I've not seen the film, but the book was brilliant. When you read the book, you can imagine the scenes that are so vividly described, and see the creatures in the clear water and the untouched woods (The title of the book is from a local saying that means "Where everything is in harmony, as though even the shellfish can sing") Watching a film of the same scenes, nothing seems to be happening.
The book's message is, in that Eden human beings are not in harmony. The "poor white trash" girl living alone in the marshes isn't valued by some of her neighbours, though she grows up to become an expert and publishes books on the ecology of the area.