Book Review: The Red Pony

The Red Pony
This short novel be John Steinbeck was originally published as four short stories in various magazines from 1933 to 1936 and published as a book in 1937.  The main character is Jody Tiflin, his parents, a work hand Billy buck, and people who visit.  The first story deals with the red pony form which the book takes its title.  I think this is one of my lesser favorites of John Steinbeck.  Part of that is the stories do not always flow into each other.  However the book has two themes, which each come up a couple of times.  The first is the boy and his ponies.  The first chapter deals with the gift from his father, and the struggle to keep that gift.  The third book has to do with breeding their horse, and the struggle to get the baby colt, after almost a year.  Both these stories take dramatic twists, and don’t have happy endings. 
The concern I have is the other two chapters are not about horses.  The second chapter of the book is about an old man who returns to the ranch to die.  He takes and old horse from the ranch and rides into the mysterious mountains to accomplish his aim.  The last chapter is about the maternal grandfather, who lead a wagon train to California in the days of Westward Migration, but after arriving at the Pacific, his life was pretty well done, and now he just talks about his life.
I am reading this book from a six-novel set, which explained that John Steinbeck’s intent was to help people understand his characters.  In this novel, the father is always seen as unsympathetic.  I must admit I never did understand his motivation.  He would give gifts, (the red pony) and promises, (sending the mare to stud) but also is negative and critical of his son, destroying whatever relationship there may have been.  This attitude is also heaped on his father-in-law, as he doesn’t want to listen to his stories.  I liked the other characters however; Billy Buck trying to do right by Jody, his sympathetic mother, the old man Gitano who comes to die, and Jody himself.
Even though this is my least favorite, it is still well written and provides an interesting study of a boy dealing with loss and heartache.