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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Satisfaction...Gilbert Grape is one of the greats!, January 8, 2001
This review is from: What's Eating Gilbert Grape (Paperback)
What's Eating Gilbert Grape, a book that I wouldn't have read if it wasn't for my reading class. I am glad I chose to enjoy this book. This book is strongly recommended by me to anyone who is willing to release themselves from the big city life and into an imagination of a small town boy waiting to get out. I also recommend reading this book if you have already seen the movie because there is so much more detail in this book. The movie was based on the book, so if parts of the film were unexplainable read the book for better details and descriptions of the characters and their actions. The author of this book, Peter Hedges, attended the same school that I did, so it was really neat to be reading his work. The book also requires some added thought, and I suggest annotating the book for fun. It takes a little extra time but it is well worth it for the added knowledge and insight you get into Gilbert's fascinating life. Gilbert is a 24 year old small town boy who struggles to find his place in society. Through his affair with an older woman, being a father-figure to his family, and being an unexperienced lover, Gilbert Grape has plenty of new experiences in this book. His sister, Amy is also very independent, but is forced to take care of her siblings and mother as well. Both adults work hard to support their mother who is very obese and unable to leave the house, a brother, Arnie who is mentally challenged and always finds himself in some kind of mischief, and a sister, Ellen whose young teenage horomones are racing for men. A mysterious girl comes to Eldora, Iowa and leaves all the young men drooling. Gilbert learns a lot from this girl, how to let go, how to forgive, and how to show his emotions. Through all of Gilbert's pain and happiness, he learns about life through a whole new perspective and is less eager about leaving his small hometown.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book caused quite a stir in my hometown..., January 4, 2007
This review is from: What's Eating Gilbert Grape (Paperback)
"What's Eating Gilbert Grape" by Peter Hedges has long been popular with my peers while we were attending high school in the late 1990's. For some inexplicable reason, this book slipped by me in those years. Recently, though, a number of parents in the community of Carroll, Iowa (pop. ~10,000) declared the book 'inappropiate' mostly due to the sexual references in the book. With all the sudden publicity, my natural reaction was to read it for myself (many persons around me followed suit.)
Upon reading the novel, I finally discovered why this book connected with the rural youth that I grew up with. The characters in the book are easy to relate to: there are devout Christians with makeup caked on their faces, adulterers, handicapped persons that garner the sympathy of everyone, underage women that the men fantasize over, small business owners facing encroachment by corporate America, and the native who got out of town and thus became a smashing success. The hero, Gilbert Grape, desperately wants to leave his seemingly boring small town of Endora, Iowa, just as so many small-town kids dream of doing. Overall, it is funny and dark but a great coming of age story.
The passages that caused the great controversy in my own hometown were over-exaggerated. There are references to oral sex, masturbation, adultery, and promiscuity in the book; but these make the character seem more tangible and pale in the overall plot and message of the book. Many parents that deemed the book unfit for their teens admitted that they read only select lines. However, those who have read the whole book tend to look beyond those few lines and agree that Hedges' novel is a work of literature with a valuable message, and I could not agree more.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Kirkus Reviews is wrong! A very moving character story, July 11, 1999
Peter Hedges' novel reminds me a lot of Larry McMurtry's early writings, such as HORSEMAN, PASS BY and LAST PICTURE SHOW. Both authors write character-driven books with meandering, sometimes barely discernible plots. Yet, both are able to weave a cast of quirky characters, slapstick comedic moments, and old-fashion melodrama into satisfying, touching coming-of-age stories. Plus, Hedges' prose is cleaner, sharper, and funnier. I can't count the number of times I laughed out loud while reading this book. And the ending was, as one critic put it, "totally luminous". It's hard to explain without ruining the story: The characters do something that, logically, doesn't make much sense, but emotionally you know it was just the right ending--an ending that will lead the characters to a new beginning. I gave this book a five-star rating, with one caveat: If you like plot-driven stories, rather than character-driven, you may find this book drags in places. Finally, let me say one thing about the movie, which is about the only publicity this book has gotten. The film is good; it's worth seeing if just to see Leonardo DiCaprio's wonderful portrayal of Arnie, a young retarded boy. However, read the book first. The characters are much better developed, and lots of the great comedy scenes unfortunately had to be omitted from the film due to time constraints. In fact, the movie deals mostly with the last 75 pages of the book.
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