Book: The Outsiders

[alexcat]

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I reread The Outsiders after watching the Great American Read. I had read it as a teen and reread it some years later as well. I know many people said they identified with Ponyboy and the others, but nothing in my teens was remotely like their lives. I grew up in a rural area and never knew any 'greasers'. if we had them, I never knew anything about it. I also have not ever really identified with any of the other great 'coming of age' books either, books like Catcher in the Rye or A Separate Peace.

Having said all that, the narrative is compelling and does leave on a hopeful note about life and family.



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Comments

[kara_mckay]

I was able to relate to the Outsiders to a limited extent, and I had a friend who loved them. We were assigned Catcher in the Rye and A Separate Peace in high school, and I liked A Separate Peace without knowing until decades later why that book in particular might be assigned to teenagers. I hate Catcher in the Rye. Hate, hate, hate. I still own all three of those books, and the only reason I hang onto Catcher in the Rye is sentiment for my junior year English teacher.

[alexcat]

I probably identified more with Scout in "To Kill a Mockingbird" perhaps for the small town feeling.

Catcher in the Rye is probably my least favorite book in the world!

[kara_mckay]

I made it through Catcher in the Rye, but I don't know if I would've if it hadn't been for a grade. I hate to be stereotypical, but the one that I just could not do was Moby Dick. I tried. I tried valiantly. It got to the point where I was slogging along without absorbing anything I was reading just so I could say that I'd read Moby Dick. When I realized that was what was happening, I said, "Fuck it," and put it back on the shelf.