I read the book, and responded to the story in a manner that might be deemed "unmanly" by some. I saw the movie, and the water-works began all over again. There is much here, mostly things that are in gravely short supply. A sense of purpose, and sense of there being a meaning that's too big to see. And Hope.Not being a very worldly fellow, I believe it may be said that the message in this story cuts through every boundary it might encounter. I feel badly for anyone cursed with enough cynicism to blind them to the simple beauty of this story. Literary and movie critics should take the day off where this one is concerned ... it can stand very well on it's own, even without the fanfare and hoopla that accompanys the mythic Block Buster.It sort of reminds me a little bit of "Something Wicked This Way Comes"