The book and the movie are really strikingly different in a way that I think most adaptations don't aim for, but Miyazaki didn't mind. What I loved about the movie is how it blended elements of the book with elements of Miyazaki/Ghibli themes, and I think in some ways it's the best of the Ghibli movies--so I really was hoping that the book would be like that, but it was way more its own DWJ thing.