The Body
#1 New York Times bestselling author Stephen King's timeless novella The Body, originally published in his 1982 collection Different Seasons and adapted into the 1986 film classic Stand by Me, now available as a stand-alone edition.
Four rambunctious young boys venture into the Maine woods in search of a boy from a nearby town who has disappeared. Gordie Lachance and his three friends set out on a quest to find the missing boy's body along the railroad tracks. The Body is set outside King's iconic fictional town of Castle Rock, which is the setting of many of King's most popular books including It and The Stand, and Castle Rock, a 10-episode Hulu original series, based on King's short stories. King's The Body is an iconic coming of age story that explores the loneliness and isolation of young adulthood.
- Pages
- 188
- First published
- 2018
- Language
- English
- Edition
- Ebook
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Shelved by 4 Litcadians
Reviews
Finished November 6, 2025
*“The most important things are the hardest things to say. They are things you get ashamed of, because words make them smaller. When they were in your head they were limitless; but when they come out they seem to be no bigger than normal things. But that's not all. The most important things lie too close to wherever your secret heart is buried; they are clues that could guide your enemies to a prize they would love to steal. It's hard and painful for you to talk about these things ... and then people just look at you strangely. They haven't understood what you've said at all, or why you almost cried while you were saying it. That's the worst, I think. When the secret stays locked within not for want of a teller but for want of an understanding ear.”* What I loved: ✿ grim coming-of-age ✿ found family ✿ lots of symbolism ✿ confronting real-life morals What I disliked: ✿ perspective/story changes I love what this story symbolizes. It's a great coming-of-age story that's not as lighthearted as its counterparts but one that has a great meaning all the same. The fact that it follows young boys and shows how they process the world a bit differently gave it even more of a unique twist for me. It didn't quite hit the five-star mark as there were moments in the story that felt unnecessary but overall, it's a good one. While the story seems to focus on the end goal of finding "the body", the journey there opens your eyes as the reader as well as the eyes of the main character and narrator. As the journey progresses, our main character realizes turning points for his and his friend's innocence. How nothing will be the same from this point on and while things may change, this is a bond in time that he will forever hold dear to him. Trigger warnings: Child death, Death, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Violence, Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence [✿ Connect with me on instagram ✿](https://www.instagram.com/literarily_laurynn?igsh=aTh6eTZ6dGwxMXpy&utm_source=qr)
Started July 12, 2025 · Finished July 13, 2025