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Wednesday, September 15, 2021

Book Review: Forrest Gump

Certain characters can be so iconic that you'll immediately think of the actors that played them. This is one of the cases. The moment I started reading this book, I immediately thought of Tom Hanks. In my mind, the way he talked in the movie became the voice that narrated the novel I read.

The story began with a feeling that probably I should watch Forrest Gump again. After spending 2 hours 23 minutes on Netflix, I did some reading about the movie I just watched and was reminded that it was based a novel with the same name. It was written by Winston Groom and originally published in 1986. 

I learnt that the novel was quite different than the movie, so I got curious and browsed the library collection. Got my copy and, the moment I started reading, I just had to smile. Told in a first-person narrative, the wording was full of spelling and grammatical errors. The way it was written hinted that the person who told the story was retarded. If you had watched the movie before, you'd immediately think of Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump.

Some familiar characters such as Jenny Curran and Bubba were featured in the story. Their portrayals in the book and movie were quite similar. Lieutenant Dan, on the other hand, was slightly different than his movie counterpart. Forrest himself was very much aware that he was an idiot, but yet he could do the impossible such as solving mathematical problems, playing harmonica or defeating many chess grandmasters.

One of the highlights in the movie, moments he met people like Elvis and John Lennon, was not in the book. Both the book and the movie did tell about Forrest in Vietnam and his meetings with US presidents, but the time he joined NASA space program, the few years he was stranded in Papua New Guinea or his adventure as a wrestler could only be found in the novel. 

I'm not sure if i'd like the book if I never watched the movie, but I had to say that I chuckled a lot in the train when I read it on my way to and from office. Because he was an idiot, the way he viewed things were quite funny and innocent at the same time. Overall, a good reading and a great reminder that even a fool had a chance to succeed in this world, as long as he did it wholeheartedly!

Forrest Gump: the movie and the book.



Ulasan Buku: Forrest Gump 

Karakter-karakter tertentu bisa sangat identik dengan pemerannya sehingga anda langsung teringat dengan aktornya. Contohnya Forrest Gump. Begitu saya mulai membaca, Tom Hanks pun muncul di benak saya. Novel yang saya baca mengingatkan saya dengan gaya bicaranya. 

Cerita kali ini dimulai dengan suatu perasaan yang mengingatkan saya kembali untuk menonton Forrest Gump. Setelah menghabiskan 2 jam 23 menit di Netflix, saya iseng membaca tentang film yang baru saja saya tonton. Saya pun teringat kembali bahwa film ini diangkat dari novel. Ditulis oleh Winston Groom, cerita fiksi ini diterbitkan di tahun 1986. 

Berdasarkan apa yang saya baca, novel ini konon agak berbeda dengan filmnya. Saya pun jadi ingin tahu dan mulai mencari bukunya di perpustakaan. Saya dapatkan bukunya dan jadi tersenyum sendiri saat mulai membaca. Kisah yang diceritakan dalam sudut pandang orang pertama ini banyak kesalahan penulisan yang disengaja. Gaya penulisannya pun memberikan kesan bahwa yang sedang bercerita ini adalah orang idiot. Bila anda sudah pernah menonton filmnya, pasti langsung teringat dengan Tom Hanks yang berakting sebagai Forrest Gump. 

Beberapa karakter di film seperti Jenny Curran dan Bubba juga muncul di novel dan hampir sama pula kisahnya. Yang agak berbeda itu Lieutenant Dan. Forrest di novel sangat menyadari bahwa dia adalah orang bodoh, tapi seringkali tanpa sadar bisa mengerjakan hal yang mustahil, misalnya matematika, bermain harmonika dan mengalahkan para pecatur tangguh. 

Salah satu bagian yang menarik di film, saat Forrest bertemu dengan Elvis dan John Lennon, tidak ada di buku. Kisahnya di Vietnam dan pertemuannya dengan presiden Amerika ada di buku dan film, tapi pengalamannya sebagai astronot dan pegulat serta petualangannya di Papua Nugini hanya ada di novel. 

Saya tidak tahu apakah saya akan menyukai buku ini kalau saya tidak pernah menonton filmnya, tapi saya akui bahwa saya berulang kali tertawa sendiri di kereta dalam perjalanan ke dan pulang kantor. Secara keseluruhan, buku ini menarik untuk dibaca dan juga mengingatkan kita kembali bahwa orang bodoh pun bisa sukses di dunia ini kalau dia berupaya sepenuh hati! 

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