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| The Pearl (Penguin Modern Classics) | 
 enlarge | Author: John Steinbeck
Creators: Jose-luis Orozco, Linda Wagner-martin
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Category: Book
List Price: £6.99
Buy New: £2.75
You Save: £4.24 (61%)
New (25) from £2.75
Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 73290
Media: Paperback
Edition: New edition
Pages: 128
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 4.9 x 0.9
ISBN: 0141185120
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780141185125
ASIN: 0141185120
Publication Date: September 7, 2000
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: PLEASE CHECK LANGUAGE OF THIS BOOK IN "PRODUCT DETAILS". BRAND NEW - ***Delivery usually * 3 - 5 * working days - From Aphrohead of SOUTHPORT, UK *** . Thanks from all at Aphrohead.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 A parable about a pearl that is a pearl August 26, 2008
Again the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. Matt 13.45
Jesus spoke of pearls just twice in the record we have of his words - an admonition not to cast our pearls before swine (a pearl for the ancients could denote a wise saying), and the rather beautiful and enigmatic story above. The merchant sounds mad, putting all his eggs into one basket in the most imprudent of ways, and yet there is something touching about the way he is startled by finding the apotheosis of his life's desire, and his willingness to surrender everything for that. Jesus challenges us - would we do the same? "Make me your pearl of great price," he seems to be saying, "Even if the world calls you mad when you do."
As I reflect on this merchant, I like to think that he kept the pearl. If he sold it on when the pearl price was at a high for a healthy profit, the story loses its innocence. Moreover, I like to think that he did not `possess' it; that he did not hide it under a stone and live in fear of its theft. I hope that he shared his joy in his purchase - that he saw himself as the pearl's steward, sensing that it had been entrusted to him by God as the person on the planet most keenly able to appreciate its transcendent beauty. I hope too that by responding to the pearl's perfection, he was made perfect himself - that he became able to find beauty in the most unlikely places through loving this particular gem. In my imagination, the pearl opens him up, and frees him, to become a pearl himself.
Steinbeck's short tale is also of a pearl of great price, but there the overlap with Jesus's parable ends. The pearl-fisher Kino opens a huge oyster on his boat before his wife, to discover the most marvellous of gems. He screams in exultation, and before long, everyone near and far knows of his good fortune. Or is it? His friends rejoice, but their celebrations are muted, for they know that men of power will have designs on Kino's find. Steinbeck's voice runs beneath the story throughout as omniscient narrator, supplying a wise yet tragic commentary on the subsequent travails of Kino, his wife and child. Kino tries to sell the pearl in town, but the buyers conspire to make a fair price impossible. Yet is not an unfair price better than no price at all? Is Kino's determination to translate his `win' in life's lottery into a better future for his family simply unseemly pride that will lead inevitably to a tragic fall?
As we read, we wonder what we might have done in Kino's place. Could he have kept his find a secret? His openness to his friends meant the pearl-buyers in town were able to prepare their lies. Maybe by keeping quiet he could have made his way to the city to sell his pearl with his purpose undisclosed. Yet such a secret, such a huge fact - would it have been possible for someone like Kino, for whom family and community were everything, to hold it in?
The pearl exacts a great price. Along the way it loses its beauty, as men come to desire it not for itself but for the wealth it might bring into their lives. Jesus's merchant, in contrast, contemplates the pearl of great price for itself. He cares not for the past or the future, but as Mary sat silently before Jesus, so this man is completely in the present as he rejoices in what sits before him, as his friends shake their heads at his folly.
 Good story but not a full represenation of Steinbeck's greatness August 25, 2008
This is the fourth consecutive Steinbeck title I've read, and it's a little different to say the least. The novel, or rather novella, is a parable rewrite by Steinbeck, based on an old Mexican folktale, so unlike other works, Steinbeck is somewhat bound by an existing plot and characters(?). As such he has little freedom to evolve things to the same extent that he does in his other novels, and it shows.
The story itself is centred on poor Mexican fisherman Kino, who discovers a pearl - `The Pearl of the World', and it looks as though all of his problems, mainly financial, are going to be over. However the discovery is set to doom Kino and his family, as paranoia and the evil of others conspire against his good fortune, and shatter his good intentions.
The highlight of The Pearl is definitely Steinbeck's treatment of the paranoia which is growing in Kino. He illustrates this to great effect, showing Kino becoming more and more suspicious of other people's motives, and he further emphasises the sense of foreboding through the use of a kind of `wandering evil', the `song' of which Kino often seems to be perceptive to.
All in all The Pearl isn't a bad novella. It's quite enjoyable, but it's not to the same depth of many of Steinbeck's other works. It's short so I would recommend it to other people to read, if only to take from it the lesson that wealth doesn't always bring happiness.
A Timeless Tale March 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A folktale of lower California is the basis for this narrative about Kino, a simple pearl fisherman, who finds an enormous pearl that promises to provide for all his family's needs. But Kino soon learns that this find brings nothing but misfortune. This misfortune prompts Kino to throw the large pearl back into the sea and resume his difficult way of life. As many learn, those who are greedy are never happy.
Courtesy of Teens Read Too September 7, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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 to read this classic novel to find out.
THE PEARL is a very short book that, honestly, I wouldn't have chosen to read except that it's for school. It's a very basic story, but everything in the book also has a double meaning, which is thought-provoking.
Reviewed by: Taylor Rector
Pearl of Wisdom August 5, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This story is about how we are all prisoners of circumstance, and how what seems like the chance to escape the misery of our lives can be but an illusion. It shows how something which in an ideal world should be a great blessing can in fact become a curse. Such is the discovery of the `Pearl of the World' for Kino and his family.
The darker side of human nature is very much paramount in this story, revealing to what depths people will go for the sake of their own financial gain. Steinbeck uses the story of the pearl to illustrate how difficult it can be to change the course of our lives, and how if we try to break out of the unwritten consensus which governs our daily lives, things can not only become lonely but also dangerous, as Kino discovers to his great cost.
I'm not generally a fan of short stories, but this one says more about human nature than some authors can fit into 400 pages. As usual with Steinbeck, it is a very good piece of writing.
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