Rumble Fish

So this weekend I read RUMBLE FISH by S.E. Hinton. Hinton is the author of my second favorite book of all time THE OUTSIDERS. It was a short read (it's a book for teens) but was actually pretty good. This kid, Rusty-James is a typical Hinton thug--he lives a depressing, colorless life of poverty. He has no future, his past is a painful memory he only wants to forget. Again, typical Hinton. I love the crazy names she gives her characters (Rusty-James idolizes his older brother who is called simply "The Motorcycle Boy"). Her and Pynchon have THE best character names ("Meatball Mulligan"...a Pynchon character name is probably the single greatest name in all of literature...second only to "Soda Pop" and "Ponyboy" from THE OUTSIDERS).

Currently I'm reading her latest book, HAWKES HARBOR...I'm glad I didn't buy it because already I can tell it's not going to be very good. This is her first attempt at writing a real "adult" book. Gone are the teenage thugs and grimy back alleys of Oklahoma. Instead it's some sort of Vampire/thriller. The cover has an endorsement from R.L. Stine (creator of the GOOSEBUMPS series that were popular back when I was cutting my teeth on books). So yeah...if that doesn't tell you anything I don't know...maybe you need a big, pink neon sign that says "Crap."

It's too bad too, I was really looking forward to reading this thing. Hinton is an amazing writer. She wrote her first (and best) novel before she was out of High School. Over the years she's managed to churn out a series of interconnected novels for teens that depict a very satisfying (emotionally) world. There is something about the hopelessness her characters dwell in. I remember reading THE OUTSIDERS for the first time back in eighth grade...I couldn't imagine living like the Curtis boys. They live outside of mainstream society...outcasts...they're free in ways that I will never be, could never be. And yet, at the same time they are all trapped. The boys of Hinton's world have no future. There is no college for them. No high pressure, high paying job. No fancy cars or dream houses. The only thing they have to look forward to is an early grave. Until that time I couldn't imagine not going to college. It seemed to be the ultimate death sentence. At the time that was all I was hearing from my parents, my teachers, my friends..."college, college, college." Hinton's characters weren't only NOT going to college--most of them didn't even finish High School.

Despite living outside of society, her characters are not entirely "lawless." They live in a very strictly organized, pecking-order. The gangs and social classes that populate her world are just as complex as the world the members shun. Despite taking place in the late '60s and early '70s her books are pretty timeless. They have a magic quality about them...like they have happened, will happen, and are happening right at this very moment.

I don't re-read books very often, but when I fall in love with a book (and that's what it is...it's love) I will read the shit out a book. My all time most read books, ever:

THE HOBBIT
THE OUTSIDERS
THE GREAT GATSBY (have to re-read it for my fiction class next week)
THE CATCHER IN THE RYE
OF MICE AND MEN

I wish I knew what it was exactly that make these books so important to me. I think all of them have great characters. They feel real and I sympathize with them, I see myself (my life) in there stories. All of them are about losers and loners, too. I think that's interesting. I used to have Dicken's GREAT EXPECTATIONS in that list, but I tired to re-read it last year and couldn't get through it. What books do you read and read over again? Why do you do it? If you could only read one book, for the rest of you life...what book would it be?