22 Nov 2014

The Outsiders By S.E. Hinton

Title: The Outsiders
Author: S.E Hinton
Genre: Young Adult
Publication: Puffin Books
Pages: 192
Source: Bought
Rating: 5/5
According to Ponyboy, there are two kinds of people in the world: greasers and socs. A soc (short for "social") has money, can get away with just about anything, and has an attitude longer than a limousine. A greaser, on the other hand, always lives on the outside and needs to watch his back. Ponyboy is a greaser, and he's always been proud of it, even willing to rumble against a gang of socs for the sake of his fellow greasers--until one terrible night when his friend Johnny kills a soc. The murder gets under Ponyboy's skin, causing his bifurcated world to crumble and teaching him that pain feels the same whether a soc or a greaser.

I first came across this book in Waterstones. I wasn't too sure if I would like it or not, but I bought it anyway's. At first, the book wasn't what I expected in terms of the story. I was expecting two gangs fighting all the time.... the end. But it wasn't. The characters were very realistic. Every character seemed to have their own story and emotions throughout the book. 

I think most of the greasers are portrayed as rough. Although some greasers are a little rough, people like Ponybody aren't like that and are judged by his gangs reputation. In the book we see Cherry who is a soc, look past the reputation that has been forced on Ponybody and tries to see his true side. I also liked how even though the greasers are seen as non-human like, they were able to perform a courageous act when the children needed to be saved. 

The book was filled with lots of events. The main events were the murder, the fire, the rumble and the police chase at the end. In my opinion I think the book was slightly based around the rumble. The rumble for me was the best part, mainly because we were told about it through the book and it was finally happening. Most of the sad parts in the book were after the rumble. Mainly to Johnny and Dally.

One of the best parts of the book was how realistic it was. When I say realistic I mean in the situations and emotions that the characters are put in. The book shows how a group of people (greasers) can be shun by the community because of the way they look, live and who they are friends with. In today's world, the same events happen. This book was published in 1967 and was written by a sixteen year old girl, so obviously not much has changed since then. 

Overall I really enjoyed this book. I can't think of one thing I didn't like about it, which is odd for me. No matter what you think of this book, I think you should go and buy it or regret it.

2 comments:

  1. Great review, Alan! I had to read The Outsiders for English when I was at school. I never really liked the books we had to read for class, but we were given this book on a Friday, and I finished it that night. Really unusual for me for school books back then. I was raving about it to my teacher, I absolutely loved it! Made me cry, too. So glad you enjoyed it! :)

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    1. Thanks :) Most (not all) of the books I had to read in school I didn't enjoy. It's not that they were bad books I think it's just the fact that we were being forced to read them over and over again. Glad you liked it :)

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