Customer Reviews

Forrest Gump

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Forrest Gump is a superb novel, and it is unfortunate that most people are more familiar with the movie, and think of Forrest Gump mainly as a "movie character." This is very unfortunate, just as if "Tom Sawyer" or "Gulliver's Travels" were widely known as just "good movies" while the original books were confined to obscurity.

The movie was good, and deserving of the awards and accolades it received. However, it is not by any stretch a substitute for the book. Forrest Gump is a somewhat different character in the book than in the movie, and the Forrest Gump of the novel experiences numerous adventures that the movie does not even hint at. To do the book justice, perhaps it should have been adapted into four or five separate movies.

Then again, another way to do the book justice is to just read it.

It's been about a year since I read "Forrest Gump", and about 6 years since I saw the film version. However, here is a list of some of the key differences between the book and the movie:

BOOK ONLY:
* Forrest described as being 6 1/2 feet tall, and extremely strong and muscular
* Forest's experiences attending a school he calls a "nut school"
* Forrest causing calamitous cooking accident in the army
* Explosion of commodes in Viet Nam, causing whole platoon to be covered with feces (Although amusing in the book, it's probably best that this is omitted from the movie.)
* Forest accidentally ripping off Jenny's dress at the movies
* Forrest joining Jenny in a political demonstration and accidentally wounding a government official by throwing one of his army medals
* Forrest getting committed to psychiatric hospital
* Forrest becoming an astronaut
* Forrest living for several years on remote island populated by cannibals
* The character of Sue the orangutan
* Forrest becoming a champion wrestler under the name "The Dunce"
* Forrest playing harmonica in a band called The Cracked Eggs
* Forrest starring in sci fi film with Raquel Welch
* Forrest mastering chess
* Forrest running for senate using "I've got to pee" as campaign slogan
* Forrest retaliates against his mother's boss by throwing him into a washing machine and turning it on

(Unlike the Forrest Gump of the Tom Hanks movie, the Forrest Gump of the novel is pretty aggressive if provoked, although still a basically sweet-natured person.)

MOVIE ONLY:
* Forrest wearing leg braces, and eventually magically breaking out of them
* The phrase, "Life is like a box of chocolates."
* The word "buttocks" (In the book, Forrest uses the word "ass" like anyone else.)
* Forrest inspiring Elvis Presley's dance style
* Forrest meeting John Lennon
* Death of Jenny
* Death of Forrest's mother

There are just a few things I remember being in both the book and the movie:
* Forrest becoming a football player
* Forrest going to Viet Nam and rescuing his friend Dan in combat
* Forrest becoming a world-renowned ping pong champion
* Forrest becoming a successful tycoon in the "srimping" business

Winston Groom's book holds numerous surprises and huge laughs regardless of whether you saw the movie or not. I particularly appreciated the author's lightning-fast pacing. One thing happens after another, and there is not a single wasted word.

When you finish the first book, I suggest getting the sequel, "Gump and Company", which is every bit as good, and covers Forest's odyssey from the early 1970's through the 1990's.

Winston Groom depicts the adventures of a dim-witted country boy in his novel, "Forrest Gump." Groom writes the novel in a first person perspective, as if Forest is reminiscing on his past. He even uses the poor grammar and broken language of such a dense narrator. He recounts all of his life achievements and failures. He describes everything from his fame of being a football and wrestling star, to his struggles with the love of his life, Jenny Curran.
The thing that impressed me the most was the point of view. The entire book is written in the dialect of this easy speaking wholesome character. The language connects you to Forrest and puts you in his shoes. You can see how Forrest experienced these events and the reactions of the people he comes in contact with. He naively explains these reactions and events, which is a subtle way that the author relates to the reader without sacrificing Forrest's stupidity.
The novel is lined up with story after story that all intertwine together. Every amazing adventure is followed by another. And Forrest's genuine and innocent narration of these events never leads the reader to question the character's honesty. As a side note to movie patrons, don't disregard this book because you have seen the movie, there are many differences between the two. And seeing all the events through Forrest's eyes allows an even greater connection to the character. I enjoyed every page of this book and I hope you do too.

While I was reading it (I had seen the movie prior), I thought that the movie followed the book about one third or even one half of the way but then the book just took off in a ninety degree turn and it was one incredible adventure after another - and I mean incredible literally. It has to have been one of the funniest things I have ever read. At the time, I thought it was as if the author thought mid-way through the book 'Heck, I'm the author - I can do whatever I want' ... and did. The unbridled imagination is thoroughbred. Best thing to do is get the movie and the book and compare them. The movie is first rate but the book is exquisitely funny - much more than the movie.

I am probably the only person in the world who hasn't seen Forrest Gump the movie, owing to the fact that I've spent the past ten years in a cave in Siberia. This, I believe, makes me particularly eligible to objectively review the novel.

At first, Forrest Gump appears to be simply another novel in the tradition of such masterpieces as `Catcher In The Rye' three decades before it and Willy Russell's `The Wrong Boy', almost two decades after it. And in many ways it is: a narrator telling his story in his own, unique voice, someone you can empathize with; someone you can grow to love and think of as a friend made out of words who is there for you whenever you open the book.

Forrest Gump is all this, but it is much more than just a straight story. It starts off as an endearing tale about a mentally handicapped boy who is jeered at and made fun of at school, and who then grows into a man and `sets off to seek his fortune.' However, just when you think you have it sussed, it will whisk you off into an insane whirlwind of completely impossible, improbable events. Let me not concern you with the `plot', but you will find yourself with Forrest playing pro-football, fighting in the Vietnam War, meeting with American presidents, playing ping-pong in China, and shooting off into space on the most bizarre NASA mission ever. And that's not even the half of it.

In the hands of any other author, and with any other character in the lead role, all this might have very easily spun out of control. However, Forrest is such a wonderful character that he manages to hold it all together. And the narration, in his uneducated, Deep South style is delivered with such blatant honesty that you almost do believe everything that happens.

Forrest Gump is a bittersweet romance; it is a social-political commentary, it is a biting satire on practically everything; it is the story of a man who struggles to be normal and understood in society, and at the same time couldn't stand such a thing. But mostly it is exuberant: it makes you feel good to be alive. You will find yourself laughing aloud, not necessarily because it is funny, although it is certainly that, but out of sheer delight at the absurdity of it all. It is fantastic, it is inventive, and frankly I don't know if I have ever had such fun reading a book. As one reviewer succinctly commented, `Anyone who doesn't read this book deserves to spend the winter in North Dakota.' And I'm afraid I would have to agree with him there.

And now I must leave you, for, as Forrest Gump would say, `I got to pee.'

The first half of this book is brilliant, even better than the movie. I believed the character and the situations he got himself into, and I loved the point of view of this idiot savant. It brought my world into sharper focus.

But then the author seemed to get bored of his own story. He seemed to quit crafting his thoughts in favor of free writing. The story transformed from fascinating into unbelievable, from profound into ridiculous. I began to wonder if two different people had written the book, that maybe someone was finishing off a story that another person started.

Hats off the the producers of the movie who selected the very best of the book and finished the story off the way it would have gone if the writing had remained consistent.

I am one of those people who cry everytime Jenny dies in the movie.. but the book on the other hand is nothing of the sort! When my aunt encouraged me to read the book that it was 'lol' funny... I gave it a shot but really didn't believe it could be so. But this isn't the Forrest we have all come to love and know... this is a completely different Forrest.. a funny, awesome Forrest. If your expecting the movie you won't get what you want.. but if your looking for something great that is a great mood-picker-uper get this!

I realize that it's a mortal sin to compare a book and a screenplay. With that said and in my own defense, I couldn't help it!! Forrest Gump, the Movie is, without question, one of the 5 or so movies that I'll take with me when i'm stranded on a deserted island (along with electricity and a DVD player, of course).

Most movies that begin as novels or books usually leave me disapointed. In my opinion, there are very few movies that can deliver a story better than a book can. Noteable exceptions off the top of my head are The Shining, The Godfather and now, Forrest Gump.

The Movie, to me, is philosophical, thought provoking. I won't go on - it would take hours. Although the Book did provide the writers of the screenplay with a jumping off point, it provided little else. It failed to touch my emotions the way the Movie/Tom Hanks did. In fact, as endearing and innocent as Movie Forrest was, I was equally as indifferent toward Book Forrest and at times, was even a little creeped out by him.

Like other reviewers, I would suggest the reading of this book BEFORE watching the movie. I probably would have enjoyed it more had I done the same...

this book is one of the best. Winston Groom has one of the best imagination i have ever known. I saw the movie first...but i realized that my passion for the adventures of Forrest Gump was never ending, so i needed to buy the book. if i could, it would get 10 stars

A great book and a great movie, too, though the book and the movie have extremely little in common. The movie is more realistic, but the book is so funny and really changes the way you think about things.
The story is simple and care-free, but at the same time it is profound.
It creates an instantly lovable main character, Forrest Gump, who has you laughing out loud from the very beginning.
The book shows us the life and adventures of an autistic savant and his love for Jenny Curran.
I would recommend that you should definately read the book first, but if you have already seen the movie, then just don't expect the book to be anything like the movie--because it's not.

Like most of the rest of the world, I saw the movie years ago. It's taken me a long time to get around to reading the book and I'm delighted to say that I enjoyed it immensely. While the movie and the book share some common characteristics, they are very dissimilar. Many aspects of the book would not translate well onto the screen and I certainly can't visualise Tom Hanks as the Forrest Gump depicted in the book.

In Forrest Gump, Winston Groom has given us a politically incorrect hero who can unconsciously parody and satirize just about everything and get away with it quite successfully. How so? Well, Forrest has an IQ of `near 70' which means that as a character he has the luxury of making literal observations without having to run them through the generally accepted filters of societal niceness. Nor do we readers expect the same standards of behaviour as we might from those with allegedly `normal' intelligence or better. Our capacity to make excuses enables us to suspend belief and laugh with (not at) Forrest. This kind of humour is not for everyone but for those who enjoy it will find a selection of chuckles and laugh out loud moments.

As impossible coincidences follow action-packed adventures, I found myself wondering exactly what Forrest would achieve next and where he would end up. In fiction, the politically incorrect and the improbable can be funny in a way that is completely unacceptable in real life. Whatever that is.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith