A review by wuthrinheights
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I could picture hundreds and hundreds of boys living on the wrong sides of cities, boys with black eyes who jumped at their own shadows. Hundreds of boys who maybe watched sunsets and looked at stars and ached for something better. I could see boys going down under street lights because they were mean and tough and hated the world, and it was too late to tell them that there was still good in it, and they wouldn't believe you if you did. It was too vast a problem to be just a personal thing. There should be some help, someone should tell them before it was too late. Someone should tell their side of the story, and maybe people would understand then and wouldn't be so quick to judge a boy by the amount of hair oil he wore. It was important to me.

I found out about this book while going through an old friend's reading update. I was lucky when I stumbled upon a copy at a thrift store. I couldn't wait to read it, even if I wasn't quite sure what it has in store. I'm not usually a fan of reading about brawls and gangs but Ponyboy's quiet and sensitive voice pulled me in, and by the second half of it, I couldn't put it down.

Ponyboy's narration reminded me heavily of Holden Caulfield. Childlike and always wondering. To look at people through sketches in their brains. He was growing and he wanted so desperately to fit in, and to understand how people fit in, even if it made little sense. 

Reading this book from his POV made me so sad. He was living in a world of people with spikes and edges, while he was born with clouds for insides. He's a dreamer, a reader, a sunset watcher. He found beauty in the mundane and hated how he has to act all rough when all he wanted was to feel safe.

By the end of it, I was invested. The love they had for each other was so raw, it made me ache. I didn't expect to enjoy it so much but I'm really glad I picked it up. Now maybe I should start reading happier books to get rid of this awful heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach.