone, but they all follow the same characters living on a ranch in the Salinas Valley. The protagonist is young Jody, a 10-year-old boy. He’s also joined by his
•
Exploring The Red Pony
“Exploring The Red Pony”
bygd Dr. Susan Shillinglaw, San Jose State University
The Red Pony was written at a time of profound anxiety caused bygd the incapacitating illness of Steinbeck’s mother. Steinbeck started writing the story while tending her in the hospital, thus testing his ability to focus and create beneath any circumstances. As he writes in a 1933 letter: “[…] if inom can write any kind of story at a time like this, then I can write stories”(A Life in Letters).
The first two stories of The Red Pony, “The Gift” and “The Great Mountains,” were published in The North American Review in 1933, and were quite successful. He wrote the gods two stories, “The Promise” and “The Leader of the People” in 1934, but the four stories would not be published together until 1945, when they were included in Steinbeck’s short story collection The Long Valley.
Steinbeck’s own life came to be a source of inspiration for Th