Red Pony (Steinbeck Essentials)
by John Steinbeck
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Book Summary Information
Author: John SteinbeckEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-04-26
ISBN: 0140292950
Number of pages: 112
Publisher: Penguin Books
Book Reviews of Red Pony (Steinbeck Essentials)
Book Review: "Dusty Country Road"
Summary: 5 Stars
One of my favorite books as a child, I have never forgotten the feelings it stirred in me, deep down, beneath the surface. All of the childhood events most of us experienced as we grew up are there for us to emotionalize with if we are still children when we first read it - or to remember with a new wonder born of nostalgia as we look back on it from the high hill of our adult life, our childhood lying far below in the serene valley we have long since wandered away from and can never return to except through reviving the memory.
Steinbeck is noted for his stark moments of insight, and a major one is revealed in the little boy Jody's father through his thoughtless treatment of the aging grandfather, who has really nothing more to live for than looking back into his past. It would be a small thing to allow him to continue to share those priceless - albeit repetitive - memories with his family, especially Jody, who dotes on the grandfather and loves hearing the tales of the old days; but the father, perhaps through overwork or worry in the daily routine of ranch life, has no patience with the old man. One day, he makes his feelings known before he realizes he is being overheard; he is immediately contrite: but heartless words can never be recalled - they are as sharp as razors, as deadly as any form of harsh weaponry, perhaps more so because flesh may heal, but the psyche is forever.
The book reads like a mini-series of Masterpiece Theatre. It is broken out into segments, each representing a chapter in the life of the ranch family, centering around the personality of the little boy, Jody. There is much tragedy wending its way throughout, but it is tempered by the sensitive moments described continually- of feeding chickens and playing with dogs, of hot summer days walking home from school on a dusty country road lined with brush, the silence broken only by the sound of birds. It is the excitement and anticipation of birth and anguish of death of a beloved colt - the tenuous world of the animal being held dear by the heart of a child as the world wise adult attempts to make it understood to that child in the best way they can. It is the old Mexican who wearily returns to the place of his birth only to find rejection by strangers rather than the last safe haven he seeks; never to find the solace of old, dear and familiar surroundings to comfort him as his life ends, because too much has changed. In a fitting twist, old Gitano accepts his fate and fades into the hills to die, after "appropriating" an ancient ranch horse who has seen the end of his useful life too. Together, we know they will be good to one another for as long as it lasts. It is felt and visualized as the pages turn - and I encourage anyone with children to bring it back to them.
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