Helpful Score: 3
Just finished this book and can finally see what the fuss was about.
I'd seen the movie and knew the plot and was even a bit put off by the first chapter. The narrator, Ponyboy, had a voice that initially felt unrealistic for a 14 year old boy. Particularly one coming of age in the early to mid 60's. However, once past the early descriptions of everyone, the dissonance pretty much disappeared and the final chapters make up for all of the disparity and even explain it to a degree.
There is a brilliantly conflicted duality to Ponyboy. We get indications of it in his enjoyment of sunsets and reading but its only toward the end when we see him breaking a bottle to threaten some socs then after they leave picking up the glass so no one gets a flat tire, that we really see just how different the two natures that are vying for his soul truly are.
The early chapters all build to this denouement but they had more of the feel of a dystopian novel translated to a 50's youth gang vernacular. If I'd been asked to characterize the book half way through I'd have grouped it with The Cross and the Switchblade and West Side Story and such stories.
But the family dynamic that surfaces in the last few chapters makes it much more than that. This book truly deserves the popularity that its attained.
I'd seen the movie and knew the plot and was even a bit put off by the first chapter. The narrator, Ponyboy, had a voice that initially felt unrealistic for a 14 year old boy. Particularly one coming of age in the early to mid 60's. However, once past the early descriptions of everyone, the dissonance pretty much disappeared and the final chapters make up for all of the disparity and even explain it to a degree.
There is a brilliantly conflicted duality to Ponyboy. We get indications of it in his enjoyment of sunsets and reading but its only toward the end when we see him breaking a bottle to threaten some socs then after they leave picking up the glass so no one gets a flat tire, that we really see just how different the two natures that are vying for his soul truly are.
The early chapters all build to this denouement but they had more of the feel of a dystopian novel translated to a 50's youth gang vernacular. If I'd been asked to characterize the book half way through I'd have grouped it with The Cross and the Switchblade and West Side Story and such stories.
But the family dynamic that surfaces in the last few chapters makes it much more than that. This book truly deserves the popularity that its attained.
Helpful Score: 3
One of my all time favorites. Read this first in grade school, which inspired the budding reader in me to keep on reading. I had read everything by S.E. Hinton before I had even finished middle school, and the Outsiders remains the best of all her novels. A fantastic tale of social cliques and the bonds of friendship and family.
Helpful Score: 2
The classic movie from the 80's. A must read if you love the movie!
Helpful Score: 2
The cover of this book features the beautiful young men from The Outsiders film. S.E. Hinton wrote this book when she was sixteen. Economic disparities brood in a midwestern town and erupt in violence while a young boy grows up quickly.
Helpful Score: 2
Great reading about raw teenage life, friends, and loyalty.
Helpful Score: 2
If you were a teenaged girl in the 1980s, you undoubtably read this book and saw the movie with the all-star cast. Heck, you may have even had a poster with The Outsiders on it in your room next to your Duran Duran and Stray Cats ones.
The story, far from being a fluffy "teen read," is a deep one about class, violence, abandonment, family, and loss. When a lower-class "greaser" kills an upper-class "Soc," he and his friend go on the run, leading to a chain of events that end tragically.
I used to teach this to ninth-grade students and they all loved it, boys and girls included. It's hard to believe the author was only 16 when she wrote it!
The story, far from being a fluffy "teen read," is a deep one about class, violence, abandonment, family, and loss. When a lower-class "greaser" kills an upper-class "Soc," he and his friend go on the run, leading to a chain of events that end tragically.
I used to teach this to ninth-grade students and they all loved it, boys and girls included. It's hard to believe the author was only 16 when she wrote it!
Helpful Score: 2
This has always been my favorite coming of age book. As a young girl the characters drew me in and touched my heart. I always found it amazing that a 14 year old could write so passionately about the human condition. It really drove home for me that there is good in everyone and that some of the best demonstrations of love is in self-sacrifice.
Helpful Score: 1
a good story about belonging
Helpful Score: 1
A wonderful comming-of-age book that deals with peer pressure, loyalty and growing up. I would greatly recommend this book to young and old readers alike.
Helpful Score: 1
This is considered one of the first books in the still new genre of adolescent literature. It starts in a world of Greasers and Socs and set in the 1960s, it has an almost West Side Story feel without the romance.
Helpful Score: 1
Every teen should read this book at least once
Helpful Score: 1
I LOVED this book as a child. Reading it with my son many years later was as revelation; it's still a great book and deals with contemporary issues. Teenage angst and class stratifictaion is timeless!
Helpful Score: 1
This is one of my old time favorites, I would absolutely recommend it to anyone 14 and up!!
Helpful Score: 1
Classic of my teen years, "nothing gold can stay".
Helpful Score: 1
Growing up, this was probably my favorite book. I couldn't believe that someone so young could write so eloquently... I always thought it was incredible that the imagery and grittiness was so strong, yet the closest thing to a curse word used was "damn".
This is an inspirational story of how good friends and family...people who believe in you...can give you to overcome what feel like unbeatable odds.
"Stay gold, Ponyboy!"
This is an inspirational story of how good friends and family...people who believe in you...can give you to overcome what feel like unbeatable odds.
"Stay gold, Ponyboy!"
Helpful Score: 1
I just re-read this book for the first time in about ten years, and it still holds just as much meaning as it did before.
It's a must-read for anyone and everyone of all ages. Younger readers can understand the main points throughout the story and adults can pick up deeper meanings. We all need to be reminded that everyone has troubles, no matter who or what you're associated with, and Ponyboy is just the one to remind us.
It's a must-read for anyone and everyone of all ages. Younger readers can understand the main points throughout the story and adults can pick up deeper meanings. We all need to be reminded that everyone has troubles, no matter who or what you're associated with, and Ponyboy is just the one to remind us.
Helpful Score: 1
I love this book! It's a great example of true friendship.
Helpful Score: 1
I think this is one of the few books that I actually liked in Jr. High when we had summer reading.
Helpful Score: 1
All teens should read this book
Helpful Score: 1
Reviewed by Taylor Rector for TeensReadToo.com
This is the story of the greasers and the Socs, the two social groups in the boys' town. The greasers are kind of a family of friends, because for most of them all they have is each other. The Socs are more violent and like to fight. They are the rich kids who have things that the greasers can only dream of. They fight every once in a while -- but one night someone takes it too far.
From that point on the story surrounds the two boys who are on the run from the "fuzz" (police). The story is told from the viewpoint of Ponyboy Curtis, who is a fourteen-year-old greaser. He has two brothers, Darry Curtis and Sodapop Curtis. Their parents were killed a few years back, but the courts let them stay together as long as they stayed out of trouble.
This book is about so much more than the cliché of popular boys vs. loser boys. There are feelings and characters that you want to see succeed. That's what makes this book different from all the others, in a good way of course.
I liked that the characters seemed so real, like you really knew them! I love it when a book is like that. There are internal conflicts with many of the characters as well as the good vs. evil aspect. Everyone in eighth grade should be required to read this book!
This is the story of the greasers and the Socs, the two social groups in the boys' town. The greasers are kind of a family of friends, because for most of them all they have is each other. The Socs are more violent and like to fight. They are the rich kids who have things that the greasers can only dream of. They fight every once in a while -- but one night someone takes it too far.
From that point on the story surrounds the two boys who are on the run from the "fuzz" (police). The story is told from the viewpoint of Ponyboy Curtis, who is a fourteen-year-old greaser. He has two brothers, Darry Curtis and Sodapop Curtis. Their parents were killed a few years back, but the courts let them stay together as long as they stayed out of trouble.
This book is about so much more than the cliché of popular boys vs. loser boys. There are feelings and characters that you want to see succeed. That's what makes this book different from all the others, in a good way of course.
I liked that the characters seemed so real, like you really knew them! I love it when a book is like that. There are internal conflicts with many of the characters as well as the good vs. evil aspect. Everyone in eighth grade should be required to read this book!
Helpful Score: 1
This is a classic! I was required to read this back in high school and had to read it again as an adult because it was one of the few required reading books that I enjoyed. I liked it even more now that I decided to read it for pleasure. Great book!
Helpful Score: 1
I read this book 35 years ago and really liked it then. Now, having read it at 56 years old, I have a better insight on the characters and the book and like it even better. This is a well-written book that draws you into the story from page one and doesn't let you go even after you have finished the book. It is astonishing that the author was 16 year old when she wrote this. I highly recommend this book to anyone. I have given it to my son to read and hope that he gets as much out of it as I did.
Helpful Score: 1
There was a time in eighth grade where I(embarrassingly)had this book practically memorized. I don't know what it was about the characters in this book, but they appealed to me ten fold. I still can't watch the movie without reciting the lines.
I think the thing I liked absolutely best about this story was that the whole time I was reading it I kept thinking, MY GOD! This is being written by a someone MY age!
Still a classic if you ask me.
I think the thing I liked absolutely best about this story was that the whole time I was reading it I kept thinking, MY GOD! This is being written by a someone MY age!
Still a classic if you ask me.
Helpful Score: 1
I recommend this book, it has everything... I loved it. I read it twice and I would read it again... SE Hinton is a genius.
Overview: Ponyboy can count on his brothers. And on his friends. But not on much else besides trouble with the Socs, a vicious gang of rich kids whose idea of a good time is beating up "greasers" like Ponyboy. AT least he knows what to expect - until the night someone takes things too far.
Review: S.E. Hinton has a knack for telling stories about inner-city life for teenage boys. This is her first novel and probably her best. A classic - read this and then watch the movie.
Review: S.E. Hinton has a knack for telling stories about inner-city life for teenage boys. This is her first novel and probably her best. A classic - read this and then watch the movie.
This book is a very good book. My teenage daughter absolutly loved this book!
The Outsiders is a book everyone should read. While it is "young adult" in most circles, if you haven't read it, you should...and if you haven't read it in a while, it's one of those books that you can re-read and you feel differently about it because of where you are at that time in life.
While I say this is a "classic," it is told in the first-person view of a young teen boy, so it is not dry at all. The main character as male helps those younger people relate to the book if they are boys themselves, but this is equally compelling to female readers.
It is also great to read aloud with a young person.
While I say this is a "classic," it is told in the first-person view of a young teen boy, so it is not dry at all. The main character as male helps those younger people relate to the book if they are boys themselves, but this is equally compelling to female readers.
It is also great to read aloud with a young person.
This was my one of my all time favorite books! It made me cry and laugh and i felt like i was a greaser in the book.
I've read this book to study with my eighth grade reading class- it is a classic about rivals and coming of age- taking place in the 60s but relevant for teens today. My students look forward to reading it.
This is such a great book. One of my favorites.
That book is such a wonderful classic about teenhood. My daughter read it in school and loved it. That book relates to many teenagers and fits in many situations in life. It does have smoking and refrences to drinking as well as a manslaughter but it is a classical story about friendship and teen life. S.E. Hinton does a great job at relating to other people and making the characters sound releastic. The outsiders is a must.
This was my favorite book in highschool.
My daughter stated this was a really good book.
I first read this book when I was 13 years old. To this day it has a special place in my heart. I agree with the reviewer that said this book is a classic. I read this book growing up so many times I lost track. A must read!
great book kids loved it
Excellent book!
Excellent book!
I first read this book in school and ended up reading it over and over and over. The teacher finally made me stop reading it. It is a great story. fast paced and any girl will fall in love with the characters.
I really enjoyed this book. I thought it had really good insight into the world of social classes as portrayed by Ponyboy. I especially enjoyed his interaction with his oldest brother, Darry. I could definately see that Darry was working hard to fill the parent role and the reasons that Ponyboy resented him. I was glad to see that eventually Ponyboy understood what he was doing and how much he cared. I think I enjoyed the characters' insights the best. They each understood something about themselves and their lives and they way they effect others by the end of the book.
One of the few people who never read the book in High School, watched the movie, and was a little confused. Much better to read the book, because the movie looses some of the relationship dynamics.
Excellent book. Timeless. I LOVED the ending, it goes a step farther than the movie.
Great book! Read it years ago. Got it for my 7th grade son's LA class. Re-read it myself. Gritty and honest life of the haves and have-nots.
This is a great book. If you have seen the movie you should read the book!!
A total classic. Never going out of style. Made me want to name my future kids Ponyboy or Cherry just because I loved the characters so much. ;-) Here's another book where the movie was just as great.
A great story about growing up. They made me read this novel in middle school. I'm glad they did.
A good, classic book.
One of my childhood favorites!
I read Hinton when I was in Junior High. I loved her books. I tracked down as many as I could to read during that year. The life described in the books didn't match mine at all, but somehow they connected anyway.
Ponyboy can count on his brothers. And on his friends. But not on much else besides trouble with the Socs, a vicious gang of rich kids whose idea of a good time is beating up "greasers" like Ponyboy. At least he knows what to expect - until the night someone takes things too far.
My 14 year old daughter loved the book and even made a poodle skirt to dress up as a "soc" for bonus points. My 13 year old son loved dressing up as a "greaser" and discovered a new hairstyle (without the grease)!
Oh my gosh this books gives all the feels! I haven't read this book since elementary school and I had forgotten how much I loved it.
The story is haunting in a way. The social division between the Greasers and the Socs is something so true and real and very prevalent in today's society. The struggle of being a teen just trying to navigate the world around them was depicted so well. Being a kid/teen sucks no matter your social/financial situation. All walks of life come with their own set of problems and it's hard enough dealing with them and having to fight one another over, well nothing really. Jealousy, hate, boredom?
The characters draw you in and make you develop attachments to them. I didn't remembered how very much I adored Sodapop until rereading this. And Dally... I always liked Dally, but reading this as an adult, I can appreciate him more. I can better understand why he was the way he was. Why he was so tough and cold, and why he was well and truly lost after Johnny's death. Ponyboy hit it on the head: Johnny was the only thing Dally loved.
I love everything about this book, the writing, the story, the characters. The family dynamic between the Curtis brothers--the whole gang, because they're all one big family that looks out for one another as best they can. It's both beautiful and sad. I'm only sorry I took so long to reread this.
The story is haunting in a way. The social division between the Greasers and the Socs is something so true and real and very prevalent in today's society. The struggle of being a teen just trying to navigate the world around them was depicted so well. Being a kid/teen sucks no matter your social/financial situation. All walks of life come with their own set of problems and it's hard enough dealing with them and having to fight one another over, well nothing really. Jealousy, hate, boredom?
The characters draw you in and make you develop attachments to them. I didn't remembered how very much I adored Sodapop until rereading this. And Dally... I always liked Dally, but reading this as an adult, I can appreciate him more. I can better understand why he was the way he was. Why he was so tough and cold, and why he was well and truly lost after Johnny's death. Ponyboy hit it on the head: Johnny was the only thing Dally loved.
I love everything about this book, the writing, the story, the characters. The family dynamic between the Curtis brothers--the whole gang, because they're all one big family that looks out for one another as best they can. It's both beautiful and sad. I'm only sorry I took so long to reread this.
A heroic story of friendship and belonging. Ponyboy can count on his brothers. And on his friends. But not much else besides trouble with the Socs, a vicious gang of rich kids whose idea of a good time is beating up "greasers" like Ponyboy. At least he knows what to expect - until the night someone takes things too far.
This is an excellent book, lots of genuine emotion. One of my favorites as a teen.
This is an excellent book, lots of genuine emotion. One of my favorites as a teen.
A classic reading, Pony-boy.
a classic
this is a great book. it sets a great example to children. it shows kids that they should not shower and have greesey hair and to smoke and run away from their problems and hide in a church and eat the same sandwhich every day and end up burning down their church becase of a light smoke. yes of course read this to your children (sarcasam intended)
From the back of the book:
Ponyboy can count on his brothers. And on his friends. But not on much else besides trouble with the Socs, a vicious gang of rich kids whose idea of a good time is beating up "greasers" like Ponyboy. At least he knows what to expect - until the night someone takes things too far.
Ponyboy can count on his brothers. And on his friends. But not on much else besides trouble with the Socs, a vicious gang of rich kids whose idea of a good time is beating up "greasers" like Ponyboy. At least he knows what to expect - until the night someone takes things too far.
Amazing story! Read it first in 7th grade and couldn't stop! My friends and I loved the book so much we each adopted nicknames from the characters to ourselves. I was Two-Bit because he's funny and always likes to tell a joke! Most kids can relate to the characters and the girls will look at these cute boys and love it! The movie was pretty good too! Also, continue with the series and read them all, they are so good!
classic young aadult fiction
Loved it same as I did many years ago.
this book was required in highschool. i actually liked it. Has a movie based on the book. the movie isn't as good as the book.
A total classic!!
I read this when I was in school and now my child is reading it. Fun!
This book actually has ISBN #0440967694 and is PermaBound (a small hardback that is the size and weight of a paperback). It is the movie tie-in edition.
