The Outsiders

by S. E. Hinton

Paperback

English language

Published Jan. 6, 2006 by Penguin Books.

OCLC Number:: 67361497

(58 reviews)

In Ponyboy's world there are two types of people. There are the Socs the rich society kids who get away with anything. The there are the greasers, like Ponyboy, who aren't so lucky. Ponyboy has a few things he can count on, hid older brothers, his friends, and trouble with the Socs, whose idea of a good time is beating up greasers like Ponyboy. At least he knows what to expect--until the night things go too far.

When it was first published in 1967, The Outsiders struck an immediate chord with its readers. Defying convention, the groundbreaking novel became a touchstone of honesty and excellence in its genre. As Jodi Picault observes in her perceptive introduction, it continues to resonate with its powerful portrait of the bonds and boundaries of friendship. (back cover)

65 editions

Jim Brown reviewed The Outsiders 40th Anniversary edition by S. E. Hinton

Stay goild, Ponyboy

No rating

I feel like I read this book in junior high or high school, but I'm not sure. This time around, I read it because I'm going to see the Broadway Musical version soon, and I was struck by the representation's of friendship and intimacy in this book. The boys are affectionate and care for one another (and then they head out for a violent brawl with the Socs). It was also interesting to see how bad language or any references to sex are gestured toward but never actually directly represented/talked about.

Before this reading, didn't realize that Hinton was 16 when she wrote it, which is pretty impressive (and also maybe explains whey the book deals with "vulgar" material the way that it does).

Amber Herbert reviewed The Outsiders 40th Anniversary edition by S. E. Hinton

Review of 'The Outsiders 40th Anniversary edition' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

I expected more from this modern classic. Even if Hinton wrote it when she was sixteen, that doesn’t discount the issues pertaining to pacing and exposition and the paper-thin characters. It read like a rough draft of a manuscript rather than a complete work. Where I was meant to feel sad or annoyed, I felt nothing. I also couldn’t relate to the greasers. Was I truly supposed to sympathize with them or rationalize their various “rumbles”? Every scene was missing the descriptions and requisite tension, making it read like a screenplay rather than a novel.