≡ PDF The Pearl Centennial Edition John Steinbeck 9780142000694 Books

The Pearl Centennial Edition John Steinbeck 9780142000694 Books

Download As PDF : The Pearl Centennial Edition John Steinbeck 9780142000694 Books

The Pearl Centennial Edition John Steinbeck 9780142000694 Books

After reading 'Of Mice and Men' and enjoying it immensely, I decided I'd try another one of John Steinbeck's short stories. After looking over a list of recommendations, I started reading 'The Pearl' in the hopes that it would be as good as 'Of Mice and Men.'

The story is a retelling of a Mexican folktale and revolves around a small, poor family whose son becomes gravely ill. After the father character, Kino, finds a massive pearl in the waters near their village, their fortunes change and Kino begins to dream of a better life for the small family he loves. Soon, however, the dream turns nightmarish as wealth brings out the worst in Kino and the people around him.

It's a bitter tale and a warning of what a sudden change in status and wealth can do to people. Like modern day lottery winners, it often leaves the person/people worse off than they ever were before. This is a very readable story about social status, wealth, education and greed. I personally was impacted more by 'Of Mice and Men,' but I'm also glad to have read this story. Steinbeck's writing is emotional and I think most people who take the time to read this story will enjoy it.


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The Pearl Centennial Edition John Steinbeck 9780142000694 Books Reviews

One thing that I think this book was incredibly successful in was its ability to make
readers reflect upon their own lives by pushing the boundaries of issues like poverty, and the true
meaning of happiness. And the ability to relate to a story is something that I constantly look for
when I want to read a book.
I also very much enjoyed how Steinbeck set up the entire plot of the story to coincide
with the discovery of the pearl and to emphasize how bad its discovery was. The story starts out
very peacefully in a Mexican town with the main character Kino, his wife Juana, and their baby
Coyotito. They live in a rather poverty stricken community with not much opportunity to make
money. Kino provides for his family by gathering food from the ocean and simultaneously
looking for pearls inside of clams. Trouble does eventually arise though when his baby is stung
by a scorpion and the only doctor available refuses to help them due to their lack of money. But
their luck seems to turn around when Kino comes upon an enormous pearl, promptly name "the
pearl of the world" by his neighbors.
It soon becomes apparent though that the pearl is perhaps not all that it seems. This book
constantly reminded me of Gollum from Lord of the Ring, who frequently obsessed over the power of
the ring. Much like Gollum, Kino began to change after he found something of great value. As
Baron Acton once said "Absolute power corrupts absolutely." Kino soon falls victim to the
promises that the pearl holds as he is consumed by his own paranoia of losing the pearl.
I have also read Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and I think both the books are very
good but I did enjoy Of Mice and Men more because it focused more on an entertaining story
rather than focusing on the morale of the story. If you do enjoy learning lessons from books than
I would definitely recommend the Pearl, but if you are looking for an action packed story, I
would look for another book. All in all though, I still think the Pearl was a very good book and
would recommend anyone looking for a nice and easy book.
This digital version has really weird page numbers which makes it a bit complicated for my son and school. I didn't expect him to be on the same page (literally) as his classmates with their paper copies but this book seems to jump page numbers by 3 and sometimes more. He's resorted to listing the % finished when adding quotes.
Glimpsed in The author’s telling of a Mexican folk tale in “The Log from the Sea of Cortez,” published in 1951 but chronicling a 1940 expedition, “The Pearl” (1947) by John Steinbeck (1902-1968) is an alternate version of the traditional story. Here, the fateful account of Kino, an impoverished pearl diver, his wife Juana, and their infant son Coyotito, is a moving parable illustrating the importance of social structures—family, village, and town—in the lives of individuals as sources of knowledge, strength, and inspiration, contrasted with the corrupting influence of wealth.
The Pearl is a small, easily-readable book, but with a deep, compelling mood and deep, meaningful characters. A great treatise on power, money and dreams. Very moving. When I taught this book to freshmen in h.s., they found it easy to read, yet "got" and were moved by the themes and plot. (A terribly shallow, badly photographed, film was made of this in the 1940's; don't bother. This would make a great film; hope some day someone makes it.)
I was prompted to go back to Steinbeck by the recently released Monterey Bay by Lindsay Hatton. I realized I'd only read The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden. So I purchased The Pearl, which was not in the Salinas area of California. I believe it was on the Sea of Cortez in Mexico. It was beautifully written novella about a poor family's struggle as well as contentment. Also, picked up copies of Cannery Row (5 stars) and Tortilla Flat,
Our Sunday school class discussed the parable of the pearl as found in Matthew 1345-46. This book was mentioned and I had never read it. First, I am astounded at Steinbeck's extraordinary ability to draw a reader in as fast as I got sucked into this story. How did he know these things? To be able to write about a remote fishing village in Mexico. Pearl diving? How do you research that? And then to plug it all into a story of dreams that turn into evil because of greed. The pearl is not always good.
An excellent little story filed with the strength of "family". I admit, I love Steinbeck. His best though is The Grape of Wrath which is also filled with "family values" Can't get enough of him. He is perfect for young readers to break into literature!
After reading 'Of Mice and Men' and enjoying it immensely, I decided I'd try another one of John Steinbeck's short stories. After looking over a list of recommendations, I started reading 'The Pearl' in the hopes that it would be as good as 'Of Mice and Men.'

The story is a retelling of a Mexican folktale and revolves around a small, poor family whose son becomes gravely ill. After the father character, Kino, finds a massive pearl in the waters near their village, their fortunes change and Kino begins to dream of a better life for the small family he loves. Soon, however, the dream turns nightmarish as wealth brings out the worst in Kino and the people around him.

It's a bitter tale and a warning of what a sudden change in status and wealth can do to people. Like modern day lottery winners, it often leaves the person/people worse off than they ever were before. This is a very readable story about social status, wealth, education and greed. I personally was impacted more by 'Of Mice and Men,' but I'm also glad to have read this story. Steinbeck's writing is emotional and I think most people who take the time to read this story will enjoy it.