The book itself, well, I guess I'm just not the deeply 'classical' kind - a boy goes to war, runs away from the fighting, feels bad, 'mans up' & fights, and feels good. the end. It goes on and on in 3rd person about 'the youth' - why did he even give him a name if he was going to call him 'the youth' 90% of the time? I'm glad I read/listened to it due to its prestige/historical value, but I'm pretty sure neither I nor any of my 3 kids will read it again...