The Outsiders
Ratings723
Average rating3.9
The ending rounded up a little better than the rest of the book. Not really the kind of teenage angst vibing book that's not some cliche.
Prompt 7 from 2019 Popsugar Challenge: A reread of a favorite book; prompt 6 from 2020 Popsugar Challenge: A bildungsroman; prompt 40 from 2021 Popsugar Challenge: Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge
Book: The Outsiders Author: S. E. Hinton Genre: YA fiction, bildungsroman Dates Read: 05/12/2021-05/21/2021 Format: physical book Other prompts: A book everyone seems to have read but you.
Rating:
Pedazo librazo para haberlo escrito con 17 años. (Aunque la autora es un POCO problemática).
Es que de verdad los personajes son divinos
“Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold...”
5.00
This was very good! My sister has been telling me to read it for three years straight, so I had high expectations going into this book, and it didn't disappoint! The story follows a fourteen-year-old greaser named Ponyboy Curtis (yes, that is his real name) who can't seem to catch a break. He's good with school and lives with his two older brothers Darry, and Sodapop.
I won't spoil it for you, but things get bad, and Ponyboy has to deal with the effects. I didn't get hooked on the book until the fourth chapter, but it isn't bad at the start. That's only when it starts to get especially interesting.
This book has some of the best characters I've ever seen, and it feels like I've known them for forever!
Considered one of the first—if not THE first—Young Adult novels, The Outsiders is the classic tale of the conflict between the greaser and social teen cliques in 1960s Oklahoma. It spawned a faithful movie adaption directed by Francis Ford Coppola in the 1980s. If you've seen the movie, then there aren't any surprises in the novel. It's a well-plotted story with a realistic conflict between the social outcasts and the popular kids with some very dramatic turns and the sturdy underlying moral of “don't judge a book by its cover.” The relationship between Ponyboy, his brothers, and their friends is endearing and realistic. I did enjoy reading this novel.
But there are some caveats. First, the narration is clunky with questionable word choices. For instances, during a brawl, Ponyboy (who is the narrator) tells the reader that he wonders where Johnny is while his head is being violently submerged in a water fountain by a rival gang member. I can imagine images of his friend would frantically race through his mind. But wonder? There is a lot of wondering going on in questionable situations in this novel. Second, Ponyboy is described as very book smart and different from the rest of his gang, yet he doesn't site any of the dozens upon dozens of books he's claimed to have read—not even a single quote from a favorite book—and his narration doesn't display a single sign of this well-read dreamer and avid bookworm. His narration is clunky and lacks any signs of a literate mind. The only thing that seems to make him different from the rest of his gang is that he questions their station in life. And he does realize that the social kids are not much different than the greaser kids; they just have different problems and living situations.
Overall, this was a good read. I'd give it 3 and a half stars.
YA fiction sure has come a long way since The Outsiders came out. I wish I had read this in high school, because I probably would've enjoyed it more. I listened to the audiobook, so I cant say I truly experienced it how most people have.
The start was slow. I have tried to read this for three times, and given up every time before. It really doesn't start before Bob dies. It was so dark and depressing and hard to take until that, just got worse and worse... After that, I couldn't put it down.
Listened to the audiobook of this. I loved this. I honestly read it because it is a book that the 7th graders were reading at my school. I enjoyed the story, it kept me entertained. I wish I had more to say because I know the kids dissected the book.
I literally only bought this book from a discounted book sale because it made me feel nostalgic to when I read this in middle school but man, this was way better than I remember
Surprisingly, this is actually one of the best books I've read recently! It absolutely astounds me that Hinton was LITERALLY 16 years old when she wrote this. God. How.
I found this story utterly captivating. It was harrowing and forced the reader to look at some ugly truths in life. The characters were each unique and remarkable in their own ways.
Personally, I wouldn't be shocked if I picked this up to reread this someday. And that's saying something because I never reread books.
Life in the street gangs in the 1960's - Rich and Poor! This was my 2nd classic read for Jan 19. Very good and easy to read and understand. Well worth my time reading, try it - David N.
Well-rounded characters and good writing, S.E. Hinton did a fantastic job with this story - and only at 15/16? Amazing.
The plot was easy to follow, and the narrative voice of Ponyboy was enjoyable, relatable, and at times, funny and witty. I also really liked the themes Hinton focused on - social divide, family, friends (ie. chosen family).
Made for a short read, would recommend to anyone.
(I started The Outsiders in print, but I couldn't get into it, so I ended up listening to it on audio. I settled in pretty fast, once I heard how the characters speak.)
Somehow I have missed The Outsiders, even after all the recommendations for it, even after seeing it on lots of people's favorite book lists, even after owning a copy of it for a good while. My feelings about it, after finally getting to it, are mixed. I'm sure things were very different fifty years ago, when the book was written, but lots of things about it are jarring to me, in 2017. Rich kids in gangs? Poor boys who fight at night but go to high school the next day and make good grades? Gangs who fight with fists? A boy mixed up with a kid who knifes another boy to death yet goes home to his brothers rather than jail? The author is female? And young? Most jarring of all, honestly, was finding out that these gangs live in Oklahoma.
There were so many things I liked about the book that I can't list them all. Most importantly, the story has a deep honesty in the depiction of the relationships between the boys that I rarely see. The empathy that Ponyboy develops toward his rival gang members was also interesting.
I'm going to watch the movie this weekend.
Pretty much exactly as I remembered it from 6th grade. As an adult. some of Hinton's sentences hit me hard-her writing could be impactful. The story itself is a bit melodramatic, but the message of hope is strong. She does this thing, two or three times, where Ponyboy “forgets” to mention something in a paragraph about something else and it just ripped me out of the story immediately but it's forgiveable when you consider a 14 year old boy is supposed to be writing the story as an English theme. The one example I can think of right away is when Ponyboy is talking about a fight and he's like, oh, I forgot to mention I run track. Then there is a bit about how great he is at track, and then he gets back to what he was saying originally. There are a couple of those forgetful expositions in there that really don't have anything to do with the plot.
I watched the movie adaptations for this book way before I ever read the book. I can't believe this was my first time ever reading it What took you so long Misty?
I was kind of worried that watching the movie first was going to ruin my reading experience but of course I was worried over nothing. It was so easy to get drawn into the story and it kept my attention throughout the entire book. Aside from the great story I feel like characters are what make this book so great. Hinton done an amazing job at creating a believable cast of characters. I loved the character growth for the main character Ponyboy. To me he is the one that changed the most. This is a book that should me read by everyone young and old. If you haven't read it I highly recommend you remedy that right now.
“De la naturaleza el primer verde es oro
su matiz más difícil de asir;
su más temprana hoja es flor,
pero por una hora tan solo.
Luego la hoja es hoja queda.
Así se abate el Edén de tristeza;
así se sume en el día el amanecer.
Nada dorado puede permanecer.”
I think I definitely missed my peak age to read this book by about 20 years–I can definitely see why it resonates with younger readers, especially back in the day when the YA landscape was pretty barren. (Yes it's true, I'd never read this before.)
It holds up... okay, I think. It is a little cheesy and feels to me like West Side Story AU hurt/comfort fanfiction? Which, hey, is a story with HELLA teen appeal.
It's interesting that it was written by a woman (a girl, really) and beloved by many girls when the female characters in this book are few and far between. But again–I get the appeal to many girls of reading about a bunch of boys with a lot of feelings and great hair and no girls to compete with for their affection. Like, I bet there is a LOT of self-insert Outsiders fanfiction out there.
It took a while to get goine, but once it did i couldn't put it down!
Read the majority of it in about three hours.
Thumbs up to John Barrowman for taste in books :).