S E Hinton was in her teens when The Outsiders was written and published. This is why the voice is so authentic and why there are few adults in the story, which takes place in the violent world of greasers (poor kids from the East side) v. the Socs (wealthy kids from the West side). As far as I can tell from the story, the gangs are white. Their differences are in the way they dress and their socio-economic backgrounds, but as the boys find when they talk to each other as regular guys, not as rival gang members, they are very alike. The greasers are the ‘outsiders’, taking pride in their toughness and in their long hair. It is very much a male-centred story, with only one ‘broad’ having a major role and a few with minor roles. The story is told by Ponyboy Curtis, who lives with his older brothers Soda and Darry. His existence revolves around cigarettes, knives, rumbles (fights), cars, loyalty and drive-in movies. He also likes books and sunsets. He doesn’t want to be involved in violent crime but can’t see a way out. When he and his friend Johnny are attacked by Socs, a chain of events is kickstarted which has a profound effect on Ponyboy and might even change the course of his life.
The book shows some influence from The Catcher in the Rye and West Side Story, while it pre-dates the musical Grease by a few years. It has been influential and is still popular today. I vaguely remember reading an extract of it for English class, but despite reading a lot of YA fiction during my teenage years, I never encountered the whole book, until I discovered it in a charity shop for 40p and read it in 2017. I’ve now re-read it and am frankly amazed at the author’s achievement. The book has plot, pace, personalities, a strong sense of place, a compelling narrative voice and deeper meanings. The writing isn’t perfect and there are a lot of repeated words (the most over-used is probably ‘grinned’) but I think that’s what makes the narration believable, because at the end you find out that the novel you’ve just read was written by Ponyboy himself.
First published in 1967. This edition by Puffin Modern Classics, 2003, with an introduction by Julia Eccleshare. There is an inscription on the front endpaper: ‘For Jacob, With love, Mum & Dad Christmas ’05’.
I loved this book, the film and the Brat Pack (that probably goes without saying).
Stay gold, Ponyboy, stay gold.
It’s wonderful 🙂 I have a ‘film of the book’ post coming up.
I’m looking forward to it already 🙂