Perfect as the moon, the great pearl turned Kino the fisherman into every man's enemy. The dreams he conjured from its shining surface were to bring sorrow and death. The ‘joy of life’ referred to in the citation to his Nobel Prize is at one with Steinbeck's deep feeling for nature — the earth, the sea, the mountains, the ocean coast — and his essential belief in the lost innocence of civilized man. And it is these emotions that are reflected in this moving and poignant short novel.

‘Steinbeck possesses subtlety, insight, and, above all, that simplicity of spirit which is the most distinguished feature of a true poet’