The Outsiders is a classic young adult (YA) novel about two rival gangs in 1960s Oklahoma, written by the renowned female author S.E. Hinton. Hinton who is credited with introducing the YA genre, wrote the bulk of The Outsiders (her first novel) when she was a junior in high school after receiving a failing grade in her creative class.
More specifically, Hinton began writing The Outsiders in 1965. The book was inspired by two rival gangs at her school, (Will Rogers High School), the Greasers and the Socs and her desire to empathize with the Greasers by writing from their point of view. She wrote the novel when she was 16 and it was published in 1967. Since then, the book has sold more than 14 million copies.
Hinton's publisher suggested she use her initials instead of her feminine given names (Susan Eloise) so that the first male book reviewers would not dismiss the novel because its author was female. After the success of The Outsiders, Hinton chose to continue writing and publishing using her initials because she did not want to lose what she had made famous and to allow her to keep her private and public lives separate.
In 1983 The Outsiders was adapted into a film of the same name. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola it featured a cast of young actors who soon became big names. C.Thomas Howell (Ponyboy), Matt Dillon (Dallas), Ralph Macchio (Johnny), Patrick Swayze (Darry), Rob Lowe (Sodapop), Emilio Estevez (Two-bit) and Tom Cruise (Steve) counted among the greasers. The film premiered with mixed reviews – The New York Times called it “spectacularly out of touch” amd “lauphably earnest”.but it successfully launched the careers of several of its young stars. It became to be considered a classic film of the ‘Brat Pack’ generation of actors.
This online meetup group is set to discuss both Hinton's novel and Coppola's film.
Details:
- Read S.E. Hinton's novel.
- Rent the film using one of the available streaming services and watch it in your own time.
- At 8.00pm EET time the online meeting will start to discuss book & adaptation.
