The Pearl

by John Steinbeck Narrated by Hector Elizondo

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Based on a Mexican folktale, John Steinbeck tells a deceptively simple tale of good and evil, love and human nature. It's an easy win for any reader.

“There it lay, the great pearl, perfect as the moon.”
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Like his father and grandfather before him, Kino is a poor diver, gathering pearls from the gulf beds that once brought great wealth to the Kings of Spain and now provide Kino, Juana, and their infant son with meager subsistence. Then, on a day like any other, Kino emerges from the sea with a pearl as large as a sea gull's egg, as "perfect as the moon." With the pearl comes hope, the promise of comfort and of security....

A story of classic simplicity, based on a Mexican folk tale, The Pearl explores the secrets of man's nature, the darkest depths of evil, and the luminous possibilities of love.

Editorial Reviews

Library Journal

Kino, a poor Mexican pearl fisher, finds a valuable pearl. Yet instead of bringing blessings, the pearl acts as a harbinger of misfortune to Kino and his wife, Juana. Ultimately, it is returned from whence it came. Steinbeck's parable, originally published in 1947, is a well-written retelling of an old Mexican folktale. Hector Elizondo, with his fine voice and great diction, reads with sincerity, keeping this simple, tragic tale moving toward its inevitable conclusion. Highly recommended for all collections.-Denise A. Garofalo, Mid-Hudson Lib. System, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

From the Publisher

[The Pearl] has the distinction and sincerity that are evident in everything he writes.”—The New Yorker

“Form is the most important thing about him. It is at its best in this work.” —Commonweal

“[Steinbeck has] long trained his prose style for such a task as this: that supple unstrained, muscular power, responsive to the slightest pull of the reins.”—Chicago Sunday Times

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172053573
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	06/15/2011
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	506,645

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