Reviews with content warning for Racial slurs - Forrest Gump

Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Forrest Gump by Winston Groom

12 reviews

berratrixie's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

the adventures forrest enbarks on are improbable and thus hard to really believe (something that is acknowledged in the book itself funnily enough), and the language may be vulgar and offensive at times, but it's what makes this book heartfelt and its characters charming in their own unique way.

Content Warnings

btlitell's review against another edition

4.0

fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

My experience with Forrest Gump up until some time near the end of my masters was only with the movie. I didn't even know there was a book until then, and while I won't say I prefer the movie, it's hard not to compare the two based on differences between the formats.

I think the book gave a more genuine look at the world from Forrest's perspective, but I think he was a lot easier to sympathize with in the movie than the book. His experience with the world being always tainted by others' perception of his intellectual/mental capabilities first is still just as touching and perhaps a bit more noticeable in the book.

After reading the book, there are things I wish they had incorporated into the film that would have been neat to see.

I think if the movie could have included his playing chess, going to space, his relationship with Sue the Orangutan, living in Borneo for four years it could have captured a bit more of who Forrest is.

I do really like how Forrest saw Lieutenant Dan not just as a Lieutenant but as a person, referring to him only as "Dan" instead of by his rank. That I think showed a lot more of his character and how he sees people as people and not simply as their rank or job title.

This was a great read and is worth picking up.

Content Warnings

cscharfway's review against another edition

4.0

funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book had a much different vibe than the movie many of us know. It was much more lighthearted and funny to see the world through Forrest’s eyes, and even during his darker experiences, there was a sense of hope and optimism that this was just another adventure he would make it through.

Some of the events experienced by the main character were more fantastical than realistic (Sue the orangutang was a bit much). I think though that silly, ridiculous tone of the book is symbolic of the age and development of Forrest’s unique mind, showing the parallels between plot and character shaped by the author; this deeper meaning bumped up the book from a 3.5 to a 4 for me. Otherwise, the book was amusing, but doesn’t create quite the same emotional impact as Tom Hank’s version.

Content Warnings

vtewok's review against another edition

3.25

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

carolinecash's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

lexin105's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The outrageous stories of Forrest Gump are both entertaining and mind-opening about issues in the world and how people are treated.

Content Warnings

andrea96's review against another edition

1.5

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

nikogatts's review against another edition

1.0

dark lighthearted fast-paced

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I read this as a sort of pregame before the start of the next season of the podcast 372 Pages We'll Never Get Back. I've never seen the 1994 movie adaptation of this book, so my impressions are based solely on the text.

This book is less of a series of events and more of a cycle of two recurring instances:

1. Forrest Gump doesn't understand a situation and acts instinctively, doing the wrong thing in a way that results in immense personal success and makes him a national/international hero. Despite the many times this happens, no one ever recognizes Forrest as a war hero/famous astronaut/pro wrestler/guy who publicly mooned the president.
2. Forrest Gump doesn't understand a situation and acts instinctively, doing the wrong thing in a way that hurts the people around him and results in his girlfriend, Jenny Curran, dumping him. Despite the many times this happens, Forrest never learns from his missteps, and Winston Groom tosses out the phrase "I guess I'm just an idiot" as a shortcut to avoid writing character development.

There are attempts at "deep" moments sprinkled in here and there, particularly during the chapters dealing with Forrest's deployment in Vietnam, but the emotional impact is minimal because these moments last for, at most, a page and a half before the story moves along to Forrest's next implausible adventure. Ditto any attempts at satire -- there are a couple of political jabs at the popular targets of the time (Nixon, war protestors, Hollywood stars, etc.), but they're quickly shuffled offstage so Forrest can get back to publicly stating that he needs to pee.

To say the book has not aged well is to put it lightly. Every female character is written as either a weeping mess or a nagging shrew. Forrest's adventures take him across the United States and to several different countries, so readers are treated to a wide spectrum of racist slurs and stereotypes. And in addition to treating Forrest's disability as a get-out-of-jail-free card for personal conflict, Groom also uses it as a superpower, a punchline, and an excuse for sexual assault.

I'm not expecting any better from the sequel, Gump & Co., but at least I'll be reading that with a podcast, so I won't be cringing alone.

Content Warnings