Customer Reviews
Some parts are autobiographical - By: Rennie Petersen, 24 Sep 2007 
"The Body" is a novella (shorter than a novel & longer than a short story), & was originally published as one of four novellasin the collection "Different Seasons" (1982). The book "Different Seasons" contains one story for each season, & "The Body" is subtitled "Fall from Innocence".
In "The Body" we arein the company of four 12-year-old boys who are very good friends. The leader of the group is Chris, a tough but smart guy from a down-and-out family with a drunken father. Chris is trying to break out of the destiny his background is forcing him into, & he's the real hero of the story.
Gordie is more the intellectual & sensitive type & is secondin commandin the group. Gordie tells the storyin the first person & sounds very much like Stephen King's alter ego. (The adult Gordie,in writing the story, tells briefly how he has become a successful writer of horror books.)
The last two members of the group are Teddy, the wild one, & Vern, the cautious one. Neither Vern nor Teddy are leaders but they are each very unique & real boys, & almost as important to the story as Chris & Gordie.
Chris, Gordie, Teddy & Vern set out on an adventure, a "pilgrimage" to see the dead body of a boy from another town. Their trek stretches out over two days, much longer than they expected, & involves several unexpected encounters & dangerous situations.
What makes "The Body" such a wonderful story is the way we can relate to these four boys & their lives & the way they interact with each other. Stephen King does a fantastic job of writing about peoplein a way that makes them seem completely real & authentic. We think back to our own childhood & the struggles & the friendships & the pain of growing up. We nodin agreement to many of the things Stephen King tells us about what he has discovered as being the important thingsin life.
It is this honesty & insight into human nature that makes "The Body" such a good story.
The audio version of "The Body" lasts almost six hours & is read by Frank Muller, who does a great job. If you're not into audio books then it might be a better idea to buy "Different Seasons" as a printed book instead of "The Body", & get an additional three Stephen King novellas.
The movie "Stand By Me" (1986) is based on "The Body" & was directed by Rob Reiner. The movie follows the novella quite closely, although many minor things are changed / omitted / added as is always the case when a book is turned into a movie. The most important difference is that Gordie becomes the main character instead of Chris.
Includedin the DVD version of "Stand By Me" is a 37-minute "featurette" with interviews with Stephen King, Rob Reiner & several of the actors (now all adult). Stephen King mentions that he thinks it's interesting that Rob Reiner made Gordie the main character, & that he had no objection to this changein emphasis between Gordie & Chris. Stephen King also confirms that much of "The Body" is autobiographical,in that he used several experiences from his own childhoodin the story.
Highly recommended, both "The Body" & "Stand By Me".
Rennie Petersen
Brilliant!! - By: L. Erin, 20 Sep 2005 The book, Is better than the filmin many ways, but also not as good! You don't really get the kindness of Chris & the dopeyness of Vernin the book, but you get alot more detailin other aspects. So,in cases like this, GET THEM BOTH!!
THE BODY - By: Quinten Crossland, 14 Jul 2005 This story is the best stephen king book i have ever read. I had seen the film which was ace & i went out to buy the book which was even better! well worth reading & watching the film called stand by me!:)
Better than the film - By: , 03 Oct 2003 
I love Steven King's books they leave you on edge & you can get into the book straight away. This book tells of four young boys who go on an "adventure" to find the body of another young boy. Very excting it is better than the film, as the book gets straight to the point were as the film drags some of the "adventure" out.
The best King book - By: , 16 Jun 2002 This is my absolute favourite Stephen King book of all time. Despite popular belief, King doesn't only write horror - he writes beautiful, meaningful stories like this too.
The style of writing & the insight into young boys' minds is wonderful. I laughed, I cried, I loved it.
Bearin mind, though, that this is adapted from the original "The Body" (from "Different Seasons"). This is the same story, simplified for schoolchildren.
