I've been curious about this book for quite some time, though I've never seen the movie. At this point, I'd bet the movie was at least as good as the book. There were a couple long-winded tedious parts involved in this story, including the narrator's description of his job as an art editor, then later on pages of detailed description of exactly how he climbed up the side of a cliff. Of course his anxiety and pain were important, but it seemed to be too much--get on with it before I fall asleep and leave you on the cliff! I'm surprised to say that this was not a fast read for me. Also, the parts I'd expected to be the most suspenseful did not live up to my expectations, which were the fault of this book's legend beating me to any chance at being objective.