Steinbeck's 'The Pearl' is a good, quick read

I recently finished reading John Steinbeck’s classic novel, “The Pearl,” and I wasn’t disappointed by this outstanding book.

I’ve been a big fan of Steinbeck ever since I read “Of Mice and Men” in high school, and have always felt a small twinge of regret that I’d never taken the time to read “The Pearl.”

“The Pearl,” which was published in 1947, is a quick read. I read the 1972 Bantam Pathfinder edition, and it was only 119 pages long.

For those of you who have never read “The Pearl,” it’s based on a Mexican folktale about a poor family of three that has fabulous wealth fall into their laps. The book’s main character is Kino, a young husband who earns a living as a pearl diver. One day, while out diving with his wife and infant son, Kino finds the mother of all pearls, one so large that he is sure that he’d receive enough money for it to become fabulously wealthy.

Instead of bringing Kino and his family untold wealth, the pearl turns their lives upside down and eventually leads to fear for their lives, attacks in the night, murder, flight from the law and the near destruction of their small family. When it’s all said and done, their lives are ruined by the pearl and they end up much worse off than before their discovery of the pearl.

This is the third or fourth Steinbeck book that I’ve had a chance to read, and they were all very good. Others I would recommend would be “Of Mice and Men,” “The Grapes of Wrath” and “The Winter of Our Discontent.” My dad is a big fan of “East of Eden,” a huge, intimidating book that I own but have yet to tackle.

In the end, how many of you have read “The Pearl” or are fans of Steinbeck? Which of his books have you read? Which are your favorites and which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.