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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN num: 9780142000694
ISBN number: 0142000698
Label: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 96
Printing Date: January 08, 2002
Publishing house: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Sale Popularity Level: 10267
Studio: Penguin (Non-Classics)
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Product Description:
A fisherman finds the great pearl, only to lose it again. Re-issue of Steinbeck's classic.
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Rated by buyers 
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The Pearl is about a poor pearl diver who is trying to sell one of the biggest pearls ever seen in his hometown in Mexico. I thought that this book was very good. It describes how greed can corrupt anyone and the evils that men are capable of. I would recommend this book to anyone because it is a great story that is full of suspense and action. It is an easy and fast read but is still a thought provoking book.
The Pearl takes place in La Paz, Mexico and begins by describing the life of Kino, his wife Juana and son, Coyotito. At the beginning of the book, Kino watches as a scorpion crawls down the rope that holds the hanging box where Coyotito lies. Kino attempts to catch the scorpion, but Coyotito bumps the rope and the scorpion falls on him. Although Kino kills the scorpion, it still stings Coyotito. Juana and Kino go to see the local doctor, who refuses to treat Coyotito because Kino cannot pay. Kino and Juana leave the doctors and take Coyotito down to the sea, where Juana uses seaweed to help Coyotito's shoulder. Kino dives for oysters the subsequent day and finds a very large oyster that contains a huge pearl. The pearl is "as large as a seagull's egg" and "as perfect as the moon". The news that Kino has found great pearl travels fast through La Paz. Kino's brother asks him what he will do with his money. Kino wishes to get married to Juana in a church and dress Coyotito in a sailour suit. He wants to send Coyotito to school and buy a rifle for himself. The doctor comes to check on Coyotito now that Kino has money and says that Coyotito needs to be treated for the scorpion bite. That night, someone attempts to steal the pearl but Kino protects it and fights the robbers off. Juana tells Kino that the pearl is evil, but Kino insists that the pearl is their one chance to succeed and that they will sell it tomorrow. Kino goes to sell his pearl the subsequent day, but the pearl dealer only offers a thousand pesos when Kino believes that he deserves fifty thousand. Kino claims that he is being cheated so the pearl dealer calls the other dealers in to inspect the pearl. One dealer after another gave similar prices, but Kino refuses all of them and decides to go to the capital to sell it there. After the pearl is almost stolen again, Juana tells Kino that the pearl is evil one last time but he does not listen and says that they will leave for the capital tomorrow.
The Pearl explores man's nature, how greed can motivate people to be evil, and how far one man will go to better the life of his family. Even though the pearl was beautiful, everything that it brought was not good for the family. In the story, Steinbeck shows how wealth does not necessarily bring you happiness and solve your problems. Reading this book helps us stop and appreciate the life we have instead of always wanting more. It shows through symbolism that the old saying "money does not buy happiness" is true. This review is posted on Amazon.com.
Rated by buyers -
A classic. You can feel the sun, smell the sea, hear the sounds. Loved it.
Rated by buyers 
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I bought this book for my daughter. Her 8th grade Pre A.P. Literature class was reading it and the teacher encouraged us to buy our own copy. Well, when we got it, the page numbers did not match with the older version the teacher had. So, her reading assignments did not match and she had to use a copy from school. I feel like I wasted $11. My daughter also did not like the uneven "torn" edges of the pages. She said it made it difficult to turn the pages.
Rated by buyers -
Walking through middle school corridors, I'd spy kids in the grade above mine carrying John Steinbeck's "The Pearl" and think them lucky. Judging from the cover it was some kind of sea adventure, probably involving sharks and Jacqueline Bisset. This was back in the 1970s, and I was obviously confused.
Flash forward to the present. Feeling nostalgic, I decide to take the book on after years of wondering. It was certainly short, and Steinbeck is a classic writer, so it seemed a good idea.
A terse morality play about the pitfalls of materialism and the depravity of man, "The Pearl" is clearly a think piece rather than a conventional novel focused on characters and storyline. It made me think, too: However bad middle school was, it could have been worse.
Kino is a poor Mexican Indian who lives off the meager pearls he finds swimming for oysters in the Gulf. One day, desperate for a miracle as his infant son squirms from a scorpion bite, he finds the largest pearl anyone has ever seen, large as a gull's egg and jet black. Kino sees a brighter future for himself and his family, but the jealous villagers and the plutocratic pearl buyers conspire to keep him in his place.
"The pearl has become my soul", Kino tells his wife, who begs him to get rid of it before someone gets hurt. "If I give it up I shall lose my soul."
Steinbeck does nothing to make you care about Kino, his soul, or his wife and child, other than relate their poverty. They aren't people with personalities, but constructs designed to trot out points Steinbeck wants to make. Published in 1947, when socialism was fashionable and Steinbeck a recognized purveyor of the worker ideal, "The Pearl" might pass as a message about the folly of wealth and the value of living within one's means. Yet Kino and his family are clearly living below any decent standard. Collectivist comradeship may be the hallmark of socialist society, but the village Kino lives in is full of thieves and cheats.
As the novel moves slowly on to a finale obvious from the midpoint of the book, one wonders what Steinbeck is trying to say. "The Pearl" is not supposed to be just a story, it's so unsatisfying in that department its clear the Bard of Salinas had other fish to fry. But what?
You are left in the end not really knowing. As a classroom exercise, I guess it can provide some lively discussions if the teacher isn't too much of a tool. There's bits of good Steinbeck prose here and there, like his description of a watering hole where cats take their prey and lap water "through their bloody teeth" and the last image of the pearl itself, which captures a sense of otherworldly menace quite unexpected from this otherwise realist story. As an account of cruel nature, it works in a reductivist way.
But I can't see it as a "classic" in the same sense as other Steinbeck novels I've read. It's no "Grapes Of Wrath". Maybe because it's short it makes for a more popular scholastic reading assignment than "Grapes Of Wrath". But "The Pearl" is no easy read, nor is it satisfying.
Rated by buyers -
This book is criminally unknown. In just under 100 pages, Steinbeck weaves the immortal truth that worldy wealth cannot guarantee happiness or joy into a classic tale of a South American native couple who discover the joys and woes of finding an incredible pearl. They very first think that the pearl will change their lives (which is correct) by bringing them happiness and opening endless possabilities for themselves and their infant child. They soon discover, however, that the pearl awakens darkness both within themselves and especially those around them. The setting (a poor fishing community) adds greatly to the telling of the tale, as it somehow adds a tangible sense of the timelessness of the truth it is conveying. John Steinbeck is truly a master story-teller, one who earns my respect not only for the magnificent method of writing (which is very similar to Hemingway), but also because he dares to tread where very few authors do: into unhappy endings. The truth is, things don't always turn out for the best, and not every story has a happy ending. It is always refreshing to find someone who has does not fear to go against the popular obsession with happy endings, and who is actually able to use an unhappy ending to further enhance the impact of their message.
Overall grade:
A
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