The Red Pony (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century) Paperback – October 1, 1994

This story tells the life of a Northern California farm in the early 1900s, and Jody Tiflis, the farmer's son, from roughly age 10-12. It's odd that the story is called The Red Pony, because the episode of the pony only takes about half the book. But getting and caring for the pony is a seminal event in Jody's life, and one that changes him from a child into a young adult. His unquestioning adulation of Billy, the ranch hand, changes to a more mature and forgiving love. His fear of his father becomes a mature acceptance of Carl's shortcomings.While I was hoping the story would turn out differently, this is the way things happen on a farm, even today, with or without veterinarians' help. Events have a true-to-life feel, as though most of them really happened in the author's life. The style is almost poetically beautiful. A wonderful read!

I discovered the works of John Steinbeck back in 1981-ish when I was trying to "expand my horizons" as a literate person trying to move on from shoddy works of horror, (which I still love reading) to more thought provoking and meaningful works of fiction. Of course several books by John Steinbeck were on this list of "MUST READS". Reading John for the first time was an awaking to me. I discovered that a good book was more than just being 17 and reading a story and hoping for cuss words...oh no...,as I discovered at 25, there is so much more to a good book. John became one of my favorites and I've read his works more than once. As I am now in a position to do some traveling, I began looking for was to travel and still enjoy a good book. Of course, the audiobook is perfect for this. Which brings me, finally, to The Red Ponys narrator, Frank Muller. I first heard Frank Muller as an audiobook narrator when I bought Stephen Kings Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three on Cassette for a trip from TX to MI. It was a case of, I"ll give this a try and see if if sucks or not. Let me tell you, it did not suck. Frank was the voice of Stephen King. He was also the voice for Charles Dickens and Herman Melville and Jack London and Pat Conroy. He knew how to tell a story and how to use his voice to take the listener by the hand and show what was happening. There are many good audiobook narrators, but none,(in my opinion) has ever reached the level of greatness that Frank did. That Frank is no longer with us makes me miss him more. There will be no more books read the way Frank read them. And that is the listeners loss. I am on my own quest now. And that is to find and purchase as many audiobooks narrated by Frank Muller as I can.This review, I suppose, is about two things. The wonderful story of Jody and his initiation into the world of death, birth, and disappointment as told by John Steinbeck, and Frank Mullers interpretation of Johns short novel. If you want to read a good story, you won't be disappointed reading John Steinbecks moving tale. If you want to hear the story, find this edition read by Frank Muller. Together, John and Frank will touch your heart and make you feel joy and loss and love and hurt.

I signed on as a volunteer coach at the National Steinbeck Center’s Young Authors’ Day and learned that the 6-8 graders would be writing about the first chapter of “The Red Pony.” Yikes, it was time to re-read the short book that I hadn’t opened in many years.Here in the Land of Steinbeck (Monterey, CA), the man is revered—and rightfully so. “The Grapes of Wrath” and “East of Eden” are beautiful novels that still move readers, decades after their publication. “Cannery Row” and “Tortilla Flat” are whimsical, yet poignant tales from a bygone era of my neighborhood.As I re-read “The Red Pony” and thought about today’s middle schoolers, I found the story of Jody, the somewhat mischievous 10-year-old farm boy with stern parents, less than riveting. Granted, the themes of death and dying, maturing as a result of difficult experiences, of wanting to please parents and earn their love, are timeless and universal. Steinbeck wrote about them in a simple, yet profound way that continues to make this little book a classic at the middle school level. Nonetheless, I couldn’t get past visions of the 31-year-old Steinbeck, not yet a fully formed novelist, scribbling away and honing his skills for the great works to come.Do I recommend it for middle schoolers? Definitely. Just don’t expect Jody Tiflin to grab their interest the way Harry Potter and Katniss Everdeen do.

I liked that I was able to download the book and read it immediately on my e-reader. It was a "required" reading of our literary society and I had only a day to read it before we met.

Who dares to review Steinbeck's work? Not me! I loved "The Red Pony" the first time I read it, 45 years ago. I loved it again in 2015. Some American Classics - - particularly Steinbeck - - must be read more than once, years apart, to fully internalize the art and craft.

Its a book with words on pages.

Classic Steinbeck.

Good

I think it is a shame that The Red Pony is sold as a short novel rather than a collection of short stories about the same character.Apparently, it was originally written as short stories, and (in my opinion anyway) is much better judged as short stories.Judged as a novel, it seems a bit disjointed and the fourth chapter in particular seems out of place. The ending of the 3rd chapter is powerful, and links up with the first chapter (with the 2nd chapter as a bit of an interlude), but then the last chapter seems out of place. It felt odd to me. I even went back to listen to it again, thinking I must have missed something. If it had ended after the third chapter, the ending would have been perfect.It was only after reading that it had originally been written as individual stories that I got it. The fourth story is fine (though probably the weakest), but just seems out of place.Read (listen to) the first 3 stories as one novel or set of stories, and then read the last story as a separate self-contained story, and I think it makes more sense. At least, that's my thought.

Steinbeck fans coming to The Red Pony after The Grapes of Wrath or Of Mice and Men may be a little perplexed. It reads more like a connected series of four short stories than a novel and only the first of these features the red pony of the title.The introduction by John Seelye in this Penguin Classic edition is, by turns, enlightening and annoying. He argues against other critics' readings of Steinbeck as a sentamentalist, examines whether The Red Pony is autobiographical and expresses amazement that Steinbeck managed to write it whilst caring for his elderly parents - a task many female authors face without plaudits.I'm a fan of short stories generally and enjoyed this book. It does lack the strong plot of his more famous works but I loved the scenes of a ten-year-old boy growing up on a farm, particularly the fragile friendship between Jody and his grandfather described in the final pages. I also liked the new cover - a photo of a group of farm hands. A great improvement on the bright red horse's head previously!

Though a small paperback, it arrived in time and in good condition - a valuable gift for a friend.Thank you.M.K. de Ito

Good book fast shipping!

Beautiful story of a pony given to a young lad. He learns so much with his little pony. It is a lovely read.

Excellent product, thank you for a speedy delivery