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The Pearl (Hardcover)

by John Steinbeck (Author) "John Steinbeck was the type of author who liked to know his material firsthand ..." (more)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 122 pages
  • Publisher: Viking Pr (Jan 1993)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0670545759
  • ISBN-13: 978-0670545759
  • Product Dimensions: 50.8 x 50.8 x 50.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,595,646 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Product Description

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. The latest generation of titles in this series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format.

In CliffsNotes on The Pearl, you’ll meet a simple family brought to a tragic end. Their pearl is supposed to bring their child out of darkness; he will be able to learn to read and write, and he will then be able to help all of the natives. Instead, the pearl becomes the direct instrument of the child’s death.

This concise supplement to Steinbeck′s The Pearl helps you appreciate the novel on an aesthetic, ecological, or sociological vein. Features that help you study include

  •  Chapter–by–chapter summaries and commentaries
  • A list of characters and analyses of the major players
  • Life and background of the author, John Steinbeck
  • A Critical approach to the novel
  • A review section that tests your knowledge
  • A selected bibliography

Classic literature or modern modern–day treasure — you′ll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the Back Cover

Cliffs Test Preparation Guides help students prepare for and improve their performance on standardized tests ACT Preparation Guide CBEST Preparation Guide CLAST Preparation Guide ELM Review GMAT Preparation Guide GRE Preparation Guide LSAT Preparation Guide MAT Preparation Guide MATH Review for Standardized Tests MSAT Preparation Guide Memory Power for Exams Police Officer Examination Preparation Guide Police Sergeant Examination Preparation Guide Police Management Examinations Preparation Guide Postal Examinations Preparation Guide Praxis I: PPST Preparation Guide Praxis II: NTE Core Battery Preparation Guide SAT Preparation Guide SAT II Writing Preparation Guide TASP Preparation Guide TOEFL Preparation Guide with 2 cassettes Advanced Practice for the TOEFL with 2 cassettes Verbal Review for Standardized Tests Writing Proficiency Examinations You Can Pass the GED Cliffs Quick Reviews help students in introductory college courses or Advanced Placement classes Algebra I Algebra II Anatomy & Physiology Basic Math and Pre–Algebra Biology Calculus Chemistry Differential Equations Economics Geometry Linear Algebra Microbiology Physics Statistics Trigonometry Cliffs Advanced Placement Preparation Guides help high school students taking Advanced Placement courses to earn college credit AP Biology AP Calculus AB AP Chemistry AP English Language & Composition AP English Literature & Composition AP United States History Cliffs Complete Study Editions are comprehensive study guides with complete text, running commentary and glossary Chaucer's Prologue Chaucer's Wife of Bath Hamlet Julius Caesar King Henry IV, Part I King Lear Macbeth The Merchant of Venice Othello Romeo and Juliet The Tempest Twelfth Night See inside back cover for listing of Cliffs Notes titles Registered trademarks include: GRE, MSAT, the Praxis Series, and TOEFL (Educational Testing Service): AP, Advanced Placement Program, and SAT (College Entrance Examination Board); GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Council); and LSAT (Law School Admission Council.) The Pearl --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews
5 star:
 (7)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
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2 star:
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1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Finding the Real Treasure, 27 Oct 2002
By Patrick Shepherd "hyperpat" (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Pearl (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)
Most people born and raised in developed first world countries cannot even imagine the depths of poverty that most of the rest of the world are forced to live with. This story illuminates this fact, as we enter the world of Kino, a pearl diver and occasional fisherman, his wife Juana, and their baby son, Coyotito. All they have is a grass shack house, a few clay cooking utensils, and their prize possession, Kino's boat, inherited from his father and grandfather. The boat is the family's livelihood, providing the means to put a meal on the table and to provide a few pesos for store bought goods by selling the small pearls Kino is able to find.

But Kino and his family, far from being depressed or unhappy, have a great treasure, the love they have for each other and their satisfaction with life as it is, with few disturbing dreams of greater things. But their quiet, routine life is turned upside down the day that Kino finds a Great Pearl. Suddenly Kino can dream of better things: a rifle for himself, school for his son so he will be able to read and tell what is really in the books, a real house. But dreams can be deadly things. Dreams lead to desire, and desire to greed, and greed to violence.

What happens to Kino and family from this point on is not a pretty story. Now we see that underneath the quiet, idyllic seeming small town and its inhabitants lie the seeds of cheating, betrayal, collusion, fear, and murder. And we see the gradual loss of Kino's real treasures. By the end of the book, events have reached the level of real tragedy, and you, along with Kino, are liable to end up in a state of emotional exhaustion.

Steinbeck's prose for this book matches his characters and situation very well, a very minimalist sentence structure and set of speech patterns. As a parable, the story has a strong moralistic point, but Steinbeck does not overdrive his thematic message, but lets his story speak for itself. One of Steinbeck's great strengths was his ability to capture on paper the characters he saw around him, and this book is a showcase for that talent. The characters of Kino and Juana are exquisitely drawn, real people you can relate to even though their lifestyles may be very far from your own. And because they are real people, it is very hard not to get drawn into their lives, where their dreams and their pains very readily become your own.

This may not be Steinbeck's greatest book, as it is too short and with too limited a focus to compare to something like his Grapes of Wrath. But within its own territory, there are very few other pieces of literature that are even half as good.

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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A simple and beatiful story with much more behind it..., 13 Dec 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: The Pearl (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)
This was one of the most amazing books I've read. At a first glimpse it looks a very simple, easy reading book. And it is very easy to read, but behind the story is a whole philosophy of life, an anti-materialistic, a though critic of the capitalist society, along with the love for the homeland which is always present in Steinbeck's books. This is also an excellent book to give to those people who don't usually read because they find it boring. I tried doing it and I was successful ;)

The story is beatiful and simple. The philosophy is beautiful. What more can we for?

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A Timeless Tale, 15 Mar 2008
By M. A. Ramos (Florida USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Pearl (Puffin Classics) (Paperback)
A folktale of lower California is the basis for this narrative about Kino, a simple pearl fisherman, who finds an enormous pearl that promises to provide for all his family's needs. But Kino soon learns that this find brings nothing but misfortune. This misfortune prompts Kino to throw the large pearl back into the sea and resume his difficult way of life. As many learn, those who are greedy are never happy.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The Pearl
`The Pearl' is another book by Steinbeck of such searing beauty that it leaves you breathless and in awe. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Spider Monkey

3.0 out of 5 stars Good and simple
A parable? Most definitely! Everyone can take their own meaning from it. The message is simple. The story is simple. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Mark Dickens

5.0 out of 5 stars A parable about a pearl that is a pearl
Again the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Mr. J. Griffiths

4.0 out of 5 stars Good story but not a full represenation of Steinbeck's greatness
This is the fourth consecutive Steinbeck title I've read, and it's a little different to say the least. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Robert Burdock

4.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too
Kino and his wife, Juana, have a beautiful baby boy, but one morning he gets stung by a scorpion. He is rushed to the doctor, who will not treat him because they have no form of... Read more
Published on 7 Sep 2007 by TeensReadToo

5.0 out of 5 stars Pearl of Wisdom
This story is about how we are all prisoners of circumstance, and how what seems like the chance to escape the misery of our lives can be but an illusion. Read more
Published on 5 Aug 2006 by W. Pearce

5.0 out of 5 stars An American classic.
This is a simple, but extremely readable short story. A tale of tragedy afflicting a family that thought they had found happiness, only to realize a great misfortune. Read more
Published on 28 Sep 2005 by R. Britain

2.0 out of 5 stars the pearl that bored the world
the pearl was very dull. john steinbeck is usualy a very good writer. the plot of this book, however was a little thin. i also think he could have tryed alittle harder. Read more
Published on 15 May 2003 by lora65604

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, short, easy read.
This book is so easy to read. Each line flows into the next and there is no unnecessary information given. It is beautifully written. Read more
Published on 15 April 2000 by Vincent Borgerding

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