Talk:Forrest Gump (novel)

Weaseling
Although I've not read the book, this article uses some weasel words when dealing with the film, so I'ma tighten it up. Scanna (talk) 23:26, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Not even sure why teh film is mentioned at all. This is the novel page, not the film page. 74.61.239.33 (talk) 23:40, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

The deleted parts must be sourced before being put back into the article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.192.24.55 (talk) 04:17, 12 June 2008 (UTC) I still don't get weasel words. —Preceding unsigned comment added by CM7Y (talk • contribs) 01:19, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Cleanup
I am currently cleaning and adding bits to this article. It was really bad before. StevePrutz (talk) 20:15, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
 * It's still pretty bad, FWIW. 24.124.73.145 (talk) 05:44, 28 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Considering the acceptance of the film, the size of this article is pretty pathetic. Totally lacking in even a basic plot symopsis, or even a differences section. Was this article vandalized by some rogue admin paying more attention to anal retentive wikirules, or has nobody actually contributed anything to this article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.90.148.162 (talk) 03:00, 16 March 2010 (UTC)

For the Film Adaption part, I don't understand the article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by CM7Y (talk • contribs) 01:20, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress
There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Forrest Gump which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RM bot 18:00, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

More Information
I believe this page needs a little more info on the story. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nerd4U (talk • contribs) 17:49, 14 April 2010 (UTC)

Sequels
There is a Sequel by the same author called "Forrest & Co" —Preceding unsigned comment added by BottlecapFims (talk • contribs) 19:04, 20 April 2010 (UTC)

Over Detailed
The Plot seciton is definitely over detailed, and this prevents further expansion; it lacks an overall outline at the beginning, too. And I'm starting to work on it. Egoistwithliberalviews (talk) 08:25, 15 June 2011 (UTC)

Plot
This old part of the plot (the ending) is missing:


 * "Forrest flunks out of UA after one semester. He and Bubba join the army. Bubba dies in the Vietnam War. Forrest's mother loses everything when her inn burns and is driven to a poorhouse. Forrest meets Lieutenent Dan, who has lost his legs, in the infirmary. Later on, Forrest becomes an astronaut and crashes on a desert island. At one point in the book, Jenny says, "Forrest, I'm ready for you to fuck me now", and the two have sexual intercourse on a kitchen sink. Forrest breaks Jenny's heart a couple of times. Jenny ends up marrying another man and raises Forrest Gump's child with him. At the end of the book, Forrest honors Bubba's memory by starting a shrimp business."

It's brief but generally accurate. I'm not sure as to her actual phrasing, but Jenny indeed initiates sexual coupling and is after an enthusiastic tryst highly appreciative of Forrest's prowess. The exceedingly brief synopsis above skips (for instance) how Forrest proves to be an autistic savant and passes an advanced physics course while failing physical education and some other "thought unfailable" course in college. This eventually leads to him being "backup to the backup computer" on the mentioned space mission. Brief outline from another old edit, links added, some comments from me in parentheses:


 * Gets a role in a movie
 * Goes into space
 * Soon he lands in an island of cannibals (Where I believe the other astronauts are eaten?)
 * Saves Mao Zedong from drowning
 * Wins a Chinese ping-pong tournament
 * Meets the president
 * Beats the world chess champion at chess
 * Becomes a wrestler (Wearing diapers, I seem to recall? "The Big Baby"? (Edit: Nope, "The Dunce", still not sure about diapers.))
 * Finds out that he has a son
 * (Didn't he run for office as well? "I need to pee" as slogan?)
 * etc etc etc

Some high-points. Oh, and nowhere does the article mention how badly the novel sucks when you came looking for a written version of the movie. If you haven't seen the movie, you might like the book. Just don't compare the two.

Edit: Found this nice review, which speaks about the differences between the novel and the movie. Includes the sex scene, though not the lead-up. 178.73.217.36 (talk) 17:54, 8 January 2012 (UTC)
 * I've expanded the plot to include all this (sorry it took ten years). Bkatcher (talk) 13:04, 16 September 2022 (UTC)

Plot Section is really messed up
Huge things are missed in the plot section and some of the events appear to be in the wrong order. There also aren't many sources. If I turned this summary into my English teacher I'd get an F. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.163.90.97 (talk) 18:50, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

I agree with this person. Also, the line "At the end of the book, Forrest honors Bubba's memory by starting a shrimp business, and he tries to make a life with Jenny and their child." is partially false. He did not try to make a life with Jenny and their child. Whoever wrote this did not read the novel. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 144.80.92.220 (talk) 11:53, 11 November 2012 (UTC)

Agreed. The plot section is literally just copied from the Wikipedia atricle about the film. There are significant differences between the book and the film, so it's mostly wrong. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.194.235.140 (talk) 10:31, 3 January 2021 (UTC)
 * I've fixed it. Bkatcher (talk) 13:04, 16 September 2022 (UTC)

Should we mention the film in the intro?
I get the impression that the film adaptation is roughly 8,000,000 times more famous than the book, and so the book would be primarily notable as the source for the film. Therefore, should we mention that the book was adapted into a film by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks in the intro? 126.0.96.220 (talk) 10:51, 26 June 2014 (UTC)

Shrimp
Fairly sure he farmmed shrimp in the book. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.131.146.228 (talk) 17:22, 21 October 2018 (UTC)

Last link in external links is broken
404, perhaps in archive? --Gryllida (talk) 11:25, 7 March 2020 (UTC)

Idiot
Is it really ok to use the term “idiot savant?” Surely that’s rude, on such a basic, obvious level… so obvious that I’m checking here that there isn’t an unobvious reason! 78.86.165.59 (talk) 23:00, 9 July 2022 (UTC)
 * It's the term used in the book and when the book was set. In absence of an actual medical diagnosis, it probably should stand. Bkatcher (talk) 13:05, 16 September 2022 (UTC)

Winston Groom Vs. Hollywood
Should we add a section about how Groom was told the film never made any money (thanks to Hollywood accounting) so he was not entitled to royalties from the movie, and how this lead to him refusing (at least initially) to sell the rights to the sequel novel? Bkatcher (talk) 13:13, 16 September 2022 (UTC)