Steinbeckathon 2012: The Pearl

“In the town they tell the story of the great pearl—how it was found and how it was lost again. They tell of Kino, the fisherman, and of his wife, Juana, and of the baby, Coyotito. And because the story has been told so often, it has taken root in every man’s mind. And, as with all retold tales that are in people’s hearts, there are only good and bad things and black and white things and good and evil things and no in-between anywhere. If this story is a parable, perhaps everyone takes his own meaning from it and reads his own life into it." - John Steinbeck, The Pearl, Prologue

This is the discussion thread for John Steinbeck's The Pearl
Smiler69 (that's would be me, Ilana) will be hosting this thread.
Spoilers are welcome, but please indicate them in your message out of
respect for those who are reading at a different pace. Enjoy!



Steinbeckathon main thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/130105

Ilana, thanks so much for setting up this thread - looks great, and I like the quote that you chose. Planning on getting back into the swing of things with Steinbeck this month. Thanks for hosting!

Mamie, this book was such a revelation when I discovered it a few years ago. I'm very curious to see how I'll find it the second time around. Lovely to know you'll be joining in! :-)

Count me in! Thanks to Ilana for setting up and hosting the thread!

Very happy to know you're joining us Kathy!

I am so looking forward to reading this book again. I am sure I read it a long time ago in my teens, but all I remember is that I liked it very much. Thanks for setting up the thread, Ilana!
Now off to star the Charley thread as well...

Month 11!!!
I've put both our November Steinbeck reads on hold at the library.
I know I read The Pearl a looooooong time ago (in middle school?) so I'm interested to read it again from my current life vantage point.

#6 Nathalie, according to my tags I read it in 2008, which sounds about right. I remember being blown away by this little book. But then, I knew nothing about and and had no expectations whatsoever. It'll be interesting to see how it impacts me this time around, after having read several of his books in this rather concentrated way.

#7 I know... I can't believe the year is almost over already!

Even though I only read it 4 years ago, I'm sure it'll be a completely different experience this time for me too.

I have my copy upstairs, will get to it asap! Mum read a lot of Steinbeck when she lived in California, so I borrowed her copy. (At the beginning of the year, we compared what she had on her shelves with what we were scheduled to read for the Steinbeckathon and this was pretty much the only one that overlapped!)

Good to know you'll be joining in Tania!

I finished The Pearl last night and I am really looking forward to the discussion about this one!

Well I have got a copy of The Pearl so I suppose I should try to read it this month. But I read it in school and don't remember it fondly ... might have a different reaction all this time later:)

Finished it. Still like it a lot, but after having read so many great Steinbecks this year I wouldn't place it on top of my list. I can see how it left a strong impression with me when I was a teenager. There's so much on those 100 pages...

And he is SO good when he describes water scenery (sea, rivers, lakes - all kinds of water). I always feel being transported there, can almost hear the birds and the frogs and the waves.

I finished The Pearl early this morning. I could not put it down. Surprised, yet not so surprised by the conclusion. It's a tale often told and relevant for all ages.
I agree with Nathalie, Steinbecks descriptions of nature are amazing. I give it a 4.0 because of his simple yet eloquent prose.

I wanted to take a little break from Steinbeck after Travels with Charley, which I enjoyed a lot, but was very intense, and having read The Pearl once before already, I know it's not light fare either (what Steinbeck is?)

Will pick it up soon.

It's a tale often told and relevant for all ages.

Very true!

I think I appreciated different things about this book the second time around. With SLIGHT SPOILERS for the very beginning of the book, here is my review of it:

Ah, avarice...it's an old story, really, about how greed always corrupts, about how it always tarnishes everything that it comes into contact with.

The Pearl by John Steinbeck is one such story. Kino and his wife, Juana, live simple lives. When their small son, Coyotito, is stung by a scorpion they set out for the only doctor.

" Kino hesitated moment. The doctor was not of his people. This doctor was of a race which for nearly four hundred years had beaten and starved and robbed and despised Kino's race, and frightened it too, so that the indigene came humbly to the door. And as always when he came near to one of this race, Kino felt weak and afraid and angry at the same time. Rage and terror went together. He could kill the doctor more easily than he could talk to him, for all of the doctor's race spoke to all of Kino's race as thought they were simple animals. And as Kino raised his right hand to the iron ring knocker in the gate, rage swelled in him, and the pounding music of the enemy beat in his ears, and his lips drew tight against his teeth -- but with his left hand he reached to take off his hat."


Of course the doctor will not see them because they cannot afford to pay his fee. What is it to the doctor? They are nothing to him. Less than nothing. So Juana makes a poultice for her son, and she and Kino do the only thing that they can think of: they pray and venture out to the sea to dive for pearls, hoping that some miracle might occur and they will find a pearl that is worth the life of their son. The pearl that Kino brings up is no small thing - "Kino lifted the flesh, and there it lay, the great pearl, perfect as the moon. It captured the light and refined it and gave it back in silver incandescence.... In the surface of the great pearl he could see dreams form."

And this changes everything. This pearl must be not only salvation but also the key that opens doors to a new way of life, one that they had not even dared to dream of before. Of course, news travels quickly in a small town, and Kino and Juana are not the only ones that dare to dream about what this pearl can give them: "The essence of pearl mixed with the essence of men and a curious dark residue was precipitated."

Told with Steinbeck's usual care, this simple story is beautifully rendered. I am not sure which I admire more, Steinbeck's ability to describe place so completely that you feel as if you were there, or his ability to provide the reader with physical descriptions of people that also describe their character. I loved the imagery he used to give us the doctor: "In his chamber the doctor sat up high in his bed. He had on his dressing gown of red watered silk that had come from Paris, a little tight over the chest now if it was buttoned. On his lap was a silver tray with a silver chocolate pot and a tiny cup of eggshell china, so delicate that it looked silly when he lifted it with his big hand, lifted it with the tips of thumb and forefinger and spread the other three fingers wide to get them out of the way. His eyes rested in puffy little hammocks of flesh and his mouth drooped with discontent. He was growing very stout, and his voice was hoarse with the fat that pressed on his throat."

I just finished The Pearl today. Here's what I wrote in my thread:

It's a tiny little book that really packs a big punch, as they say. The lives of Kino, Juana, and their little boy are changed dramatically when Kino finds "The Pearl of the World," a pearl of great value which will change their lives forever. This was a heartbreaking story of good versus evil, love versus greed.

But Kino's face shone with prophecy. "My son will read and open the books, and my son will write and will know writing. And my son will make numbers, and these things will make us free because he will know--he will know and through him we will know."

Well, that was a depressing little read. I did like the writing, and the overall plot, however. It wasn't a bad read, just a sad one.

(Sorry, I'm very late on my Steinbeckathon reads for November!)

Wookiebender, I totally agree with you about The Pearl. I'm glad I read it, though. This year of Steinbeck has been just eye-opening for me.

Karen O.

Here is what I posted on my thread last month about The Pearl:

Oh, how I love the words of John Steinbeck. This was a beautiful fable about love and loss, faith and greed. When their precious baby is bitten by a scorpion, Kino and his wife know they must take every means possible to save Coyotito. They travel out in the warm ocean waters so Kino can dive for a pearl to pay the doctor for his services. Luck and faith lead him to The Pearl of the World which could very well be known as the Pearl of Good and Evil. Kino's first thoughts were good ones: he and Juana would get married in the church and their child would be educated and lift them out of their ignorance. But the magic of the pearl also brought the greed and cunning of the doctor and traders who wanted the pearl for themselves. Come to find out, however, that the real evil was inside of Kino as he prepared himself to do anything to protect his dreams. Turns out that he was the one who ended up destroying them. This was a very sad life lesson contained in some very eloquent writing. What a gem!

I have loved taking part in the Steinbeckathon. It has given me the incentive to read the Steinbeck books I have overlooked in my reading life.

#20> Interesting that you say that the evil was inside Kino. For me, he was an ordinary man pushed by evil people to do what he did.

I loathed the pearl buyers, they were the worst of the evil in this book for me, ganging up to keep the pearl fishers downtrodden. Although that awful doctor probably also deserves recognition as one of the chief baddies.