Forrest Gump/Gump and Co.

By Winston Groom

Not much at all like the movie, which I saw many times before finally reading the book, I was surprised to learn Forrest is much more of an idiot savant and in a stranger array of subjects than the movie could allow. For instance, Forrest is a natural at physics equations and learns to play the harmonica in one sitting and becomes a professional chess player as well as ping-pong. He is head over heels with Jenny of course, but she is more obviously portrayed as a self-centered slut than the movie shows. Which was fine for the love story of the movie, but knowing how it goes down here, makes me dislike her with more vehemence than I cared to get involved for the movie portrayal. Lt. Dan also shows up in a similar capacity as in the movie, but of course his story is also switched which is making the novel much more interesting for character-building. I think I'll enjoy the sequel, Gump and Co. which starts about 10 years later than the first novel, and Forrest having more adventures, but now he's got baggage.