The Pearl
by John Steinbeck · first published 1945
56% recommend33% neutral11% critical
Why HN recommends it
A short, spare novella that works both as a classic read in high school and as a quick, accessible return to literature. Often listed alongside well-loved Steinbeck works, it makes a good pick for a brief read.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
A novel.
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Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
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…the local library, my wife asks "what are you getting?", to which I replied, "I think it's time I start getting back in touch with the classics." I quickly picked up and read Of Mice and Men and The Pearl. I never knew how good these books were, books that I once read in high school and at the time never understood and ultimately despised having to read. My next read from the late Steinbeck will be Grapes…
on “Why I read fiction” ↗…(Clarke) Ringworld (Niven) The Stainless Steel Rat (Harrison) The Hobbit (Tolkien) Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Stevenson) The Odyssey (Homer) The Man who Would be King (Kipling) The Pearl (Steinbeck) Thus Spake Zarathustra (Nietzsche) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Dick) A Scanner Darkly (Dick) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Adams) Dracula (Stoker) To Kill a Mockingbird…
on “Ask HN: What book had a big impact on you as a child or teenager?” ↗…Raja Yoga - Swami Vikekandanda - 7/10 Something Fresh, something new - 7/10 Karma Yoga - Swami Vikekandanda - 8/10 Thinking, Fast and Slow - 9/10 Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates 10/10 The Pearl by John Steinbeck 7/10
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2015?” ↗…you've read them come back for more! And if I may note, literature is a world thing that opens up new domains. No way to limit it to one place. However in your stated context, how about Steinbeck "The Pearl" and Miller "Death of a Salesman"
on “Ask HN: I'm reading all the classics, what should I read next?” ↗…first two Game of Thrones book. Before continuing wanted to check out a couple of other books. Read Shadow Divers which was really good. Saw it suggested a lot and it did not disappoint. Now reading The Pearl by Steinbeck and Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers by Grant Naylor.
on “Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?” ↗…7/10 Raja Yoga - Swami Vikekandanda - 7/10 Something Fresh, something new - 7/10 Karma Yoga - Swami Vikekandanda - 8/10 Thinking, Fast and Slow - 9/10 Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates 10/10 The Pearl by John Steinbeck 7/10
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2015?” ↗I remember as a kid reading The Pearl by John Steinbeck. I didn't forget the part where all the buyers in the town were part of a cartel. It's a given that eventually established businesses will start to collude with each other.
on “EU fines Asus, Denon-Marantz, Philips and Pioneer $130M for online price fixing” ↗When I was at that tender age when many nerdy boys read and fall to Atlas Shrugged I read The Pearl by Steinbeck. Which has a passage I never forgot. “It was supposed that the pearl buyers were individuals acting alone, bidding against one another for the pearls the fishermen brought in. And once it…
on “Maryland Is First to Ban A.I.-Driven Price Increases in Grocery Stores” ↗…Really enjoyed it and seemed fitting with the current times. - Buddenbrooks, Thomas Mann. Generational wealth come and gone. Good for putting things into perspective. - Things Fall Apart, Achebe. - The Pearl, John Steinbeck - Hyperion (first book), Dan Simmons. Great sci-fi. Bought the second book and look forward to reading it. - Stoner, John Williams. Incredibly well written book - One Hundred Years…
on “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” ↗…enough social context to grasp the character motivations or actions. The whole book was like the allegory of the cave. Steinbeck is a close second, though. I had to read three of the man's books (The Pearl, Of Mice and Men, and Grapes of Wrath) and I don't think I enjoyed a single page of it. I remember finding a copy of The Pearl as an adult and being shocked it was less than 100 pages. We somehow extracted…
on “Book people think they know why 9-year-olds stop reading for fun” ↗