Review of THE PEARL by John Steinbeck

Long before there were salt of the earth people getting instantly rich off the lottery, only to curse the windfall they had received, there was a tiny little nugget of a novel called The Pearl. The novel was published by John Steinbeck in 1947. The Pearl has been influential on popular singers. Below are a number of songs based on--or influenced by--The Pearl.

"Angry"                 Matchbox 20         

"Colored People"                  dc talk

"Colors of the Wind"           Vanessa Williams

"Half-Breed"                  Cher                

"How Can I Keep from Singing" Eva Cassidy

"I am Woman"                  Helen Reddy

"I Got a Name"                  Jim Croce

"I Write the Songs"               Barry Manilow

"The Pearl"                  Fleming and John

"Reach"                  Gloria Estefan

"Songs"                  Joan Armatrading

"Sunshine on My Shoulders"          John Denver         

"To Have and Not to Hold"          Madonna  

"The Pearl"                  Joshua Kadison

"Seek Up"                  Dave Matthews

Pros: If you want to read an artistically written book, bursting with fine prose, then is the novel for you. It is also on the shorter side and could be called a novella.

Cons: The characters of The Pearl are monotone and the dialog is lacking. In actuality, there is little dialog at all. I also found the plot rather simplistic and as mentioned above, lacking in true originality.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

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