The Pearl (Centennial Edition)
by John Steinbeck
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| What would you have done? | 1 | 02/26/2008 03:05PM |
| The Pearl by John Steinbeck | 2 | 02/24/2008 07:11AM |
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Read in November, 2007
A sad tale of a happy, young family whose discovery of a pearl of great wealth brings only death and misery.
A fisherman, Kino, discovers a large pearl while harvesting oysters with his wife. Believing they are now rich, the fisherman formulates plans that will allow him and his family to live a better life. The plans are modest and include sending their baby son to school, formally marrying his wife in a church, and buying a rifle.
The Plot
A young fisherman discovers a large pearl. ...more
A fisherman, Kino, discovers a large pearl while harvesting oysters with his wife. Believing they are now rich, the fisherman formulates plans that will allow him and his family to live a better life. The plans are modest and include sending their baby son to school, formally marrying his wife in a church, and buying a rifle.
The Plot
A young fisherman discovers a large pearl. ...more
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The Pearl is a classic. In under a 100 pages, Steinbeck is able to draw out the tensions and conflicts between the pre-modern and modern world. This conflict between the old and new centers on what it means to be free. The ideas of freedom, liberty, and emancipation are powerful concepts that are thrown around a great deal, but are often never fully discussed or elaborated. It is here where Steinbeck is able to draw on the parable of the Pearl of Great Price and show what it truly means to b...more
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Read in January, 2008
I read The Pearl during my first week of the spring semester, while being slammed with reading from University. I wanted something simple, short, to read in between the longer, more strenuous readings.
The Pearl is indeed short (my copy has 90 pages), and is Steinbeck's journey into an older latin (Bolivian?) folk tale. Because of this, this book struggles compared to much of Steinbeck's other work. Since it is a short story that has been told in different forms for many years, and the lesson...more
The Pearl is indeed short (my copy has 90 pages), and is Steinbeck's journey into an older latin (Bolivian?) folk tale. Because of this, this book struggles compared to much of Steinbeck's other work. Since it is a short story that has been told in different forms for many years, and the lesson...more
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone
This is a very powerful book that's mostly about deceptive treasures - finding certain things that are out of reach to be of utmost importance, or getting to excited about material goods. I really liked how this book shows us that family and our own ways of life are to be appreciated and maintained for their sake, that we shouldn't cast aside the way we want to do things and pursue earthly treasures or the ways that others (in this book, the white folks) do things. Kinda like a story about pulli...more
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Read in July, 2008
This book is a "pearl of wisdom" (sorry) and a simple story beautifully told.
The tale is about Kino and his family and how the finding of a great pearl affects his life and those around him.
As with any Steinbeck book the prose is plain, breathtakingly so, and utterly absorbing. Steinbeck's love of nature, particularly maritime*, is clear throughout the book with descriptions that leave you tingingly with joy.
The tale is simple but the tale is not what you should read this...more
The tale is about Kino and his family and how the finding of a great pearl affects his life and those around him.
As with any Steinbeck book the prose is plain, breathtakingly so, and utterly absorbing. Steinbeck's love of nature, particularly maritime*, is clear throughout the book with descriptions that leave you tingingly with joy.
The tale is simple but the tale is not what you should read this...more
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Read in April, 2007
I'm mildly embarrassed to write that The Pearl is the first Steinbeck book that I've read. Honestly, I wasn't moved. Not that I need to be moved by a book to appreciate it but... I didn't feel Kino's culture. Steinbeck just didn't give it to me, kind of the way that Thornton Wilder misses the Peruvian culture in The Bridge of San Luis Rey. These white guys just don't get it - coming from a white guy. Anyway, I enjoyed the descriptions of the pearl buyers. There's nothing lik...more
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I had to read this for school. It did keep my interest, but the ending made the story pointless to me. Actually the story does have a point - it just hits you over the head with it like a hammer. Basically a man continues to strive and struggle, and keeps losing. This I think is an unintended "lesson" in this book, and what I found so annoying. Of course the intended lession is regarding striving for the wrong things, missing what is important.
Books like this should have some ult...more
Books like this should have some ult...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
recommended to Nora by:
My auntrecommends it for: anyone
This classic by John Steinbeck, takes place in The South American islands. Kino and his wife, Juana, live together in a small house with their baby Coyotito. When the baby gets stung by a scorpion and Kino can't pay medical bills, suspicion and hatred towards the whites in the town grows inside of him.
A little while affter the sting, Kino is fishing on his boat. There he sees a gigantic clam. When he opens it he finds "the pearl of the world"!
He and Juana rejoyice and their f...more
A little while affter the sting, Kino is fishing on his boat. There he sees a gigantic clam. When he opens it he finds "the pearl of the world"!
He and Juana rejoyice and their f...more
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Reviewed by Taylor Rector for TeensReadToo.com
Kino and his wife, Juana, have a beautiful baby boy, but one morning he gets stung by a scorpion. He is rushed to the doctor, who will not treat him because they have no form of payment.
The parents get in their boat to look for a pearl to use as payment, and, amazingly, find one that is referred to as the "moon" -- and is about the size of a goose egg.
What happens when they go to the dealers to collect their money? You'll have...more
Kino and his wife, Juana, have a beautiful baby boy, but one morning he gets stung by a scorpion. He is rushed to the doctor, who will not treat him because they have no form of payment.
The parents get in their boat to look for a pearl to use as payment, and, amazingly, find one that is referred to as the "moon" -- and is about the size of a goose egg.
What happens when they go to the dealers to collect their money? You'll have...more
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Read in December, 2007
I would like to know what others thought of this.
The back of my vintage copy of The Pearl says,"With the pearl, he hoped to buy peace and happiness... Instead he found that peaces and happiness are not to be purchased. They are, themselves, pearls beyond price."
Really? So that's what was to be learned from having men attempt to rob and murder you and then, while trying to save the lives of yourself and your family, have your child shot in the head?
After reading a many of St...more
The back of my vintage copy of The Pearl says,"With the pearl, he hoped to buy peace and happiness... Instead he found that peaces and happiness are not to be purchased. They are, themselves, pearls beyond price."
Really? So that's what was to be learned from having men attempt to rob and murder you and then, while trying to save the lives of yourself and your family, have your child shot in the head?
After reading a many of St...more
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Read in June, 2008
recommended to Andrea by:
Ms. Geigerrecommends it for: anyone
This book was really short and sad. It was about a little family that lived in the village of La Paz in a small hut. One day Kino and Juana's newly born son, Coyotito, was bitten by a scorpion. They tried to take him to an upperclass doctor but he refused to treat the infant. Kino found a huge pearl while one day out on his boat and had plans to sell it to pay the doctor and use it towards Coytito's education. Everyone thought Kino and Juana were now rich because they had found this great p...more
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Read in July, 2008
recommended to Lina by:
my dadrecommends it for: 8 and up
The Pearl, by John Steinbeck is a sensational story about a poor family, who one day, find in the morning a small, deadly scorpion climbing on one of the ropes holding their baby's box hanging on the ceiling. Kino, the father, and Juana, the mother, are struck with horror when the baby playfully swats the scorpion, causing it to sting the babe. Out of pure rage, Kino mashes the scorpion on the floor until it is a mere smudge on the floor, while Juana attempts to suck the poison from the wound. W...more
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Read in February, 2008
This is a book about the main character Kino seaking for pearl to earn big money. As Kino seeks to gain wealth and status through the pearl, he transforms from a happy, contented father to a savage criminal, demonstrating the way ambition and greed destroy innocence. Kino’s desire to acquire wealth perverts the pearl’s natural beauty and good luck, transforming it from a symbol of hope to a symbol of human destruction. Furthermore, Kino’s greed leads him to behave violently toward his wife...more
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Read in December, 2007
A very quick and powerful read. I hadn't read this book since I was in school, but after thinking about how much I just loved East of Eden, I thought I'd pick this one up as well. Surprisingly, I completely remembered the story, but loved re-reading it nonetheless. I love how it describes in such amazing detail just how much riches, or possessions can control you. Even for a humble fisherman such as Kino, who has no other intentions than providing for his family and doing good - he ultimately be...more
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Read in August, 2007
While not my favorite Steinbeck work, I did gain a few valuable insights on life and love.
"He knew he could not take the chance of pitting his certain ignorance against this man's possible knowledge."
Number 1: Sometimes it's not better to be safe than sorry. Kino, at first, relied on the conventional, safe wisdom of his village. He was abused by those more powerful.
"In Kino's ears the Song of the Family was as fierce as a cry."
Number 2: Sometimes being sorry...more
"He knew he could not take the chance of pitting his certain ignorance against this man's possible knowledge."
Number 1: Sometimes it's not better to be safe than sorry. Kino, at first, relied on the conventional, safe wisdom of his village. He was abused by those more powerful.
"In Kino's ears the Song of the Family was as fierce as a cry."
Number 2: Sometimes being sorry...more
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i don't think i had ever thought such lovely thoughts as when i first read this a long time ago. a series of spells rather than a story. i was completely enchanted. looking back, i am always disturbed by the book's message - articulated by a minor character: god has a place for everyone (like guard positions in heaven, he says). if you leave your post, then heaven will be open to attack from evil, and you'll be in big big trouble. i think steinbeck deals with this in a complex, nuanced way, (m...more
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this book was about a A fisherman, Kino, discovers a large pearl while harvesting oysters with his wife. Believing they are now rich, the fisherman formulates plans that will allow him and his family to live a better life. The plans are modest and include sending their baby son to school, formally marrying his wife in a church, and buying a rifle. it was ironice how this pearl was suppose to bring the poeple fortune ahppiness and wealt only brought on misery. the main character was sort of rela...more
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Read in January, 2008
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Absolutely loved this book. Dang I wish I could find the motherload of all pearls. Just think of all the lavish riches I could purchase with my newfound wealth. I could do everything in the world and be the envy of every person. People would stand with cameras waiting for me to peer from my window or drive over them as they get in the way of my sweet ferarri. If I messed up I could be on the front page of OK magazine or even better yet, they would put me on TV and I could be interviewed by ...more
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This book is about a poor family that fish for pearls for a living. But when their baby falls ill; they need money for a doctor. They dont have any money to give the doctor. Then Kino finds 'The Pearl of the World' that will bring him richess and happiness. This is the story of how money can lead to destruction and unhappiness. I did not like this book becasue i thought it had a bad ending and the author seemed to rush the ending of the book into a few pages.
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