Date:  Thu, 28 Jul 1994 17:46:41 CDT

From:  Mike Picone <MPICONE[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UA1VM.BITNET>

Subject: Re: Forrest Gump



According to my recollection also, there was no use of invariant be in

the movie.



I have had a chance now to glance at excerpts from the book and am

suprised not by the vast difference between the two (which is not an

uncommon reaction, as we all know) but by the fact that the movie, in

my humble opinion, outshines the book, and by no small measure. The Gump

that I see portrayed in the book is much less of an appealing or heroic

figure (in terms of character, not serendipitous achievement). So, if you

have been hesitating to see the film because you didn't like the book, you

may be in for a surprise.



The author does use a certain amount of eye dialect in representing Gump's

speech (and everyone else's as told through Gump's lips). Few r's are

dropped except for poor > po and New York > New Yawk. There's a lot of

jus for just, axed for asked, thowed for threw and that type of thing, and

the invariant be that has already been mentioned.



Again, one wonders just who is Winston Groom's audience and how much are

speech habits being customized for the sake of that audience. Winston Groom

is, I believe, an Alabama native. At any rate, he graduated from here (Univ.

of Alabama) and now lives down in Point Clear on the shores of Mobile Bay.



Mike Picone

University of Alabama