The Outsiders

Before I started actively seeking them out on Goodreads, I had never heard a negative review of this book. Every person who ever talked about it–grad school classmates, teachers, colleagues, high school students, etc–has sung its praises. I read about non-readers becoming hooked by page 20, reluctant readers becoming readers for life, blah blah. I know I'm in the minority when I say: I don't really get it.

The kids in the book don't seem real. I get that it's about love among a gang of boys, but they are just so lovey with each other, it doesn't ring true. There were parts I liked, of course, especially near the end. I might even bump it to 4 stars if I reread it at another time of my life. Definitely going on the reread list, if only to understand the appeal a little better.

The eccentricity of Ponyboy's name reflects the differences between him and the rest of the ‘Greasers' gang to which he belongs. Rather than becoming hardened or jaded about his poverty, parents' death, and the intense conflict between the Greasers and their uptown rivals, the ‘Socs,' Ponyboy remains sensitive and more-or-less non-delinquent. Everything changes when he and his best friend, Johnny, are jumped by a group of Socs and the Soc leader is killed by Johnny in self-defense. In the drama that ensues, Ponyboy's older brothers Sodapop and Darry can't continue to shield him from the vagaries of life, and he ultimately has to choose whether to retreat into an emotionless shell of self-defense (read: delinquency) or to be strong and ‘stay gold.'

Overall, I thought that this was an excellent book with a very relatable main character in Ponyboy. While at times he came across as a little too clearsighted and ‘wise' for his age, I think that had I read this book as a teen I would have seen much of myself in Ponyboy. The rivalry between the Greasers and the Socs is replicated to some degree among groups of teens everywhere, which also helps to explain this novel's continued relevance for teens throughout the years.

For some reason, this book never found its way into my hands until now. I found it on the reading list when I was teaching, but was told it wasn't something that we could read as a class due to its content (violence, drugs, drinking).

But if that is what you're paying attention to when you read this story, you have completely missed the point. Its so much more than the “lost poor,” the street kids. Its about true north, purity... knowing what is important, no matter if you have money or not.

This is probably one of the best books I have ever read. At first I was skeptical about reading S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders (written in 1967). But when I saw Copolla's movie adaptation starring Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe, C. Thomas Howell etc. I was amazed at how good the movie was. It was so real because you were able to connect with the characters since they grew up in tough neighborhoods trying to fit in society. So I decided tot read the book in order to find out if the movie actually is worse than the book ( since sometimes watching the movie before the book gets hopes up for nothing). But in actuality, both the movie and book are equally great because not many directors are able to capture the depth of a novel and visually interpret it the exact way that the audience wanted their ideas to be visualized. It is like West Side Story with a twist [ and no secret love affair], the Greasers and The Socs [socials, pronounced Soash] and each of the characters in the greasers gang (Ponyboy, Sodapop and Darrel ‘Darry' Curtis, Dallas ‘Dally' Winston,Steve,Two-Bit and Johnny) each have personalities that make you sympathize with them and love them so much more than their society does (being poor, dirty JD's and hoodlums). All the actors did a great job portraying those characters and I recommend it to anyone who wants to read/ watch a great movie.

Prob my most favorite book of all time!!