what is your personal opinion about the novel?

This is a Steinbeck novel and I don't think the guy ever wrote anything that was sub-standard. I love this novella. It's got a simplicity that’s filled with atmosphere and tension. The conflicts are so organic in nature that anyone can understand Kino's obsession with the Pearl. We agree with Juana yet like Kino, we feel his greed and pull towards the pearl. In the end there is disaster but we share in the misery and ask ourselves if we would have acted any differently.