The Body

Mr. King has written a lot of stuff that I just cannot read. But, if it's not a horror story, and if Frank Muller is reading it, you can count on a really good time. Mr. Muller remains the best narrator who ever lived, and he shows us the adolescent lives of Mr. King's characters with depth and humor. I have heard it said that Mr. King wrote for Mr. Muller's voice: if this is true, this book is a good example of why he did so. It's a little bit dated by now, and teenagers don't grow up quite so quaintly (at least, not here in California). Nonetheless, Mr. Muller is so convincing that the reader happily suspends disbelief and gets washed along with the boys. I can't imagine an audiobook lover not loving this book.

A great story read by a great narrator. I watched the film "Stand By Me" after listening to this and was quite amazed how much of the book made it into the film. The book has a bit of extra depth in its story though. At the moment I'm going through a lot of Stephen King's work on Audible. I decided to give this book 4 stars instead of 5 simply because I enjoyed a few of his other works more than this one. Yet, "The Body" is a fantastic audio book and worth listening to.

This is the first Stephen King book I've read or downloaded and I loved it. Saw the movie "Stand By Me" and discovered it was based on this book, so I found it here at audible and downloaded it. Now I'm searching for more Stephen King books.

watching and listening to some twelve-year-old boys. But the ending was a downer.

This novella was first published in the anthology “Different Seasons.” It is available individually as an audiobook, which is how I heard it. This review is solely for The Body, not the others in the anthology. The Body was also made into the movie “Stand By Me.”

This is a novella, but it didn’t feel like a short story. The characters were wonderfully developed. I was frequently smiling as I listened to these four twelve-year-old boys hanging out and taking a sixteen hour walk. This book is alive. You feel like you’re right there with them. I loved the dialogue. Things they liked they called “boss.” No one wanted to be a pu*** (wimp). They did stupid things. They did heroic things (that also were stupid). They were brave. They cried. They were loyal to each other. One of them was slow mentally. All of them came from troubled homes. Gordon’s parents weren’t physically abusive, but they were emotionally gone. Chris’ alcoholic father beat him frequently and severely. The abuse parts were not the main story, but it’s behind things. The best part was the kids’ friendship, interaction, and doing things together. Some events were a cheating grocery store owner, a junkyard dog and his owner, crossing a railroad trestle, swimming in a pond, and a pie eating contest.

The only reason I did not give this 5 stars was because the ending was depressing in two ways. Something bad happened to the boys at the end of their journey, although they survived. The second was Gordon ends up having a good life as an adult, but the other three don’t. What happened to one of them was depressing. I was walking around in a funk. I want to be entertained and feel good, which I was during most of the book, but the ending took me down. I was reminded of a comment in another S. King book “God doesn’t care.” But, I’m still glad I read it.

Note on stupidity. I frequently dislike characters doing stupid things for the sake of the plot - when the stupidity does not fit the character - for example an intelligent adult. That does not apply here. The kids’ stupidity fits them and is natural. And it’s funny.

CAUTION SPOILER:
Chris was innately smart but frequently missed school, never applied himself, and was a poor student in grades 1 to 7. Starting in 8th grade, he decides to apply himself to go to college to have a life. His father continues beating him and is against it. The teachers don’t like him and resent his presence. He has a lot of catching up to do since he didn’t learn English and Math the way he should have during the first seven years of school. But he stays with it against all these odds, and he does it. He ends up going to college. What a heroic thing. I was proud of him. I wish the author would have stayed with that and given me a happy ending for Chris. Instead the author slams us with another of life’s unfortunate events - God doesn’t care.

The narrator Frank Muller was excellent - as always.

Genre: relationships fiction, friendship.
Ending: Happy for one, depressing for others.

I think I would have enjoyed this book a bit more if I had once been a 12-year old boy. Stephen King's obsession with bodily fluids (which I can generally tolerate in most other Stephen King books despite the fact that it is ever-present) was particularly noticeable in this book. Again - if I had once been a 12-year old boy, those references (and maybe even Stephen King's obsession with bodily fluids) would probably go unnoticed. Not one of my favorites by King.

Yes I would listen again because it is a classic that ignites the imagination of everyone that has ever had or wanted to have good friends and a grand adventure.

Chris Lachance because he embodies what people should strive to be. Noble yet reachable, caring and tough.

Frank Muller did a good Vern

Chris Lachance for the reasons I mentioned before : he embodies what people should strive to be. Noble yet reachable, caring and tough.

The narrator worked some magic with this short story!

All of the characters came to life thanks to the narration, and I listened to the book in its entirety thanks to that narration!

Frank Muller is an excellent narrator! The variations in tone (subtle or not), and the levels made the book extremely enjoyable. Given that I've seen it on television, and it is always hard to capture the same magic with an audio book (from TV or reading a book yourself), having a good narrator is the key to buying almost any story! Given the amount of persons now listening to audible, and itunes etc... I hope to hear more from these narrators (such as Frank Muller and the man whom did 11-22-63; another Stephen King novel).

Many moments in this novel moved me, I can't think of one in particular (except for the descriptive

Please allow Frank Muller or the man whom did 11--22-63 to narrate a version of

Movie was better kinda cool I saw the flick before the book cause I could put faces to the people.

In this short novel by Stephen King, the author returns to an old stamping ground of CastleRock Maine, this time set in the summer of 1960. The story centres around the day in

the life of a 12 year old boy and his friends, and their decision to set out in search of a dead body which they discover has been found in a remote woodland location.
In many ways, this story has echoes of It and The girl Who Loved tom Gordan. The former by the way King can capture a time and place and more importantly the affect that time

and place has on a young boy, and the latter through his use of rural maine and the fear we all have of being alone in an unfamiliar place, especially at night.
People who have read and enjoyed books by King before will be satisfied by this offering, though in my opinion its not one of his better titles. For those looking for an

introduction to Stephen King this would be a good place to start since, being short, you won't need to invest a lot of time in it and also because it is written in classic King

style. So if you like it then you will more than likely enjoy his other books.
As usual, Frank Muller is top class ... but what more would we expect?

If you loved the movie Stand by Me, then you must listen to this book. Get some additional background and insight into one of the best movies ever made. Frank Muller is also one of the best narrators for Stephen King. Very enjoyable.