Stephen King was born in Portland, Maine in
1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie
Ruth Pillsbury King. He made his first
professional short story sale in 1967 to
Startling Mystery Stories. In the fall of 1973,
he began teaching high school English
classes at Hampden Academy, the public high
school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the
evenings and on the weekends, he continued
to produce short stories and to work on
novels. He had to leave teaching and write
full-time. He has since published over 40
books and has become one of the world's
most successful writers.
The most important things are the hardest
to say. They are the things you get ashamed
of, because the words diminish them-words
shrink that seem limitless when they were in
your head to no more than a living size when
they are brought out. But its more than that,
Isn’t it? The most important things lie close to
wherever your heart is buried, like
landmarks to a treasure your enemies would
love to steal away. And you make revelations
that cost you dearly only to have people look
at you in a funny way , not understanding
what you’ve said at all , or why you thought it
was so important that you almost cried when
you were saying it. That’s the worst , I think
when a secret stays locked in within not for
want of a teller but for want of a
understanding ear.
Stephen King,The Body(1982)
Gordie is the main character
of this story , in the begging it
seems as if a older man is
telling the story, soon to find
out that the man is and older
more wiser Gordie. The story
goes back and tells of how
Gordie is surrounded by his
friends and the only thing that
Gordie wants is to have the
attention and Love from his
Father, His older brother
Dennis had died in a jeep
accident . Dennis was always
the favorite , and once he died
Gordies parents couldn’t get
over it. Gordie is portrayed as
the good one in the story . The
one whos going off to a real
school , other then his friends
who are leaving to Vocational
school. Gordie’s true passion
is writing.
Chris is Gordies best friend and
is always the leader..He doesn’t
really have that big of a chance
in life. His fathers a drunk, his
brothers Frank and Freddy are
criminals. His brother Eyeball is
the towns criminal. Everybody
knows Chris is gonna turn out
bad. Even Chris
Teddy is a really good friend of Gordie.
He is the craziest kid gordie hangs out
with. From train dogging to jumping of
30 foot pine trees. Teddy does it all.
When Teddy was 8 his father (who had
been stricken with mental problems
during world war 2) who had fits of rage
held Teddy’s ear to a stove and almost
burned it off. Teddy Didn’t have a good
chance in life , he was lacking good
sight and hearing.
Vern is the youngest of the
4 boys. His brother is in a gang
with Eyeball Chambers and
Ace Merril. Vern is the
cautionary one, the scared
one. Vern hates the outdoors.
Hed rather spend the day
inside waching the mickey
mouse club. At the beginning
of the school year he buried a
quart jar of pennies under his
porch. Hes been looking for
those pennies for 9 months.
-Dennis( Gordies older brother)
-Gordies Dad-
-Gordies Mom-
-Ray Brower-
-Larry Hogan-
-Bob Corneliel-
-Principle McNealy-
Four friends venture off to find the body of a
missing boy named Ray Brower . The obstacles
they pass bring them closer together as friends.
They first start out looking for the kid for fame
and fortune. But, at the end of the book they figure
out that taking the body wasn’t right at all. It Kind
of shows you the innocence of the fifties.
♣A Older Gordie, cries in car because of something he reads in the
newspaper.
♣ The story goes back to 1960 and a younger Gordie and his friends are
in the tree house.
♣ Vern runs in a tells them what he heard from his brother when he was
talking about the body of Ray Brower being found by himself and Charlie
Hogan.
♣Gordie goes home and packs, he daydreams about his brother.
♣The boys run off to find Ray Brower's body.
♣They dodge a train on a bridge.
♣They run through the swamp and get covered in leaches.
♣They find the body, Ace and his gang show up. Gordie shoots a gun into
the air to scare Ace.
♣The boys run home through the night, they call an anonymous phone call
telling where the body is.
♣At the end, You find out why Gordies older self was crying, Chris had got
stabbed breaking up a fight at a Portland fast food restaurant.
♣At the end you find out that only Gordie was alive because, Chris got
stabbed, Vern’s Apartment caught on fire when he was sleeping. And
Teddy died in the Army.
I would Rate this book, a 10/10
because it about coming of age, I
like how it talks about these 4
boys, who are completely different
yet are the best of friends, it shows
the way young teenage boys act
but still captures the innocence of
the fifties, I really enjoyed this
book. I would recommend this
book to boys more than girls. But if
your into adventure and coming of
age. This book is perfect for you.
In 1979 the body was published , in 1986 it was turned into a
movie. The book was much better, it showed a better depiction of
Gordie then in the movie , renamed “Stand By Me”. Id recommend
the book. But if you’re a movie kind of person, this movie is also
very good.
The Ballad of the
Flexible Bullet
Battleground The Boogeyman
The Breathing
Method
Beachworld
Brooklyn August
Cain Rose Up
Big Wheels: A Tale of
the Laundry Game