I listened to the unabridged audio version of The Red Pony by John Steinbeck and well narrated by Frank Muller.
Listening time for The Red Pony by John Steinbeck is 2 hours, 55 minutes, which made for quick reading!!
I have mixed feelings about The Red Pony by John Steinbeck. John Steinbeck definitely had a way with describing characters, scenes, and situations that were simple, yet vivid. I love that John Steinbeck didn't have to use a lot of fancy language to convey his ideas. I think this is why I originally fell in love with Steinbeck's novel, East of Eden, back in 2008.
However, I was expecting something different with The Red Pony. I thought this novella was going to solely be about Jody Tiflin's (a young boy and main character) relationship with his red pony throughout the entire novella. Instead, The Red Pony is a set of four vignettes about Jody Tiflin, his parents, and their ranch hand, Billy. The red pony is only part of the first vignette. The rest of the novella shares other stories and themes. I think I would have enjoyed the storyline for The Red Pony more if the entire novella was entirely about Jody and his red pony, as a coming of age story, instead of how it was written and presented in its current form. Also, there is some animal cruelty in this novella, so if this is a trigger for you, then skip on reading The Red Pony.
The following is the publisher's summary for The Red Pony by John Steinbeck from Chirp's website:
John Steinbeck’s masterpiece celebrates the spirit and courage of adolescence. Steinbeck draws on his memories of childhood in these stories about a boy who embodies both the rebellious spirit and the contradictory desire for acceptance of early adolescence. Unlike most coming-of-age stories, the cycle does not end with a hero “matured” by circumstances. Reversing common interpretations, The Red Pony is imbued with a sense of loss. Jody’s encounters with birth and death express a common theme in Steinbeck’s fiction: They are parts of the ongoing process of life, resolving nothing.
I am giving The Red Pony by John Steinbeck a rating of 3.5 stars out of 5 stars.
Until my next post, happy reading!!
I read this long ago in college - I think it was required in one of my courses - and can't really remember much about it now. I do know that I was never a great Steinbeck fan and this may have been one of the reasons.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, another reader also told me this week that they read The Red Pony in High School for a class and it turned them off from reading Steinbeck for many years.
DeleteThe Red Pony is the 2nd novel I read and reviewed by John Steinbeck, this week. I also read, The Moon Is Down by Steinbeck. If The Red Pony and The Moon Is Down had been my 1st reads by John Steinbeck, I may have been turned off by his writing as well.
I read East of Eden by John Steinbeck in 2008 and LOVED THIS NOVEL!! East of Eden is probably in my top ten favorite books ever read.
I have a couple of other John Steinbeck novels in my 'tbr' waiting to be read. Hopefully, I'll them later this year.