Reviewed by Rubyjuby

A tale of disaffected youth, ‘the Outsiders’ is a poignant read, made all the more powerful by the age of its author, 17 year old S.E Hinton.

The novel tells the story of the rivalry between two gangs the Greasers and the Socs, as seen through the eyes of Ponyboy, a 13 year old Greaser. The two groups are distinguished simply by their backgrounds, with the Socs being the rich kids in town and the Greasers ‘the hoods’ or ‘JDs’ as they are known. As violence between the gangs escalates we discover that one thing which Ponyboy shares with a number of both friends and rivals is a desire to break away from a world where people are defined by their affiliations or backgrounds. We also learn that the violence of the gangs can be associated with either a lack of adult influence, in the case of the Greasers, or an excess of parental attention, as in the case of the Socs, which conjures up images of Burgess’ ‘A Clockwork Orange’.

‘The Outsiders’ is a must read, especially for those interested in novels with similar themes of the disaffection and violence of youth, such as ‘Brighton Rock’ and ‘A Clockwork Orange’.

http://www.blogapenguinclassic.co.uk/site/pcReadReview.php5?review_id=50