I was a big fan of the movie before I read the book. I first read it in high school and loved it. I had already read maybe two other S King novels but thought this one was way better. Maybe because it was easier for me to visualize everything that happened in the story from having seen the movie so many times. I think both the movie and novel are 10/10. If you didn't really like the movie then I don't think you would really like the book.