I recently reread The Outsiders and, I realized I missed a lot.

Submitted by YasnaMutmain16 t3_zx2kiz in books

Like most people on this subreddit, I was forced to read The Outsiders back in grade 7. I know many people in my grade really enjoyed the novel, however, I remembered hating it, my 12-year-old brain couldn't look past its "tough boy leather jacket" reputation. Nearly six years later, I decided to give the book another go, and all I can say is that I missed a lot. First of all, considering that S.E. Hinton was only 16 when she published the book, both the story and style of writing are pretty phenomenal. I can imagine that a novel published by a teenager during a time when classics were the only thing to read must have been super cool.

As for the story itself, the plot is actually pretty sad. Three brothers are recently orphaned by their parents dying in a car crash trying to figure themselves out, like damn. There is also a large focus on the social issues of the time period for example the effects on youth growing up in abusive and low-income homes or the war between economic classes. Another thing I noticed is how young most of the characters are, when I first read The Outsiders, I glossed over details and assumed that the characters were much older. However, the oldest character being the protagonist Ponyboy's eldest brother, Darry, is just 20 years old. For me this puts the story into a new light, I believe throughout most of the story, Darry is relatively villainized. Whilst the truth of the matter is that Darry is a young adult abruptly forced into a parental role, and lives through Ponyboy due to circumstances imposing on his ability to pursue his own goals. As the eldest sibling who grew up in an environment with much fewer opportunities than my younger siblings, I can resonate with Darry.

Overall, it's interesting to see how a YA novel have so much depth.

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serralinda73 t1_j1y5g91 wrote

You should watch the movie - it's really good (and you'll probably recognize a lot of the actors who are hugely popular/famous now but in the movie they are very young).

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BuffyLoo t1_j1yl1px wrote

I remember Matt Dillon being in other Hinton movie adaptations...Rumble Fish and Tex also.

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DestryDanger t1_j1z75my wrote

Same with Mickey Rourke, way back when he had a face.

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BuffyLoo t1_j1zh8f3 wrote

Yes, I recognize every actor that all went on to fame, but were pretty unknown at the time. Weird thing is that C. Thomas Howell was the lead actor and arguably has had the least career success afterwards. I know he had a ruptured appendix that almost killed him but that was sometime later. Also, kinda interesting aside Tom Cruise was slated to play Sodapop, described in the book as the good looking Curtis brother, but he wanted to play Steve, a smaller role.

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OddReputation3765 t1_j1zdee5 wrote

Just don’t watch the extended version. I thought I was watching a different movie

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mareneli t1_j1zlipz wrote

There's not an "extended" version. The original is the one that doesn't match the book. Things happen out of order. Around 20 years ago or so the director went back and re-edited it so that now there is a version that actually matches the book more closely. That one is called Outsiders the Complete Novel. It's better, but it still leaves out all the important stuff.

I'm not a fan of the movie, but I did go to The Outsiders Museum in Tulsa and it was pretty cool.

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OddReputation3765 t1_j1zludd wrote

I watched it a few weeks ago and there is at least an hour of extra footage my entire family has never seen. I never had to watch it in school we rented it on DVD

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mareneli t1_j1zm68y wrote

Huh. I wonder if there's another cut of it. Will look into it.

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OddReputation3765 t1_j1zmcgs wrote

It was extremely rememberable because there’s a scene with pony boy and soda pop laying in bed together shirtless for probably five minutes cuddling.

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mareneli t1_j1zmstw wrote

LOL yeah. I still think you probably saw the complete novel version, which is 22 minutes longer than the original cut.

From Wikipedia: On September 20, 2005, Coppola re-released the film on DVD, including 22 minutes of additional footage and new music, as a 2-disc set called The Outsiders: The Complete Novel. Coppola re-inserted some deleted scenes to make the film more faithful to the book. This brought it up to a 114-minute running time. At the beginning of the film, he added scenes where Ponyboy gets stalked and jumped, the gang talks about going to the movies, Sodapop and Ponyboy talk in their room, and Dally, Pony, and Johnny bum around before going to the movies. In the end, Coppola added the scenes taking place in court, Mr. Syme talking to Ponyboy, and Sodapop, Ponyboy, and Darry in the park.

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OddReputation3765 t1_j1zojyf wrote

Okay that makes so much sense. Myself and entire family sat in silence after it was done and we all had to confirm that we’ve actually seen this movie before 😂

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OddReputation3765 t1_j1zol4q wrote

Also thank you so much for explaining in a nice way 🥺

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mareneli t1_j1zq9i0 wrote

LOL no problem. I'm a middle school teacher and I've taught the novel for 15+ years, which means I have seen the movie over 60 times. 🤣 I'm just a little familiar with it.

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mareneli t1_j1ywwv2 wrote

Darry isn't the villain. It's told in first person from Ponyboy's perspective, and Ponyboy feels that way. The reader should realize (as the other characters do) that Darry only wants what's best for PB but isn't very good at fathering. PB is an unreliable narrator. That's what always amazes me about Hinton -- some of the moments in the book are amazingly sophisticated for such a young writer.

The movie leaves out the best of these moments, as well as Ponyboy's grieving process and most of the other elements with depth. It's a good action flick I guess, but a very superficial take on the story.

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awaywego000 t1_j1zt8jg wrote

This will seem strange to many of you. I grew up in Tulsa and went to school at the same time as S.E. Hinton in Tulsa. I am 84 YO BTW. She was a grade or two behind me. I have never read the book. What I have learned about the book is that much of it is based on real life at that time in that place. From reviews and such I can identify with much of it and know it is close to the truth about things at that time.

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YasnaMutmain16 OP t1_j20qowe wrote

That is so cool to know that book was true to it’s period! I was unsure since a lot of interactions and the lifestyles seemed quite “stereotypical” I’m glad it’s fairly realistic haha.

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awaywego000 t1_j20wms1 wrote

It is. I didn't belong. I was always under peer pressure to be a "soc" or a "greaser". I refused to be either so I was a complete loner. A lot of people thought I was stuck up but that was not true.

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SinisterCuttleFish t1_j1yhf6d wrote

Have you read the other books? The Outsiders remains the best IMO but the others are worth a read.

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tmgieger t1_j20guoc wrote

Other books by the same author? Would you suggest them in any particular order?

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aerde17 t1_j20u2h3 wrote

"that was then, this is now" is also really good. but the outsiders has been one of my favorite books since I first read it in middle school (23 now) so maybe I'm a little biased towards Hinton

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TemperatureDizzy3257 t1_j1z2iyk wrote

I remember reading it in 7th grade too, and I also had a hard time getting past the tough-boy things. For some reason, I remember the names of the characters really bothering and distracting me (I couldn’t figure out why their names were sodapop and ponyboy).

It really is a good book though. Maybe it should be read later in high school instead of middle school because I think it goes over a lot of kids’ heads.

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Ineffable7980x t1_j1yz9sw wrote

When I was in middle school in the late 70s, this book was all the rage, but for some reason I never read it. Then, 2 years ago, I listened to the audiobook from my library, and I was pleasantly surprised at how engaging and complex this book is. And it stands up quite well considering it is 50+ years old.

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Rusalka-rusalka t1_j1z08y3 wrote

Oh wow, I should reread this too! I totally didn’t get anything out of it when I was younger, but I’m sure I will now. Thanks for this post!

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Tamponica t1_j20y04v wrote

At age 13 I slept with my paperback copy under my pillow and have read The Outsiders multiple times since then :-)

But yeah, the escalating tensions between Pony and Darrel weren't fleshed out in any particularly sophisticated way by the author (adult voice speaking here, lol). I thought the sub plot toward the end involving Soda, the invisible middle kid, suddenly bolting from the dinner table was more interesting but, eh, I'm a middle kid.

Although my 13 yr. old self LOVED The Outsiders I have to confess to having spent about a week afterward being depressed about being a girl. Cherry's character should've been fleshed out more, so take that as my only real criticism.

Stay Gold :-)

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elizabeth-cooper t1_j1z8gc0 wrote

I read it in 8th grade and loved it. Cried when >!Johnny died!<.

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Deathbycheddar t1_j1zcmcd wrote

I read it as at twelve as well but it really spoke to me even as a middle class girl in the suburbs. So much so that I have two tattoos inspired by the book/movie.

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an_imperfect_lady t1_j221wym wrote

When I read it as an adult, the first thing I noticed is how many times Darry shoves his fists into his pockets. He's doing his best to hide his emotions. And of course, Pony is a very unreliable narrator when it comes to Darry.

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Vast_Reflection t1_j1zo1g0 wrote

I had to read it in 7th grade and they showed us the movie as well. Then I went on to read her other books. Unfortunately, most of the ones I read of hers after that pretty much followed the same plot lines and so it started to feel formulaic. But the Outsiders is definitely a great book!

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SonnyCalzone t1_j20bzmn wrote

It's not a tale that I plan to revisit anytime soon, but it was an important part of my growing up during the early 1980s when I was still in junior high. I remember the film adaptation more than I remember the book, partly because the film was a real Who's Who of young-and-soon-to-be-popular actors at the time.

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IAmBeachCities t1_j22rybo wrote

I really fucking loved "Tex" as a kid

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MaeClementine t1_j260vqk wrote

I reread The Outsiders this year, for the first time since becoming much older than Darry and a parent myself. It does hit different. I connected with him as a character much more than I ever had before.

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OptimalAd204 t1_j22eut0 wrote

I'm convinced the book was written by someone that heard of boys but never actually met one.

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tmgieger t1_j20hi3b wrote

What part of the country has 12-year old reading The Outsiders in 2016? My public school in US, VA, in the 90's had to get special permission for kids to read & watch The Scarlett Letter because it discussed s-e-x. Can't imagine The Outsiders would have been allowed. I think it is great though.

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smallpaperbirds t1_j20paus wrote

I teach it every year in MA. We do a bunch of background beforehand with a digital scavenger hunt about the 60s, the author, greasers, etc . The kids get really jazzed when they find out it’s been banned or challenged in some school districts. Gets even more buy in. I’ve never one parent had push back ob this book, most of them have read it themselves and loved it. They bond with their kids while we read it.

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YasnaMutmain16 OP t1_j20kzh0 wrote

Actually it was 2017, and in Canada. I do remember we did have to get a permission slip to watch the film though.

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tmgieger t1_j20ma8o wrote

Interesting. Do you know if Canada has the same push for banning books in public schools & libraries, like Precious, GenderQueer, or The Bluest Eye. There is always an obnoxious group at school board meetings screaming about it.

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YasnaMutmain16 OP t1_j20q41b wrote

Definitely not. I know there is some hesitation on books regarding some issues but it’s much less common compared to the states. We also read a lot of controversial book according to you guys like The Giver, The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, 1984, Brave New World, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Things They Carried, The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, Othello, and even the Marrow Thieves.

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-firead- t1_j20ncxm wrote

My son just read it this year in 7th grade, in a fairly conservative part of North Carolina. I read it when I was in 9th or 10th grade, but checked out from the library and not an assigned book.

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tmgieger t1_j20o4vw wrote

Did he have any thoughts on it? I do know 7th grade boys are famous for "I don't know" as a response to anything.

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an_imperfect_lady t1_j2229cq wrote

I taught it in Los Angeles to 7th-8th graders from 2009-2016. It wasn't a problem. Most of the kids seemed to like it.

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OneofLittleHarmony t1_j20ci16 wrote

> some of the moments in the book are amazingly sophisticated for such a young writer.

It seems to weird to me that many people here mention the author’s age at the time of writing. It strikes me the wrong way. I’m sure you mean well, but it seems like there is some presumption that 16 year olds somehow are not able to write well? I know from personal experience I had the bulk of my education in literature by then and better recall over what I had learned than I do now.

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YasnaMutmain16 OP t1_j20r6ah wrote

I think that has to do with today’s culture, cringy fan fiction written by teenagers makes it hard to believe when a good piece of writing is written lol.

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[deleted] t1_j1zmbwf wrote

Are you guys talking about Stephen King novel?

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