Customer Reviews

The Pearl

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READ THIS 20 YEARS AGO---JUST---RE-READ IT AGAIN.
SCOUNDRELS---THE WHOLE BOOK IS LOADED WITH THEM---
KINO INCLUDED. FEEL JUANA'S PAIN TO GET TO THE BOTTOM
OF THE WHOLE STORY. GREAT BOOK.

This is one of the classics that should be read and reread every few years. In only a few pages Steinbeck captures the role of good and evil in the world, the cycle of grinding poverty, the consequences of colonial domination and how sudden riches can be more destructive than the poverty it may alleviate.
Like his ancestors, Kino is a poor pearl fisherman; his boat is his prized possession and has been handed down from his father. With his wife Juana and son Coyotito, he lives in the poorest section of the village and they barely manage to eke out a living. All this changes when Kino finds a glorious pearl of great value. The evil forces conspire to give him a low price for the pearl, people try to steal it and in order to defend himself and his family, Kino is forced to kill several attackers. Unfortunately, this is after one of the thieves kills his son so in the end, Kino throws the pearl back into the ocean in the hope that the evil goes with it.
Although everything is so intertwined that the story moves smoothly, there is a great deal about life embedded in this story. It is a literary classic that should be required reading in all high schools.