The Pearl

And the music of the pearl drifted to a whisper and disappeared.

Such a tragic yet beautiful fable! And Steinbeck's raw and eloquent prose style takes it to a whole new level. Like Kino's knife, the tale is bound to strike through your heart. It's a Mexican folk story about how a poor fisherman finds the most beautiful and the greatest pearl in the world. The Pearl of the World as they call it. And what follows is a harrowing tale of luck and greed. There's this line in the book that says, “Luck, you see, brings bitter friends.” That's indeed the bitter truth. The story moves forward with Kino having grand dreams to sell the pearl and educate his kid Coyotito. Wealth always attracts attention. Be it good attention or cruel attention. And the same is brilliantly portrayed in the novel.

It teaches us that how everything comes with a price. And sometimes, the price is too heavy to pay.
Despite being a short novel, it still manages to teach a lot. That's the magic of Steinbeck! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I'm giving it 4 stars just because I expected a happy ending. But never mind!