The Pearl

Rating:
Summary: The Most Boring Book I Have Ever Read
Review: The Pearl by John Steinbeck is one of the most boring books I have ever read. I had to read it in class, and I almost fell asleep whenever we read it. My advice- Do not buy this peice of Trash.

Rating:
Summary: No Happy Ending
Review: A tragic ending for an almost to good-to-be true story
It happens, you have 5 of the 6 numbers needed too win the lottery. At this point, you think to yourself: what is it that you most desire? A brand new car; a huge house; or just to spend every waking moment of your life with your family. John Steinback's novel, The Pearl is a perfect example of life's ups and downs. It is truly a masterpiece of hatred, misery, deceit and love. It demonstrates why wealth does not always deliver good fortune. Every- one has to work long and hard to succeed in areas they wish too.
The sadness of the main character, Kino, can truly be felt as he struggles to succeed in his brand new life. Kino is a poor Mexican peasant living in Baja, California during the 1920's. He and his wife, Juana, live in a small community off the cost. Their life changes dramatically when a poisonous scorpion bites their son, Coyotito. Kino now must determine a way to pay for the treatment of a doctor. The family finds a way to pay for the treatment, and a way to make their lives better. There are many obstacles lying ahead, but depending on the root they take, could affect the final outcome.

Rating:
Summary: No Happy Ending - A tragic ending for an almost to good-to-b
Review: It happens, you have 5 of the 6 numbers needed too win the lottery. At this point, you think to yourself: what is it that you most desire? A brand new car; a huge house; or just to spend every waking moment of your life with your family. John Steinback's novel, The Pearl is a perfect example of life's ups and downs. It is truly a masterpiece of hatred, misery, deceit and love. It demonstrates why wealth does not always deliver good fortune. Every- one has to work long and hard to succeed in areas they wish too.
The sadness of the main character, Kino, can truly be felt as he struggles to succeed in his brand new life. Kino is a poor Mexican peasant living in Baja, California during the 1920's. He and his wife, Juana, live in a small community off the cost. Their life changes dramatically when a poisonous scorpion bites their son, Coyotito. Kino now must determine a way to pay for the treatment of a doctor. The family finds a way to pay for the treatment, and a way to make their lives better. There are many obstacles lying ahead, but depending on the root they take, could affect the final outcome.

Rating:
Summary: Good vs. Evil
Review: The Pearl is one of those books that nearly anyone can relate to. Why? Because it's timeless. It doesn't matter so much that it's whole storyline is set centuries ago in a Spanish-run colony near the Gulf of Mexico, because even if you've never been there, even if you know nothing of the timeframe in which it is set, you can still comprehend Steinbeck's message. It is a message that is universal and everlasting: human knowledge of good vs. evil. Living beings have been contemplating that knowledge since the beginning of time, ever since Adam and Eve took their first bites of the forbidden fruit. Kino and Juana (our protagonists) have likewise found a "forbidden" pearl. They prayed to find it to save their son, Coyotito, who was in dire need of the care of an expensive doctor. They could not imagine, however, the damage it would do to their family, to their reputations, to their hearts. All the uproar that follows is mainly rooted in greed, and thus fundamentally, in evil.

Anyone who's ever read Steinbeck knows all about his lavish use of figurative language and description. In The Pearl, Kino makes reference to "The Song of the Family", and when outside forces disturb that peace, "The Song of Evil". This allusion to Song in The Pearl is an innovative use of imagery, just the kind of figurative language that Steinbeck loves to use. Music floats and sways us: it carries our emotions, our hopes and desires, our fears. Through his songs, Kino is laid bare to us. We hear everything he feels, everything he says in his heart. It's a great alternative when you're writing about people who practically never talk. The nature portrayed in the songs remains constant throughout the book, indicating all of the most dramatic moments.

I would strongly recommend this book to any high school student preparing for their English Regents or other English-related tests and/or contests. It's definitely what one might call "heavy reading material" (and chock-full of messages that the Regents generally likes to quiz folks on), so if you're looking for something to read while you're on vacation at the beach, you may want to pick something else (particularly since the beach would might be a disturbing place to read this, considering the content of the book)!

Rating:
Summary: Tarnished Pearl
Review: It surprises me to see so many negative reviews for The Pearl. In many ways, it is a typical Steinbeck book. The familiar vivid characters, thorough details, and moral lesson are compressed into just over 100 pages. The nature story itself is the main detractor.

The general theme of the story is greed/wealth. A large pearl promises to bring wealth and security to Kino and his family. Unfortunately, the pearl only creates havoc in the life of Kino's family. With his home burned, after nearly had the pearl stolen, and after being assaulted, the family to flees the vilage with the pearl. After the family could run no longer, the pearl became a potential source of wealth that never came to fruition.

Perhaps the fact that the story is rather cliche that makes it so unpopular. In some ways, the story is hard to visualize. For example, how did the trackers blow the head off of Kino's baby when it was dark, the baby was on a mountain, and the tracker thought he was shooting at a coyote? It is not that hard to see why some readers can't buy into the story.

Rating:
Summary: the pearl
Review: The pearl is a book very easy to read. It tells the story of a poor indian fishing man and his famnily in Mexico that find a pearl and it changed their life but not the way they wanted. Steinbeck uses a lot of imagination and suspense in the book so that you want to turn the next page to know what happened.