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jasonlee77's review against another edition
1.0
Warning: This review contains plot spoilers!
Forrest Gump is one of my all time favorite movies. It's a movie that I never get tired of and I honestly didn't even know there was a novel until I stumbled upon it at a Half Price Books about a month ago. It was cheap, so I bought it, but now I'm wondering if I should have just left it sitting there....
First off, Forrest is DRASTICALLY different in the book, compared to the movie. He's much more southern in his talk, more aggressive, says 'shit' constantly and all of the lovable kindness of Tom Hanks Forrest is nonexistent. I would even say that the book version of Forrest is often times even unlikable.
So many plot points are different in the book: The way he meets Jenny is different. The way he meets Bubba is different. The way he goes to the war is different. Lieutenant Dan is in the story, but he's not Forrest's lieutenant. Forrest tours with Jenny's band, playing the harmonica, they record an album and while on tour, Forrest begins to regularly smoke weed! At one point, Forrest gets in trouble, is thrown into jail where they find out he is actually very smart so they send him to NASA who in turns tests him, quantify his genius and offer to send him into space, then he crash lands in a jungle and is kidnapped by primitive cannibals for four years and after that, becomes a pro wrestler!! And no...I'm not making any of this up. I was just as shocked as I'm sure some of you reading this are. That is not all of the utterly preposterous things that happen in this book, but you get the picture.
This is a very rare example of a movie that is far superior to the book. Robert Zemeckis took the basic skeleton of the story and transformed it into an infinitely better and more believable story.
There was a sequel novel to this called Gump & Co and I picked it up as well, and I'm really hoping it's better than this book. This book was just bad! So bad in fact that it gets the sad distinction of being one of the worst books I have ever read. I give it 1/5
Forrest Gump is one of my all time favorite movies. It's a movie that I never get tired of and I honestly didn't even know there was a novel until I stumbled upon it at a Half Price Books about a month ago. It was cheap, so I bought it, but now I'm wondering if I should have just left it sitting there....
First off, Forrest is DRASTICALLY different in the book, compared to the movie. He's much more southern in his talk, more aggressive, says 'shit' constantly and all of the lovable kindness of Tom Hanks Forrest is nonexistent. I would even say that the book version of Forrest is often times even unlikable.
So many plot points are different in the book: The way he meets Jenny is different. The way he meets Bubba is different. The way he goes to the war is different. Lieutenant Dan is in the story, but he's not Forrest's lieutenant. Forrest tours with Jenny's band, playing the harmonica, they record an album and while on tour, Forrest begins to regularly smoke weed! At one point, Forrest gets in trouble, is thrown into jail where they find out he is actually very smart so they send him to NASA who in turns tests him, quantify his genius and offer to send him into space, then he crash lands in a jungle and is kidnapped by primitive cannibals for four years and after that, becomes a pro wrestler!! And no...I'm not making any of this up. I was just as shocked as I'm sure some of you reading this are. That is not all of the utterly preposterous things that happen in this book, but you get the picture.
This is a very rare example of a movie that is far superior to the book. Robert Zemeckis took the basic skeleton of the story and transformed it into an infinitely better and more believable story.
There was a sequel novel to this called Gump & Co and I picked it up as well, and I'm really hoping it's better than this book. This book was just bad! So bad in fact that it gets the sad distinction of being one of the worst books I have ever read. I give it 1/5
kmanhart's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
2.0
This book was just bizarre, nothing like the movie. Very goofy. I couldn’t get passed all the racial slurs, and the fact that nothing made sense.
elle_oh_elle's review against another edition
3.0
One of the few instances in which the movie, and the changes made to the story, are significantly better than the book.
mmilligan94's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Judy Garland’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” is so drastically different from Israel Kamakowiwo’ole’s version they are barely the same song. So it is with Forrest Gump the book vs the movie. The movie is deeply emotional and uplifting; the book is fantastical and outrageous. Both are five star for vastly different reasons.
sebi0412's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
samengland's review against another edition
adventurous
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
elgringochapin's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
emmaturley_x's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
grecia_r's review against another edition
3.0
The movie was definitely better than the book. It's not often that I think so, I've only experienced this one other time. But it is definitely true in this case. There was really no sympathy for Forrest from any of the characters. I did like the way the story kind of kept you reading.