but I really disliked The Outsiders. Like, disdain is not too strong of a word for me to apply to it. In many ways, it was like reading Catcher in the Rye for me (in that I hated them both for more or less the same reasons). In Catcher it was really Holden that ruined it for me. I found him incredibly obnoxious. The characters in The Outsiders were, I guess, at least kind of interesting. Maybe I'm a bad person (haha). Or maybe I just don't get it. Or maybe I just shouldn't read slice of life/coming of age stories. I'm not sure, but I really disliked it. I've read plenty of books that I haven't particularly enjoyed, but nothing has ignited the feelings within me that these two novels have. I mean, I actively hated it throughout the entire novel. Maybe someone just needs to explain it to me. I'm willing to listen to anyone who wants to try...
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Maybe it's because I'm not a 13 year old boy...
but I really disliked The Outsiders. Like, disdain is not too strong of a word for me to apply to it. In many ways, it was like reading Catcher in the Rye for me (in that I hated them both for more or less the same reasons). In Catcher it was really Holden that ruined it for me. I found him incredibly obnoxious. The characters in The Outsiders were, I guess, at least kind of interesting. Maybe I'm a bad person (haha). Or maybe I just don't get it. Or maybe I just shouldn't read slice of life/coming of age stories. I'm not sure, but I really disliked it. I've read plenty of books that I haven't particularly enjoyed, but nothing has ignited the feelings within me that these two novels have. I mean, I actively hated it throughout the entire novel. Maybe someone just needs to explain it to me. I'm willing to listen to anyone who wants to try...
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If you don't like it, that's that. Nothing to explain I think. I'm really curious why you didn't like it though - and you can't say you just didn't, that's student talk and it should be discouraged! Anna wrote a great post about why she liked the book, maybe check that out for another perspective. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteYou can't say that if I didn't like it that's all there is to it and then tell me that I can't say it myself! Haha Anywho...I did read her post this morning. I just don't buy into it. I give Hinton kuddos for being published so young, but that's where it ends. I guess I just found both novels shallow and predictable...
ReplyDeleteOk, so I just finished a really long-winded post regarding your reaction to the book as a knife to thy heart, yet for some reason it appears to have gone the way of the dodo. Argh. I'm not going to bother to try to retype it, but...we're gonna have to agree to disagree on this one. I respect your opinion (it's cool that we differ so much response wise, as it wonderfully illustrates the role the audience plays when it comes to narrative interpretation) but I have to admit, kiddo, that the last word I'd use to describe "The Outsiders" is shallow. I would, instead, describe it as raw, heartfelt, and true. Feel free to check out my blog post for further elaboration. Were we teach in the same school someday, maybe we could stage a debate! :)
DeleteI have to be honest. I remember that I read it as a younger student, but I couldn't remember what it was about. After reading it last week, I figured out why I didn't remember: there's barely anything memorable about it. I agree with you on this. It might be a "classic" and great at the time, but nowadays, this book leaves the reader wanting. It's boring, dry, and basically unmentionable. It was only a week ago that I read it, but I'm already having trouble remembering what the book was about... I guess it was about youth and coming of age, but I didn't see any characters actually develop, or change. Part of the problem, in my opinion, is that the characters were really never known to me from the start; they were just pawns without much depth.
ReplyDeleteYour post was music to my...eyes? You did an incredible job of articulating what I did not. This is what I meant when I said that I found the novel shallow. In a "coming of age" novel I expect some serious character development, but there really was none. It was almost more of a "slice of life" type novel; if you know what I mean. Like...here are some guys...this is their life...watch them do their thing for awhile...the end. The ending seemed to be a failed attempt at being profound. It was almost gaudy. Like a neon sign flashing "look this kid is now able to reflect on his life and how generally messed up it is"...only not really. Because he's kind of just telling a story. That's all the book really was. Some kid telling you a story about his messed up life. I mean...in the end the idea is that the story we just read is what he submitted for his essay and that's exactly what it comes off as. Not an enduring tale...just a story that some kid told.
DeleteHmm, and you hated 'Moby Dick', too? Maybe you could give me a list of the books you hate so I can check them out...
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, I think you might be right about the 'not being a thirteen year old boy' thing. The more I think about the book (which I really enjoyed), the more I suspect it might just be good at pushing all my sentimental buttons. I felt I could really relate to some of these characters, and it touched off some sort of nostalgia for the innocence of youth and yadda yadda. I still like it, but now I'm thinking more about the lack of female characters in the book. There are only a couple girls in the story, and they are pretty flat characters compared to the boys. Being a guy, of course, I didn't really pay any attention to this detail as I was reading it, but concentrated on who the boys reminded me of and how their reactions reminded me of how I might have felt had I been in similar circumstances. I confess that I did get a little sick of seeing how often these boys cried, though. It started to seem like author shorthand for 'and great emotion was felt by all'. A little distracting, but I ignored it because I was enjoying the book. I rationalized it to myself by thinking that if I was a sixteen year old writing a novel I might lack the words necessary to convey the emotions sometimes, too.
There is also the fact that this book has spawned so many mediocre imitations over the years that the whole genre is sort of cliched now. Or it could just be a matter of taste. I know that when I hate a book I hate everything about it. Even the stuff that isn't so bad is terrible because it highlights how awful the bad stuff is. (Don't even get me started on those damn Harry Potter books!)
I just hope you find more joy in the rest of the books you get to read. I know you've sold me on trying that book with the goldfish jumping out of the bowl on the cover. I'll let you know if I love it as much as you did.
Hahaha That's hilarious. As far as I know, those are the only two I have. No others have stirred the same emotions in me; annoyance, probably, being the most prevalent.
DeleteI think you bring up a good point in saying that "it might just be good at pushing all my sentimental buttons". I'm sure there are plenty of novels and/or movies and/or songs that are, if I really thought about it, subpar yet seem fantastic to me because of some sentimental attachment or empathetic connection I made when I first was introduced to it.
Ditto for you last note about Hinton's age. Like I said before, I give the girl props for being published that young. The more I think about it the more it make sense. Really, what should or can I expect from a novel that is written as the narrative essay of a 14 year old boy by a 16 year old girl? Not to downplay the talents and potentials of young writers. I guess I just shouldn't be surprised that it sounds exactly like what it is. Haha Does that make sense? I guess I just expected more from it.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the books I have read thus far. I just finished Thirteen Reasons Why today, though, and while it was generally pretty interesting, I was a little disappointed with the end. YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY READ OUT OF MY MIND! It's so good. So. Good. It's the novel I've chosen to do my book trailer on. I'm pretty excited about it. Emily currently has the copy I got from the public library, but once she's done with it you're welcome to borrow it if you would like.
I lied. Jane Eyre. Ugh. The worst. Maybe it really is just a matter of taste and I should avoid the entire coming of age/bildungsroman genre.
DeleteJane Eyre! Blasphemy!
DeleteActually, that thing bored the snot out of me too. Common ground at last...