Lunchtime (bedtime) read: The Pearl

The phrase be careful what you wish for was never more apt than with this final chapter of The Pearl. Gripping until the very end there is a rapidity in the story here that is refreshing after some of Steinbeck’s longer and slower books East of Eden and even to some extent Grapes of Wrath. But just as with Mice and Men he has the ability to pull on the heartstrings with ease as Kino ends his journey with the pearl.

Chapter six
Having decided to leave and head away from the village Kino and his wife Juana pack up and head for the mountains but after a while they discover they are being tracked and in a flight of panic head for the mountains. But the trackers follow them and although Kino’s family hide in a cave the men decide to sleep at the foot of the rocks and Kino feels he has no choice other than to kill them. But before he can they shoot at what they think is a coyote and shoot the baby. In a rage Kino kills them all but now with his son dead he returns to the village and throws the pearl back into the sea.

A story like this makes you wonder if it’s worth doing the lottery…still wouldn’t it be great to win enough to be able to walk out on your job? They wouldn’t bother sending trackers…

Review to follow tomorrow