novelesque_life's review against another edition
3.0
3 STARS
"Laugh, cry, stand up and cheer: Forrest Gump is everyman's story, everyman's dream. A wonderfully warm, savagely barbed, and hilariously funny 'tale told by an idiot', from the razor-sharp pen of a contemporary wizard.
No one is spared and everyone is included. If you've ever felt lacking, left out, put upon - or just wanted to have a rollicking good time - this book is for you. At 6'6", 240 pounds, Forrest Gump is a difficult man to ignore, so follow Forrest from the football dynasties of Bear Bryant to the Vietnam War, from encounters with Presidents Johnson and Nixon to powwows with Chairman Mao. Go with Forrest to Harvard University, to a Hollywood movie set, on a professional wrestling tour, and into space on the oddest NASA mission ever." (From Amazon)
I think I actually like the movie better but the book is good.
"Laugh, cry, stand up and cheer: Forrest Gump is everyman's story, everyman's dream. A wonderfully warm, savagely barbed, and hilariously funny 'tale told by an idiot', from the razor-sharp pen of a contemporary wizard.
No one is spared and everyone is included. If you've ever felt lacking, left out, put upon - or just wanted to have a rollicking good time - this book is for you. At 6'6", 240 pounds, Forrest Gump is a difficult man to ignore, so follow Forrest from the football dynasties of Bear Bryant to the Vietnam War, from encounters with Presidents Johnson and Nixon to powwows with Chairman Mao. Go with Forrest to Harvard University, to a Hollywood movie set, on a professional wrestling tour, and into space on the oddest NASA mission ever." (From Amazon)
I think I actually like the movie better but the book is good.
twislerguy's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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
3.0
isabellarobinson7's review against another edition
1.0
Rating: 1 star
As expected, Forrest Gump the book is nothing like Forrest Gump the movie. Even though I knew this fully well, I read it, and I have no idea why. These are all the differences between the book and movie, so they're basically all spoilers.
- Forrest meets Bubba in university and Bubba plays the harmonica who teaches Forrest, and Forrest plays with Jenny in her folk music band
- Bubba is white, and him and Forrest are MASSIVE racists
- There is a lot more of the focus on Forrest's football career
- Forrest supposedly has "a body like Adonis"
- At first, Forrest is exempt from the army because he isn't smart enough, but after he fell out of school, they call him to Vietnam where he meets Bubba again
- Forrest meets Lieutenant Dan in the hospital, and Dan is not Forrest's commanding officer
- Forrest also saves Chairman Mao from drowning while in China for ping pong
- He joins Jenny's band full time and they tour around everywhere. Forrest and Jenny also move in together here, but Jenny catches Forrest cheating so she gets angry
- Forrest also gets addicted to drugs for a bit
- He plays a part in a production of King Lear, but sets the stage on fire so gets kicked out
- Jenny gets her head shaved. Don’t ask why
- Forrest gets sent into space with a lady and an angry monkey, who causes them to crash, and they end up in Papua New Guinea near where a bunch of cannibals live
- They become cotton farmers, Forrest becomes an expert in chess to escape being eaten and Forrest learns to talk to the monkey (at this point nothing would surprise me anymore)
- Then Forrest loses at chess and they are about to get eaten when pygmies save them (what? what even is this book?) and the pygmies eat the cannibals and get ready to eat Forrest and co. (I'm not even going to say it)
- NASA rescues them but the lady says she's fallen in love with one of the cannibals and stays behind with him
- He also becomes a professional wrestler called “The Dunce” (yes, his intellectual disability is played for laughs CONSTANTLY throughout the book)
- He becomes a professional chess player too, but then gets disqualified for distracting his opponent by farting
- Forrest runs for senate with the slogan “I Gotta Pee”
- And Forrest stars some monster in a movie (???) where he meets the monkey from space (?!?!?!) and ends up with a naked Raquel Welch running down Hollywood Boulevard (!!!!!)
Most of the rest is pretty similar, except Jenny, and Forrest's mum never dies. Jenny has a child with Forrest but only tells him when the kid is 5ish, except in the book Jenny has already happily married another man by that time. Oh, and there’s heaps of sexual assault/themes in the book. Plus a truck load of racism.
In conclusion, this book was weird and different. And these differences are not the book's fault, because it was obviously first. I think the issue is that the movie executed the premise better than the book.
As expected, Forrest Gump the book is nothing like Forrest Gump the movie. Even though I knew this fully well, I read it, and I have no idea why. These are all the differences between the book and movie, so they're basically all spoilers.
Spoiler
- Jenny is not Forrest's first and only friend throughout school, but is a girl he meets in first grade (I have no idea how old that makes him because I don't know how the American school grades/years go) and again when his mum sets him up with her for a date after Forrest is knocked up by one of their boarders.- Forrest meets Bubba in university and Bubba plays the harmonica who teaches Forrest, and Forrest plays with Jenny in her folk music band
- Bubba is white, and him and Forrest are MASSIVE racists
- There is a lot more of the focus on Forrest's football career
- Forrest supposedly has "a body like Adonis"
- At first, Forrest is exempt from the army because he isn't smart enough, but after he fell out of school, they call him to Vietnam where he meets Bubba again
- Forrest meets Lieutenant Dan in the hospital, and Dan is not Forrest's commanding officer
- Forrest also saves Chairman Mao from drowning while in China for ping pong
- He joins Jenny's band full time and they tour around everywhere. Forrest and Jenny also move in together here, but Jenny catches Forrest cheating so she gets angry
- Forrest also gets addicted to drugs for a bit
- He plays a part in a production of King Lear, but sets the stage on fire so gets kicked out
- Jenny gets her head shaved. Don’t ask why
- Forrest gets sent into space with a lady and an angry monkey, who causes them to crash, and they end up in Papua New Guinea near where a bunch of cannibals live
- They become cotton farmers, Forrest becomes an expert in chess to escape being eaten and Forrest learns to talk to the monkey (at this point nothing would surprise me anymore)
- Then Forrest loses at chess and they are about to get eaten when pygmies save them (what? what even is this book?) and the pygmies eat the cannibals and get ready to eat Forrest and co. (I'm not even going to say it)
- NASA rescues them but the lady says she's fallen in love with one of the cannibals and stays behind with him
- He also becomes a professional wrestler called “The Dunce” (yes, his intellectual disability is played for laughs CONSTANTLY throughout the book)
- He becomes a professional chess player too, but then gets disqualified for distracting his opponent by farting
- Forrest runs for senate with the slogan “I Gotta Pee”
- And Forrest stars some monster in a movie (???) where he meets the monkey from space (?!?!?!) and ends up with a naked Raquel Welch running down Hollywood Boulevard (!!!!!)
Most of the rest is pretty similar, except Jenny, and Forrest's mum never dies. Jenny has a child with Forrest but only tells him when the kid is 5ish, except in the book Jenny has already happily married another man by that time. Oh, and there’s heaps of sexual assault/themes in the book. Plus a truck load of racism.
In conclusion, this book was weird and different. And these differences are not the book's fault, because it was obviously first. I think the issue is that the movie executed the premise better than the book.
dereadergal's review against another edition
3.0
I've read this book quite a while ago, but I do remember it being mostly silly and a bit ridiculous at times but a generally sweet read, like the movie.
bekkajmills's review against another edition
4.0
This book was delightful. I listened to the audiobook and I absolutely loved that the man who read it actually read it in character as Forrest Gump. Many people have said that they thought the movie was better than the book, but I'm going to stick with the old adage that the book is always better than the movie. I love Tom Hanks' portrayal of this in the author's words "idiot" but there was something about knowing more of his back story and just more about his life that made the character even more likable. I do have to say that Hollywood took a lot of artistic liberties because the book is very different than the movie. For instance Forrest goes to outer space and lives as the prisoner of a tribe of cannibals for a while in the book, neither of those things happen in the movie. There are similarities, too, it's just interesting to see how different they were. I would recommend it. It was a great read, although it had quite a bit of language if that is bothersome to you then I'd skip this one.
cbhags's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
finalefile's review against another edition
2.0
I only read the first third of this book. I intend to finish it later but it's going back to the library for now. It's not bad, but it's not the most interesting book either--and it's almost entirely written in dialect, which makes it a bit slower to read. As many other reviewers have said, it's a lot different from the movie.
callmejo's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5