The Red Pony

[shugurim]

Comments

[celzmccelz]

You should have taken the manga! How can you turn down a kinky catholic school girl who is actually a boy?

[languagegirl]

This book scarred me as a child. I picked it for my dad to read to me because I was in a "books about horses" phase. And the pony dies. It broke me a little on the inside.

[shugurim]

Well, that's sort of my point. Since the book is usually read at an age where something that graphic makes a big impression, most people end up thinking the point of that part of the book is that the horse died. The next most common interpretation is that the point of that episode is that it is a growing-up story about realizing adults aren't infallible. That's not really correct either, although it would be if Steinbeck were writing a children's book or a book of fables or something. It's not supposed to be instructive... if anything the most important parts are how much the kid stakes on the physical act of riding the pony, and the part at the end with the vulture.

Oh and I might have ended up with the Manga too, I haven't finished going through boxes yet.

[101_shenanigans]

OMG THE PONY DIES? SPOILER!