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(More customer reviews)"The Body" is a novella (shorter than a novel and longer than a short story), and was originally published as one of four novellas in the collection "Different Seasons" (1982). The book "Different Seasons" contains one story for each season, and "The Body" is subtitled "Fall from Innocence".
In "The Body" we are in 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, and he's the real hero of the story.
Gordie is more the intellectual and sensitive type and is second in command in the group. Gordie tells the story in the first person and 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, and Vern, the cautious one. Neither Vern nor Teddy are leaders but they are each very unique and real boys, and almost as important to the story as Chris and Gordie.
Chris, Gordie, Teddy and 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, and involves several unexpected encounters and dangerous situations.
What makes "The Body" such a wonderful story is the way we can relate to these four boys and their lives and the way they interact with each other. Stephen King does a fantastic job of writing about people in a way that makes them seem completely real and authentic. We think back to our own childhood and the struggles and the friendships and the pain of growing up. We nod in agreement to many of the things Stephen King tells us about what he has discovered as being the important things in life.
It is this honesty and insight into human nature that makes "The Body" such a good story.
The audio version of "The Body" lasts almost six hours and 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", and get an additional three Stephen King novellas.
The movie "Stand By Me" (1986) is based on "The Body" and 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.
Included in the DVD version of "Stand By Me" is a 37-minute "featurette" with interviews with Stephen King, Rob Reiner and several of the actors (now all adult). Stephen King mentions that he thinks it's interesting that Rob Reiner made Gordie the main character, and that he had no objection to this change in emphasis between Gordie and Chris. Stephen King also confirms that much of "The Body" is autobiographical, in that he used several experiences from his own childhood in the story.
Highly recommended, both "The Body" and "Stand By Me".
Rennie Petersen
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In 1960s America, four young boys go on a journey to search for the body of a boy killed by a train. As they travel, they discover how cruel the world can be, but also how wondrous. "Penguin Readers" is a series of simplified novels, film novelizations and original titles that introduce students at all levels to the pleasures of reading in English. Originally designed for teaching English as a foreign language, the series' combination of high interest level and low reading age makes it suitable for both English-speaking teenagers with limited reading skills and students of English as a second language. Many titles in the series also provide access to the pre-20th century literature strands of the National Curriculum English Orders. "Penguin Readers" are graded at seven levels of difficulty, from "Easystarts" with a 200-word vocabulary, to Level 6 (Advanced) with a 3000-word vocabulary. In addition, titles fall into one of three sub-categories: "Contemporary", "Classics" or "Originals". At the end of each book there is a section of enjoyable exercises focusing on vocabulary building, comprehension, discussion and writing.Some titles in the series are available with an accompanying audio cassette, or in a book and cassette pack. Additionally, selected titles have free accompanying "Penguin Readers Factsheets" which provide stimulating exercise material for students, as well as suggestions for teachers on how to exploit the Readers in class.
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