My name is Forrest...

Forrest Gump.

One of my all time favorite movies.  Hands-down, top five.  I love this movie so much that I watch it every time it's on TV, even though I know it's so much better on DVD and I can always just pop my copy in the player.

I find Forrest to be such a lovable character.  You just can't help but smile when he tells the President that he's gotta pee.

Ever since I first saw the movie, I've told myself that someday I would read the book.  I love me some readin', and I've almost ALWAYS found the book version of any story to be infinitely better than the movie version.

Sadly, this is not true in the case of Forrest, Forrest Gump.

I just finished reading the novel today, and I couldn't believe how VASTLY different it was from the movie version.

**Spoiler Alert for anyone who may choose to read the novel!**

So, Forrest is a little challenged.  In the book, he's referred to as an "idiot."  Along the way, he meets Jenny, Bubba, and Lieutenant Dan.  These are basically the only similarities to the movie.

In the book, Forrest is a savant in many ways, a champion chess player, gifted musician, able to solve advanced mathematical equations, and is recruited by NASA and sent into space with an ape named Sue who then becomes his best friend.  He plays the "Creature From the Black Lagoon" and meets Raquel Welch.  He befriends "Big Sam," a cannibal king, and defeats the evil pygmies.

Odd happenings for ole' Forrest.

And the kicker?  He doesn't get Jenny in the end!  She marries some other guy and lives happily ever after with her new husband, Doug, and Forrest, Jr.

All-in-all, still an enjoyable read.  I laughed out loud at a few of Forrest's antics.  But a word to the wise?  Don't expect this to be as amazingly amazing as the movie.

Kudos to the screenwriters of the movie, for taking this interesting character and giving him an excellent story.