This is a very interesting books. Definetly not run of themill. The language is unique and very interesting. The theme is modern day native New Zealanders trying to deal with the society in which they are living, as a sort of second class citizens, stuck into an awful cycle of laziness, welfare, illiteracy and violence. I highly recommend this amazing book.
I personally liked the movie better. This book was difficult to follow, since there's no distinguishing the dialogue. It also left a lot of issues open or "hanging" at the end.