John Steinbeck was my favorite author before I read this book. This book was exactly that bad. All of the classic pieces of literature written by Steinbeck shine a little less bright in retrospect. The plot is thin at best until you get to the final scene. Then Steinbeck illustrates the most ridiculous and unfounded confluence of events ever put into writing. I'd like to shoot a gun blindly into a cave and have it magically bounce and hit the original manuscript of The Pearl. ( )

I was hanging out at the library the other day and stumbled across this book. I noticed that it appeared to be quite short, so I figured I would give it a quick read. This was slightly tumultuous, and I definitely had mixed emotions once I reached the conclusion. Suffice it to say that the moral that I got from the story is that, most assuredly, the grass is not always greener on the other side. ( )

A good short story by Steinbeck that shows the overall value of knowledge for humanity, but also the effect of greed. It has a shocking ending, but it really sucks you into a small world of indigenous living without using too much description. ( )

A Classic "Must Read"

This novella is a parable in which a simple, hard-working pearl diver learns that finding untreated of wealth is the cause of unexpected evil and sorrow. ( )

This is a sweet, simple fable and I liked some aspect of the writing, but the 'moral to the story' spoiled any enjoyment. The concept that is is wrong to strive for change and improvement in one's lot on life should not be preserved in literature IMHO.

I did love the imagery and Kino's way of experiencing life through music.

I loved Cannery Row and will read other Steinbeck books, but I'm giving his books a rest for now. ( )

Eine grauenhafte Geschichte, meisterhaft geschrieben, voller Spannung und ein heftiges, unerwartetes Ende. ( )

a fascinating fable of colonial Mexico ( )

The Pearl is a novella by the American author John Steinbeck. First published in 1947, The Pearl follows a pearl diver, Kino, and explores man's nature as well as greed, defiance of societal norms, and evil. I have read this novella every couple of years since I first read it in English class in high school. The message put forth by the book -- that man invites evil by trying to better his situation -- invites a lot of questions and always causes me to reflect on how I'm living my life. And The Pearl is one of Steinbeck's most accomplished novellas. It is beautiful, lyrical, concise, and has the perfect conclusion.

The pearl is a retelling of a Mexican folk tale. Kino and his wife Juana are poor but happy in their relationship and delighted with baby Coyotito. They live in relative poverty, but have each other and their families. One day when Kino is diving, he finds an oyster that contains a huge pearl. Convinced that this will be the solution to all his problems, Kino is ecstatic. He and Juana can get married, Coyotito can go to school and they will have the money to pay the doctor when they are ill. The whole community is overjoyed, but the pearl doesn’t bring the happiness Kino expected. People attempt to harm them and the pearl buyers try to swindle them. Forced out of their home, the family leaves their town in search for a better price for the pearl and a better life. Juana wants Kino to throw the pearl away, but he refuses until tragedy strikes.

The Pearl is slim but never fails to pack a punch. It's a simple story but one that is very powerful and universal.

Do you hear the music of the pearl? If so, be leery.

( )

Good, short book about the perils of wealth and how it changes not just the inheritors, but those around them.

Well written, in an individual style which I quite liked. Not a terribly compelling story, but engaging enough. Worth a read on a quiet day. ( )

Beautiful.

As a birthday gift to myself, I set aside time during the day to read this little literary thriller all the way through. I don't have a record of reading it previously in any of my book lists, but I am certain that I read it for English class in junior high around 1980 or 1981 just before I started keeping lists. The story felt familiar as I read through, but it also felt exciting and new. Steinbeck is one of my favorite authors and this parable about wishes, greed, and systemic oppression reminds me why. ( )

“Who do you fear?” Kino searched for a true answer, and at last he said, “Everyone.” And he could feel a shell of hardness drawing over him.

Same Kino, Same.

This felt like one of those books that could only ever be told through the medium of words; I respect that. It also felt a bit heavy-handed on the allegory of white capitalism and something I know English teachers would love to go on about. Still, I respect it. Any story about a descent into madness is automatically going to be cool with me.

*3.5 ( )

My first book done for school. I don't think I'd actually read this before I was teaching it to my sophomores. It's definitely got its own of way of doing things. It's pretty straightforward morality tale, as well. Not amazing, but not terrible. A little too predictable, but I think I'm a few decades beyond it's reading level at this point, too. So all in all, okay. ( )

Mastery and economy of words. Beautiful and meaningful without being ever attempting to be overt or forced or cliche.

( )

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Magistral, una obra apabullante, adictiva de principio a fin.
Descarnada, metafísica, rítmicamente poética.
Más que una radiografía social; una parábola sobre la esencia humana, sin versículos.
No morir sin leerla. ( )

I only read this because my library included it in my pick-up order when I requested they choose some books in addition to those I'd chosen. I never would have picked it up, otherwise.
Overall, I'm glad to have read this. It has interesting insight into the way some people think and react to circumstances. It's nice to see stories from varied cultures, time periods, and social classes, also.
My two-star rating is because while I think it was worth reading, I wouldn't say that I enjoyed it. I'm glad to have read it for its interesting setting and subject matter, but wasn't quite entertained by it and I was displeased with how it ended (I don't mean to spoil the ending; it just wasn't to my taste, but I hope that doesn't reveal anything about the actual story). I'm glad it was short and a quick read, so that I could get through it and then move on to books for entertainment rather than insight into human character. ( )

I forgot that I've read this many years ago and for good reason. I found it odd to find in the library near me the book with this story AND "The Red Pony". I remembered the second one, but not "The Pearl" until I grabbed the book and started reading it again. It's the same book and I remembered then that I've read the story before after the first 2 chapters, but I forgot because it's incredible boring. Besides being incredible boring I feel a bit uncomfortable reading a story written by a white man about a culture that isn't his. Due to that, I don't feel like continuing to read this book again just to forget I read it once again. ( )

The Pearl by John Steinbeck is a parable about how sudden wealth can change people's lives. Protagonist Kino lives in a village near La Paz, Mexico, and the name of the village seems to describe the setting of the novella perfectly at the beginning. The atmosphere is quiet and peaceful, the villagers go about their daily work, none of them are rich and they dream about finding a big pearl in an oyster that will change their lot in life forever. The peace and quiet is first interrupted when a scorpion stings Kino's son Coyotito and Kino and his wife Juana set out to see the doctor in town so that their son will not have to die. The doctor, however, does not want to see such poor people and deems it beneath him. Juana then applies a seaweed poultice to the sting which will actually heal it eventually. However, the desperate parents do not know that at this point in the story. Kino sets out to dive for pearls in order to be able to pay for a doctor and save his son's life and he actually comes across the biggest pearl he has ever seen. Word of the lucky find spreads quickly. When the doctor learns about the pearl, he visits Kino and Juana to treat their child, claiming that he had not been in in the morning they came looking for him, but came immediately after he heard that their son was stung by a scorpion. The doctor sees that Coyotito will survive because of the poultice but treats him anyway so that he can portray himself as the savior. As soon as Kino finds the pearl it starts changing his life. It is not just the doctor who is after the riches but also fellow villagers who try to steal Kino's pearl. When Kino tries to sell the pearl in town, the pearl dealers have already heard about the size of the pearl and agreed on what they would offer Kino, which is obviously not enough. Offended by the offers of the pearl dealers, Kino keeps the pearl and wants to try to sell it in a bigger city. On the way there he and his family are followed and attacked again. Eventually, they return to their village their lives completely changed. I will leave out the specifics here so as not to spoil your reading.

Steinbeck's story was inspired by a folktale he had heard about the pearl divers of Mexico. It covers the timeless themes of poor vs. rich and good vs. evil and explores the impact of sudden wealth on a person and the people around them. I loved the novella for its writing style and the incidents Steinbeck chose to tell this story. 5 stars. ( )

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All of Steinbeck's "little" books: the Red Pony, Of Mice and Men, Tortilla Flats seem like they were written for High School or Middle School English class: short, simple, and easy to read. They're not all bad books, but not particularly good, Flats being the best. I don't know why they pick these: because they fit time-wise into an academic quarter with another novel, or the lowest common deliminator can understand the clumsy symbolism, or what. Steer clear of these unless you are a Steinbeck completist.

Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, and Log from the Sea of Cortez are the ones you want to seek out, East of Eden being the best. ( )

This is one of Steinbeck’s shorter works (my paperback copy runs to just ninety pages) and its simple plot is his 1947 reworking of a Mexican folk tale.
   Mexico is where we are here, up in the northwest corner of the map on the inner coastline of that long narrow tectonic peninsula which forms the Sea of Cortés. In the poorest part of the town of La Paz live Kino, his wife Juana and their first baby, little Coyotito. They own virtually nothing and live in a house made from brushwood—part of a whole community scratching a living as pearl-divers, collecting oysters from twenty feet down on the floor of the gulf. Some oysters, a few, contain pearls, which the divers take uptown through the more prosperous stone-and-plaster streets where they are routinely fleeced by the buyers, the pearl dealers.
   It’s about as simple as a life could be. One fateful day, though, Kino dives and finds a gnarled old oyster containing a monster of a pearl: the Pearl of the World, the pearl of his dreams. The story itself then describes how Kino’s dream descends, step by inevitable step, into nightmare.
   To someone sitting reading while it’s bucketing down outside (again), the setting is striking: eel grass swaying in the warm gulf waters, banks of coral, little seahorses; among the houses above, the noon sunlight so harsh even tiny stones cast sharp shadows. The more distant landscape is all heat-haze and mirages, in places as clear as if looked at through a telescope, but in others shifting so in and out of focus it’s hard to know what’s real and what isn’t—and compared to an outer world like that, Kino’s own inner feelings seem the more reliable, certain, the more real. Steinbeck describes this inner life as music: there’s the Song of the Family…and of course, increasingly, the Song of Evil.
   And the moral of this parable? It’s about the loss of innocence. And it’s about naïvety versus cunning, versus that depressingly familiar combination you find everywhere you go on this Earth of lies, contempt and greed. And it’s also about not coveting worldly things, about not messing up a simple life with ambition; materially poor before the Pearl, Kino is rich in other ways: he has a wife (and quite a wife too; one feature of the story is what a strong, loyal, calm and clear-headed woman Juana is); he has a healthy baby son, the respect of his friends, and a home. But the intrusion of the Pearl of the World shatters the peace of La Paz, and most of the things Kino imagines he will buy or do with the money are, to him at least, modern things: for Juana, marriage in a church; for Coyotito, books and a school education; and for himself, a Winchester rifle.
   Not everyone has praised The Pearl—some consider it racist, perpetuating a stereotypical view of the indigenous people of the region. But it’s the message itself I’m more dubious about: it’s getting four stars because it is a wonderful read, but is Steinbeck really telling us, “Don’t have hopes and dreams, don’t want a better life for your kids, don’t imagine”? ( )

I didnt like this book when I read it for school and I still dont like it now. ( )

Too sad for me. ( )

This book is an easy read. The language used is poetically halting... simple yet elegant. The plot is interesting and keeps the reader in suspense. Despite its brevity, he book contains multiple interesting comments on contemporary society including on racism, colonialism, and religion, as well as comments on human nature. ( )