Et cetera : What we're reading: Forrest Gump

Review of 'Forrest Gump' by Winston Groom:

**This review contains spoilers**

My last challenge for Adventures in Bookclubbing was to read a book that had been made into a movie. Since I hadn't read 'Forrest Gump' or seen the famous film, I chose it. I didn't care for the book for several reasons, the first being that the character of Forrest was just not a likeable man. He was depicted as a much larger man than Tom Hanks and was kind of a smart aleck. His mother was barely mentioned and was neither kind nor sympathetic to Forrest. I don't remember his grandma being mentioned, although I may have just missed that reference.

There was a fantasy scene about Forrest going into space and finding himself in a strange place with old creatures and events; that part was not in the movie. Lieutenant Dan wasn't the inspiration to Gump that I thought he was in the screenplay. Granted, I only saw the Lieutenant on a talk show in movie clips, but he seemed like a decent guy. In the book, he was resentful (who wouldn't be?) and had a bad attitude about nearly everything. He, as well as Forrest, had a foul mouth, which was another thing that didn't sit well with me.

There was no scene of him sitting on the bench at the bus stop, and his tag line, 'Life is like a box of chocolates' stopped there, without the 'reason' why. Jenny did not die, and she and Forrest married and had a son.

All in all, I found the book to be a disappointment and won't recommend it. The book is available at our library and on the Libby app. Goodreads gave it a 4.1/5, so other readers must have liked it!

Relax and read!

Love,

Connie