Outsiders-out of date, but eh?

The Outsiders was a good read, but a little too “classic” and out of date for the current generation, in my opinion. While it still stands as one of the first novels specifically for young adult, it really leaves the modern-day reader wanting. The characters, while developed, were never “whole” people in my eyes, especially the narrator. He regularly bored me with his way of speaking to us, and I just couldn’t relate (which is probably because I’m not a teenage boy back in the day). I don’t know about sharing this book with my students. I think they would find it uninteresting, and would rather read some of the newer young adult novels that were written to capture their attention and hold it. In my oh-so-humble opinion, I really think the only good part of the book is the realization at the end of how he was affecting everyone around him, rather than solely concentrating on how everyone was affecting him. It’s very true that adolescences have a narrow world view, and perhaps reading a book in which the narrator shows how to think about others would prove very valuable. But, I guess that’s only IF the students get to the end!