The only reason I chose to read this book was because I loved the movie and I wanted to see more indepth of Forrest’s life in the book and all I can say is by far this is one of my most favorite books I have ever read. I like this book very much because it is very humorous and the language used in the book is very different from other books. This book was written as if Forrest himself wrote it which I give many props to the author for doing. As for the author he was someone I never heard talked about much so I really don’t have a sense of who he is but after doing a few research about him I learned he is an American novelist and non-fiction writer which shows why Forrest Gumps life story is very bizarre and rare. I aso learned that all or most of his books were written in the time period of World War 1 and the Vietnam War which shows why Forrest was in the war and why it was always talked about. I also learned that the film was considered a ‘cultural phenomenon and won six Academy Awards’ which is a huge accomplishment and also he created a sequal to it called Gump and co which I am planning on reading. Overall after reading the book I learned the story had many themes to it but the two main ones were love more like finding love and searching for destiny.
This story is about a man named Forrest Gump who grew up his whole life with mental disabilities and was always put down by everyone that he would not be anything in life except his mother who loved him very much. His life seemed as though it had a future when one day he was allowed to play football which he did for a while and was extremely good at and allowed him to get noticed by many other places. Eventually, that came to an end but out of that, he met his best friend named Bubba and eventually, they both ended up in the war where they fought in World War 1 and while in that situation Bubba died but Forest promised to grow up to fulfill his dream of creating a shrimp business and that was his plan throughout his whole life which was to create and succeed in the shrimp business to remember his best friend Bubba. After the war didn’t work out well for Gump he chose to go and try to find his lover Jenny Curran and after the day he met Jenny he decided that his life plan was to be with Jenny and have the shrimp business. Through his whole life he has been through a lot of crazy things that would be a spoiler to the story but I tell you that his life was very crazy but through out it he was becomng very successful and then poor. This showed how his life was literally a roller coaster he had no control over. But from the whole story my favorite part was when he came back home to his home and he decided to really work hard for his dreams and to prove to everyone that he really had a plan for himself which would turn out to be extremely amazing and suprising but somewhat sad at the end. I chose that to be my favorite part becuase it shows how even though Forest does have some type of mental disablility it didn’t stop him from following through with his plan showing that anybody can do what they want as long as they stick to the plan they created. That really motivated me and gave a boost of energy to always keeping going no matter what circumstances I put in becuase it woud never be as bad as Forrest’s situation so I should never give up on my dream since he never did. The part I disliked the most was the end when Forrest met back up with Jenny and found out news he probably nevered dreamed of and instead of taking the role ment for him he decided to doubt himself and say he couldnt be the best role model and decided to give up. That was not the best part to me because felt as though if he took the responsiblity he was supposed to instead of doubting himself he would have done amazing. He probably would have done better than anyone else that tried and I wish as though he woud have actually tried before he decided to make his answer final.
The main characters in the book are Forrest, Bubba, Jenny, Mrs.Gump (His mom), and Dan they all played a very importnant role in Forrest’s life and how it turned out. Every single charcter in this story were very believable all their traits about them were very accurate to any other person and the author did a very good job of portraying both their good and bad side rather that dominating one side more than the other. Forrest as most people should know was shown as a grown man with a child mindset who had many aspirations in life that he decided he was going to complete no matter what. Bubba Forrest’s most closests friend was the main reason for one of Forrest’s life plan which at the end came out to be very positive for Forrest and becuase of Bubba’s idea it really helped him get to the point he got to at the end which he wouldn’t have done on his own. Jenny Curran is Forest’s one and only lover an she is the center of all the love incidents Forest went through and she was also his second plan he had in life which really didn’t go the way everyone though but still did go good. His mom was was very caring towards him and was always scared for him but she was one of his strongest supporter through out his whole life. Beause of that he had a very strong love towards her that nobody can compare to and because she always motivated him and at times and also did doubt him he made sure all he did was to make sure his mom was happy at the end. He made it his life plan to do whatever he did but at the end of the day his mom would be benefited from it and that is exactly what he did. The last main character is Dan another close person to Forrest who he met in the hospital after the war and they became close friends Dan also became disable both of his legs were apputated but that didn’t stop him from pursing his dream and because he was such a positive person he always motivated Forrest to do what he wanted no matter who told him he couldn’t and from that day they became very close friends. He also was a cause for Forrest’s success because when they reunited he helped Forrest to gain lots of money through wrestling matches he was doing and even after that ended he still motivated Forrest to go home to really pursue the shrimp busniess. Even though all the characters where amazing my favorite character who is not a main charcater was Sue a orangutan Forrest met and that character is my favorite person becuase I believe as though he and Forrest’s life are very similar although he is an animal and because of that when they met each other I felt as though they were ment to be together as friends. I personally feel as though I relate to Forrest because when it comes on to his future he is very sure of what he wanted which is exactly me I have one plan for my life and I don’t believe it would ever change and that is my life long goal to complete my plan I created for myself.
I already expressed how I feel about this book it is absolutely amazing although would say it is very long and a bit hard to read since it is written as if Forrest wrote it himself so some words and phrase either aren’t spelled correctly or don’t sound correct when reading out loud. This book is very funny also especially the part when he was first recruited into the army most hilarious part. This book has a lot going on it in but orderly which is why I like it so much. I also don’t have any bad things to say about it except it is quite different from the movie which everyone knows it always true but other than that is is quite good. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone it doesn’t have an age group except for youger kids like elementary but other than that anyone can read the book. Personally I would most definitely recommend the book to people who love comedy. Overall I would rate this book 5 stars because I love it a lot and it really is inspiring.
- Goodreads rating – 4.04
- REVIEW – Solange