The Body Book Club Questions
Welcome to the Buddy Book Club – we have a light-hearted comedic podcast that covers a variety of books. The Body is a Novella by Stephen King part of the Different Seasons collection. It was later adapted into the 1986 film Stand by Me.
We did a full breakdown of The Body on our podcast episode. On the episode we touch on lighter topics such as physical abuse, the NRA, serial killers and projectile vomiting/shitting. So check it out if you’re interested!
Our book club questions try to be a little more outside the box/comedic than your typical book club questions – hopefully you enjoy them.
Book Club Discussion Questions – The Body by Stephen King
-> The boys buy 3 pounds of raw ground beef at 11:30am, carry it in their backpacks in 90-degree heat all day, and don’t cook it until 6:30pm – nearly 7 hours in the ‘danger zone.’ Then they eat it basically raw off a stick. Why is there no scene where everyone gets E. coli or salmonella and shits their brains out? What is your worst food choice ever?
Late night chicken wings that weren’t cooked for me… couldn’t eat chicken wings for a year and helped spawn my Chicken Wing Conspiracy Theory.
-> Gordy has a dream where dead people (including his brother) are pulling him into the water to drown him. Is this a cheap artistic stunt to hammer home the mortality theme, or does it add necessary depth? Are dreams in books cheap tricks or legitimate storytelling tools?
I hate dreams, there just artistic cheat codes. Tell me the story and build the character in the actual story!
-> Gordy fully pisses himself on the train bridge and then wears those same jeans for the next 24+ hours in the summer heat. With dehydrated full nitrate pee soaking his pants, how did none of his friends say, “it smells like piss, what’s going on?” Most unrealistic part of the book?
Maybe pissing you pants was just a common occurrence with this group? A group of Miles Davis’.
-> Is this short story within the short story genius or cheating? It’s an absurd revenge tale about a kid who drinks castor oil to make everyone vomit at a pie-eating contest. Does it add to the narrative or is Stephen King just padding the page count by inserting another story he had lying around?
I loved the side story, Stephen Kings ability to come up with ideas and produce literature is insane.
-> Mr. Dusett tries to rip off Gordy with his thumb on the scale and bad math. Gordy catches him, corrects him, and drops a “hey, fuck you” as he leaves. Most satisfying 13-year-old moment in literature? Also, why do adults constantly underestimate kids’ intelligence?
13-year-olds are in their prime math years, probably just finished up learning algebra, that’s the last person you want to question on math.
-> Chris pulls Gordy aside and tells him his writing is amazing and he needs to get out of this town and not waste his talent. This is literally the Ben Affleck speech to Matt Damon in Goodwill Hunting, right? Did they steal this relationship or is it just coming-of-age story 101?
We discussed this on the pod, check out the clip, and our amazing Boston accents.
->A leech attaches to Gordy’s balls, Chris has to pull it off, and it grenades in his hand and just explodes with blood and leech guts everywhere. Gordy has a scar from it years later. Why did Stephen King add this nightmare fuel to a coming-of-age story? Most horrific scene in the book?
I guess we should have known something like this was coming from Stephen King, but still it was a bit shocking.
-> Vern is the sweetest kid – he consoles Teddy, he takes time to appreciate the moment and says “how awesome is this?” But at the end, he’s the first one to throw everyone under the bus when scared. Is Vern the heart of the group or just a backstabber?
Hard to tell, can’t be throwing your friends under the bus, that’s day 1 stuff.
-> Teddy’s dad held his ear to a stove like a “grilled cheese sandwich,” he has hearing problems and fucked-up ears, yet he still defends and loves his dad. He also has death wishes – running into traffic, trying to dodge the train. Best character or most tragic?
We loved Teddy, but his back story was pretty heartbreaking.
-> When the boys are 12, they pool money with no questions asked, share everything equally, have unwritten rules (make fun of anything except parents), and solve disputes with fights or gambling. Is this actually the perfect society?
Would twelve-year-olds solve the world’s problems? Although, we did read Lord of the Flies…
-> They recklessly run across the train bridge going there (hot summer day, full of bravado). Coming back it’s cold, they’re careful and measured. Is this brilliant symbolism for their transformation from childhood to maturity, or are people reading too much into kids just being tired on the way home?
I don’t understand symbolism at all but pretty proud with coming up with this theory, so I’m saying it is symbolism.
-> How good were the insults in this book? What was your favorite?
“Eat me raw through a flavor straw,” “Your mother blows dead rats,” “Fuck your hand,” “Bite my bag,” “You ain’t never seen such gross looking broads outside of a carnival show.”
-> The movie doesn’t show the exploding leech, Teddy doesn’t have grilled cheese ears, and Gordy’s pissed pants situation is sanitized. Did the movie make the right call going family-friendly or did it lose the rawness?
Guessing it would have had a lot less positive feedback had they left these things in.
-> What makes the perfect coming-of-age story? What are the requirements?
I think this one was really good because it was so unique and raw (like the meat they ate).
-> Who should play the updated version of the movie?
We do casting for a lot of the books we have read.
