The Next Best Book Club discussion

Hi everyone! Happy September. This month's theme is "Banned Books / Books We Read in High School.

Carol will be handling the discussion so I'll let her take it from here!

All, believe it or not, (a) it's already SEPTEMBER! and (b) my library owns 20 copies of The Outsiders and yet I am 6th on the wait list for it. I've read S.E. Hinton's second novel, That Was Then, This is Now, several times but haven't gotten around to reading The Outsiders and am so looking forward to this group read. In the meantime, here's some background on it and its author, S.E. Hinton.
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Susan Eloise Hinton was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Outsiders, her first novel, was published in 1967. At the time it was published, there was no "young adult" market. I am old enough to recall what was available in 1970 or so in terms of novels written for and that resonated with teens and it was pretty much whatever Scholastic printed, Go Ask Alice and books about teen romance and unplanned pregnancy. Then Hinton came along in 1971 or so with That Was Then, This Is Now, and it was a game-changer. It wouldn't have happened without The Outsiders, though. Here's a great article I found on Hinton's impact on YA and the debate about YA, generally.

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cult...

Have you started The Outsiders? What do you think so far? Is it your first time reading it or is it a re-read for you?

Would you believe I was never assigned this in school and have yet to read it?

Carol wrote: "All, believe it or not, (a) it's already SEPTEMBER! and (b) my library owns 20 copies of The Outsiders and yet I am 6th on the wait list for it..."

I'm not surprised there is a wait list. With the 50th anniversary of the book a year off, many libraries, book stores and communities have been sponsoring group reads of the book over the last couple years, renewing its popularity across multiple generations.

I read The Outsiders a few times during middle and high school, as well as other books by the author: Tex, Rumble Fish, and That Was Then, This Is Now. I stumbled across Hawkes Harbor back in 2005 and snapped it up based on memories of liking other books by the author. It was not at all what I expected, and while it was an okay read, it was not near as good as her earlier works for teens.

i haven't read the Outsiders recently, but I remember it was one of the few books from high school that I found ok (aka, i didn't want to jab my eyes out with a hot poker while reading - cough - like lord of the flies) - the movie adaption is pretty solid as well

I too read it in High School but wasn't aware of the movie adaptation. I will have to look into watching that.

The movie was out in 1983 , and as Dee said, it's a good adaptation. The cast includes C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, Rob Low, Tom Cruise and Emilio Estevez -- your basic 80's Brat Pack.

For Me , it would be a reread.I read again about a year or two ago, as an adult. When I read it as a kid, every girl had a copy of this book,in her handbag.It was an universal favourite.

I never read it in high school - Never saw the movie, either, but did read it a couple of years ago.

We've got a great combination of new readers and re-readers participating. Marking spoilers probably makes sense, if you can.

Thoughts after the first 3 chapters?

This was my all time favorite book growing up. I think I was in 6th grade the first time I read it. My first copy actually fell apart from reading it so many times. I did a book report on it 6th through 9th grade. At that point I pretty much had it memorized. I have re-read it once or twice in adulthood. School librarians now would consider this a middle school coming of age book for the most part. I also own the movie. I will try and participate in the conversation and hunt down my copy sometime this week and re-read again.

Love the opening line:
'When I left the theater, I had two things on my mind, Paul Newman and a ride home.' (More or less, I think.)

I think it might also be point in the story where Ponyboy realises he isn't as different from the two girls as he's been taught to believe.Jonny and Ponyboy are sitting there conversing with their rivals(the two girls)and bridging the gap.

True

I read this for the first time in 6th grade and then over and over again-I can't even count how many times. The movie came out when I was in 5th grade ( I think) so I saw it not long after reading the book. At first I wasn't crazy about it since some of the actors didn't really fit how I pictured the characters (with the exception of a young Rob Lowe as Soda, I mean, how perfect can you get?) but I eventually came to love it. I get so nostalgic just thinking about both the book and movie! My sister and I used to say "Do it for Johnny man!" all the time (even when it made no sense) and I have a friend who signs cards "Stay Gold!" I have to dig up my copy and re-read it.

I also read "That Was Then, This is Now," "Tex," and "Rumblefish." Other than The Outsiders, That was Then was my favorite but I read them all multiple times.

It's a first novel by a teenage girl, so it will have moments in it where she's trying to decide what direction she wants the plot to go.She was only in her mid to late teens when she had published.

i also wonder how much of the dialogue mix-up was intentional to develop a character

I think it is fun to read, not sure if I've read this before. I Think it is interesting that the (spoilers) brothers are basically parentless. When you think about it that is kind of extreme. I liked the the depictions of the gang, and even the parts that were sort of ... made you a little nervous at first, were really kind funny once you got into it.

I was a little confused at first with the drive through movie scene. Was it Dally that was trying to pick up the girls? I initially had it Darry, but I guess the names are so similar it is easy to be confused.
Dally made more sense anyway. This is the only part that was a little confusing to me, I think the writing actually did a good job of sounding like the narrarator character Ponyboy was an adolescent. Sort of finding his voice.

I read the book already so anyone reading these may be aware of spoilers.
What did you guys think of the Socs? Do you think there Tough guy attitude was over the top? How about the greasers? were they really tuff did you think? How did you feel about the climactic points, they are mostly towards middle and end, but anyone who wants to talk about these parts, I think it is interesting. Who do you think was the real hero of the story?

In my opinion, one of the best things about the novel is also one of its major faults. It is written in the genuine voice of a teenager – emotional reaction supersedes rational thought. The characters see only a small portion of the puzzle and plunge headlong into the fray before considering consequences or other possible interpretations of the facts. Still, Hinton did manage to include a true “coming of age” epiphany at the end; a realization that things are not destined to stay the same; adults are not always the enemy, “nice boys” can be cruel and hoodlums can become heroes.

My Review HERE

I also read this book in my youth. Very good, timeless read.

Re-reading this as an adult has made me realize that Hinton wrote teenage boys the way a teenage girl would imagine them. I don't think most teenage boys, even brothers, sleep snuggled up together, tell each other they're good looking, and call each other baby. None of this is taking away from the enduring love I have for the book but it's making me realize why I loved it so much as a preteen/teen. These tough boys are so sensitive and loving towards each other, what girl wouldn't eat that up!

Joanie wrote: "Re-reading this as an adult has made me realize that Hinton wrote teenage boys the way a teenage girl would imagine them. I don't think most teenage boys, even brothers, sleep snuggled up together,..."

I completely agree and relate to this. Her boys are emotionally vulnerable. the toughness is a facade. Would that were true in real life for 14 - 16 year olds.

This book was told from an adolescent point of view. I think that the concept of moving from child to adult can be seen by the world that the teenage boys have made. Like children who are making up worlds constantly to live in in there imagination. So the running away creating adventures and mischievousness is a part of this age groups world. Of course I think there is a bit of reality in works of fiction also.

I thought that the relationship between Darry and Ponyboy was sort of interesting. I think it is typical of siblings, to have a love/discordant relationship. I felt like Darry really did love Ponyboy even though he acted like he didn't want him around. It was pretty rocking at times, but I could understand both brothers as they were both really young. Soda POP, was the middle brother, and for him, it was torture being privy to their arguments. The scene when he expresses this is really touching because he tells them that it is impossible for him to take sides agains either of them, and that they are hurting him by putting him into this position.

"I don't think most teenage boys even brothers, sleep snuggled up together...."

No maybe not, you never know when a family has been through a lot together, sometimes ...... but more naturally, I think of teenage boys eating Chocolate cake for breakfast, taking pride in their hair, and playing football in the backyard. I sort of started thinking of all the greasers as brothers. They formed natural pairs, like Poneyboy and Johnny, Two-bit.

Hi everyone! I want to thank Carol for leading the discussion this past month, she did a great job!!!