Book Review

I really enjoyed reading this book, and thats saying alot. Normally I would rather stare at a wall and do nothing than read but I couldn't stop reading this book. I think I read the howl thing in 4 sittings. Once I started I couldn't stop.

The Outsiders is a story of struggle and survival in a time of need. The Greasers have it rough, really rough. They live in a bad neighbourhood and they don't have very much money either. They fight and steel for everything they have and most of them share a common dream. They want to live normal lives. Start a familly, get a good job and not have to worry about getting beaten half to death day after day. The story takes place in 1967 in Arkensaws. The city has been devided into two halfs. The east side, which is really poor, and the west side which is very rich and a nice area. Theres gangs all around, but the only ones who have problems with anyone are the Socs. The Socs are rich kids. I don't like them at all. They take advantage of what they have and look down on anyone thats not like they are.

The book begins when Ponyboy(the main charecter) exits a movie theater. On his walk back home he gets jumped by Socs and thats where the story begins. The battle has began but the war is far from over. People die, and come together in bad times and get through them.

I really enjoyed this book over all. Its a good book for a teenage boy forsure. Theres lots of action and its also suspenseful too. When the book got really intense I would get goosebumps. Also it relates to people to. Things that go on in the book also happen to me every day and I kind of liked that. The Outsiders is number one in my mind. I would give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Blog#12

I think that reading the Outsiders has taught me some things that I didnt know before. One thing it taught me is if I ever move to city, which I plan on doing I shold watch my back. Don't trust anyone, keep your doors locked, and stay out of alleyways and gang turf. But then again I wont be a teenager, Ill be an adault and adaults tend not to get involved with that sort of stuff. I would just have to watch for robbers and theifs, as well as vandles. If I had stairs leading to a window in my apartment, like on most I would put metal bars over the window, kind of like they do at a jail. But not only has it taught me to not be so nieve, but its taught me the value of friends and just how powerfull friendship really is. The gang is all those boys have. They stick together, look out for eachother care for eachother unconditionally. Friends like that are hard to come by. Most kids look out for themselfs and couldn't give a damn about anyone else. Those people are a dime a dozen. The Greasers look out for eachother, if one is in trouble they all help out any way that they can. Also Ive learned that good things can come from bad things, and its what you make of that situation that makes it turn out the way it does. When Johny and Ponyboy were stuck inside the church they were able to talk to eachother and help eachother cope with what went on because they both were going through it. Some kids say that they have your back and stuff like that but only 1% of those people actrually mean it.

Blog#11

One of the strongest mesages that I got from the book was how racism is around lots of places and nobody benefits from it. If you think about we're all the same race. we're all Humans and I don't know why everyone else doesn't think like that. In the Outsiders the Socs hate the Greasers. They think of them as scum and trash. The Socs and the Greasers. There both different types of people I guess you could say or different groups of poeple but they still fight. Thats what rasism is to me. People discriminating againts people. Some people feel the need to hate on others for some reason. A religous man would say that its Gods great plan for everyone. I say its boulderdash. I mean what are these people fighting for really. Its usually over something compleatly stupid, or someones threatning to bomb another country. People are fighting over land and territory. I think you should be happy with the country you got. If you don't like it then move out hypacrit. I dont think that racism will ever stop, as bad as that sounds but it wont go away. It gets passed down from parents to kids from kids to friends and so on. Even animals can pick up on that too. People have faught over that since the begining of time and will until the end.

Blog#10

I don't think that violence solves anything, but sometimes you have to fight for whats right. Some people may think that I am a nut for saying this but I think that its true. When someone doesn't give you the respect and the rights that any person deserves (exept really bad people) I think thats a pretty good reason to stand your ground. I used to get bullied when I was younger and my dad told me if someone pushes you around you stand up for yourself and they wont do it again. So when I when I went back to school the boy pushed me, his name was Troy, I turned around and punched him in the gut and knocked the wind out of him and he cried in front of everyone. He couldn't look me in the eye after that. What would happen if nobody had tried to stop the Nazi's, we would be in trouble. So I can see why the Greasers did what they had to do. After being jumped by Socs in there own territory day in and day out they decided they had enough. The Greasers just wanted to be able to go around without having to watch there back every 5 seconds or so and I don't blame them Either. Thats not how I would want to live.

Blog#9

Loosing someone you care for is hard. You can't go through life without loosing someone you care for, and if you do chances are there was nobody there to begin with or you have no soul. The only person that I have lost that meant alot to me was my grandpa, or as we call him Pappy. When I found out that he had died I was pretty sad, but also in denial. It didn't hit me until I saw his body at the funeral house but it wasn't pappy, it looked nothing like him. His skin was pale and his face was like stone. For Ponyboy, and all the Greasers for that matter loosing Johny was like loosing a brother, and a damn good one to. Even I was sad when Johny died and hes a fictional charecter. Just as soon as him and Ponyboy really become like brothers its all taken away in the blink of an eye. I think the hardest part for Ponyboy was that he watched his friend slowley die. He knew it was coming sooner than later and theres nothing he could do. Thats what would really tear me up is knowing someone I care for is dying and there is not a thing in the world that I could do. Everyone expeirences losses but nobody deserves a loss like that.

Blog#8

Living at home is pretty great I must say. Free meals, good company and hot showers I defanitly can't complain. To have to run away from home would be one of the hardest things ever. When im 18 or 19 I'll be old enough to live on my own but I don't think I am ready now. For Ponyboy and Johny to run away was probably the hardest thing they have ever done, not to mention they were wanted for murder. Even though they were gone for only a week and a half I could only begin to immagin how crapy it would be. They got a gun ad 50 dollers and stayed in an old run down dirty church. They had nothing to do to pass the time exept smoke and read, which isn't bad once and a while but I would kill myself before the ciggarets did. I think staying up in the church really made there friendship alot stronger. They really relied on eachother for support and had nobody else to turn to. They were the only ones who knew how eachother felt because they were in the same boat. I hope that I never half to run away from home and live in a stink hole, thats not how I would want to become good friends with someone, and I don't think thats how they wanted to do things either.

Blog#6

Just because someone is in a certain group of friends doesn't mean that there like the poeple they hang out with. If your a Greaser society labels you trash and thats bull crap. Sure some of them are real bad apples like Dallas but not all of them. They contribute to society like most people. Most have jobs, or go to school. I wasn't to suprised to see that Ponyboy and Johny saved those kids. A couple of hoods save 5 young children from a raging fire. That takes guts. I can Honestly say that I wouldn't know what to do in that kind of situation. I don't think that I have ever been in a situation like that in my life. I have stopped people form fighting and things like that, one time I saw some jerk fighting with an old woman and I told him to take a hike But thats about it. When I get in trouble for something im usually good at keeping my mouth shut but Ive never pulled someone out of a blazing inferno. I think that if someone I knew was in trouble I would defanitly help them out but I wouldn't run into a fire, its like walking into a flaming death trap and theres a good chance that theres nobody in there anyways.