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Monday 8 September 2014

The Outsiders

The OutsidersThe Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Ponyboy Curtis is a 14 year old orphan living with his two older brothers in the poorer neighbourhood of their town. They find a sort of extended family with the other boys in the neighbourhood and take the name of 'greasers.' As greasers, with long hair and switchblades for show hidden in their pockets they become a sort of inbetween. They are not quite hoods but always find themselves at blows with the upper social class, the 'socs.' In a rumble between Ponyboy, Johnny, and some socs, Johnny stabs one of the socs. Now on the run, the boys get to know each other better and soon come to more deeply understand the personalities and relationships of their brothers. As well as the personalities of the socs. After an incident in which the church burns down, Johnny and Pony find themselves heroes of the community despite being greasers. However, this doesn't last long and one death follows another until ridden with post-traumatic stress, Ponyboy's teacher asks him to write an essay in which he theoretically writes the whole novel.

The first time I ever read this novel, I can't have been more than fourteen myself. So, it's been a while since the first time I sat down to read this book. Previously, I had it rated with only three stars because it had been so long that I had forgotten what really went on in S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders. It was nice reading it again after so many years, it felt like I was reunited with an old friend and although the story was familiar I had read it long enough ago that I had forgotten what happened. I really didn't like the ending. It felt like a cop-out and not a cleverly written one at that. However, despite the ending, S.E. Hinton did a good job of writing a story that was and could be relatable throughout the years that it has been on the market. She wrote her characters really well, in that they felt real. They felt three-dimensional.

Reminiscent of Peter Pan in staying gold and never growing up.

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