I just finished reading the book one in the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy by E.L. James. I am just torn on what to think about this book…
On the real, the writing was not all that. The characters lacked the sort of depth necessary to carry a trilogy. This book is a cheap thrill full of hot sex and lover’s quarrels. I have read much better books. None of them had the descriptive sex scenes of hinting at the BDSM lifestyle like this book does.
This is erotic fiction, with a big twist. The main character is a 21 year old virgin woman who meets a Dom male she can’t stay away from. He can’t stay away from her either. The book’s erotic scenes were very hot. They were hot in an un-vanilla kind of way. They were erotic and involved spanking and some bondage. I enjoyed them thoroughly. That is not what is so disturbing about this book. The disturbing part is how the Dom became interested in the BDSM lifestyle. The Dom is fifty shades of fucked up. Assuming this is how or maybe the only reason someone might be interested in this lifestyle is unspoken. It is hinted about throughout the book. What exactly was she thinking when she made the male character so fucking fragile? Is the author pro or anti lifestyle? Needless to say I am almost shocked this book is even on the best seller list. I so torn on this book.
Do I support this book? It is hot and brings to light a very sexy lifestyle that I think needs to be more mainstream. I loved the dissection of “the contract”. I know some couple’s have them. I doubt they go to the extent the book does, but it is laying out the lifestyle for people who have no idea. I get it.
Do I shun the book? I think this author is trying to say that you have to have had some sort of trauma to choose a BDSM lifestyle. This is bad, very bad. That makes me want to hate the author. A person’s turn-ons are very personal. I know you could love the BDSM lifestyle without having been traumatized. This sort of thinking drives the lifestyle further into the shadows. Kink does not equal crazy…period.
I would love to hear your thoughts.
I have not read the book as yet but for what I have heard I would have to agree with your review especially with regards the connection between trauma and a liking for BDSM. It is one of my real pet hates, that all submissives are submissive because they were previously abused or raped. I am a submissive woman and I have been abused or rape.
On an addition note you might be interested on my piece I wrote as a result of the media coverage if female submission in the light of the publication of this book
http://mollysdailykiss.com/2012/04/18/fifty-shades-of-me/
Mollyxxx
Molly would like you read..Alley Cat
How has Fifty Shades of Grey been received in the BDSM community?…
I was disturbed by the implications of this sort of writing. Is it meant to drive BDSM back into the closet? What if this is someone’s first glimpse… http://kissinbluekaren.com/2012/04/30/fifty-shades-of-gray/ ~Karen Blue…
This book was more focused on why a Dom becomes a Dom… but the idea is the same. If I enjoy spanking someone then I must be 50 kinds of fucked up, right?
Dangerous thinking!
Okay, I love this! I have read all three and really was at a point where I couldn’t put them down. I assume you have just read the first one?
While I agree the writing wasn’t all that…it did make it through all three.
I’m not sure where the author was coming from and had never really considered the point of havin trauma to be the only cause someone engages in BDSM.
I found the un-vanilla scenes a pleasure to read and definitely wanted my honey close by! I enjoyed the aspects of the contract, although I know we have rules, I’d never have gone that far. She did definitely make him out to be a wimp, but I enjoyed the books and they flowed right through to the end for me.
I see where you’re torn, it’s not great writing, but E.L. James is going to be banking on that not stellar writing for a long time I think!
~M
I just finished reading the first book. Honestly..I have just finished The Hunger Games, this book is in a completely different league. Even though that was YA book, it was much better writing. I am thinking I should just get the third book so I can see how she “saves” him from ….well, that’s just it. Does he need saving? How much of his kink will be left when he gets saved?
I want to support this author. Erotica and kink in a bestseller is awesome. I just wonder what she was thinking. “Oh Wait! He has to have had some sort of trauma to have started in the lifestyle in the first place!”
Wow. I read The Hunger Games, and while it was a great yarn, I certainly wouldn’t call it well written, and I sure don’t want to read anything than which it is “much better writing.”
What is wrong with us that we confuse zeitgeist with judgment: having not read 50 Shades of Grey, I feel like I know enough about it to know that a) I would hate it, and b) its appeal to many reflects precisely what it is – an explicit articulation by a primarily vanilla person about the appeal the idea of kink holds for her.
That all seems fine. And as a result, it’s not likely to appeal to those of us who flog one another in private, or who get off – and already know that about ourselves – on power exchange.
It WILL appeal to those for whom it’s an accessible introduction to or validation of something they either didn’t know turned them on or were embarrassed about.
Can we move on to talking about stuff we kink-sters and generally pervy types like?
N. Likes would like you read..Porn recommendation
I haven’t read the “Fifty Shades of Grey” trilogy yet, but I’m going to. Everyone is talking about these books…at my work, on TV, on the Internet. I just taped a show by Dr. Oz that started with a discussion of these books.
What I find amusing is that this kind of erotic fiction has been written throughout the centuries. “The Story of O,” “Lady Chatterley’s Lover,” the Sleeping Beauty trilogy by Anne Rice and “Exit to Eden” by Anne Rice. This is nothing new, just repackaged erotica for a new generation.
I just bought a Newsweek magazine with a cover feature “The Fantasy Life of Working Women-Why Surrender is a Feminist Dream” that explores women’s fantasies and why some women love to be dominated.
To me, “Fifty Shades of Grey” just sounds at the outset like a romance novel, wrapped in BDSM. Nothing new or revelatory here.
I promise there is still a wild side left, after she “saves” him….read them in order.
. Hunger Games is up next for me!
I haven’t read this book. I know – I probably should, since everyone has been talking about it. Something tells me that it’s not worth reading. I enjoyed your review on it.
TheSinDoll would like you read..He Doesn’t Know
I prefer my erotica in much shorter forms, and don’t really want a novel built around it, let alone a trilogy. Literotica is perfect for my needs – just get me right to the hot sex! I suppose if the reviews praised 50 Shades’ brilliant writing and intricate characters, I might be tempted to make an exception, but I’m not going to bother for this.
Your mention of the fucked up male lead reminds me of the movie Secretary. Though I guess stories about perfectly healthy people having hot bdsm sex wouldn’t really have enough to them to sustain a novel or a movie. Yet another reason to go to Literotica!
Silverdrop would like you read..UK Naughty Giveaway Roundup: Week of May 7, 2012
Man, I’m actually going to have to read these books, aren’t I?
Just skimming the first one briefly brought me to the same conclusion you had: the writing isn’t that good. In fact, it’s pretty terrible at points. Maybe not as bad as Twilight, but hovering close to the last book in the Harry Potter trilogy (sorry, I tend to be pretty selective in my non-YA/children’s book reading, so I don’t read many bad books). I’m disappointed that it’s getting so much attention BECAUSE it features a BDSM lifestyle and sex.
I mean, yes, I do appreciate that having it on the bestseller list and making it feel like erotica (and specific forms and lifestyles) are becoming more mainstream, but doesn’t it deserve to be well-written too? It makes me uneasy to think that everyone is so attentive to the sex… Perhaps I’m thinking too much, or hoping for too much (gotta crawl before you can walk), but as an admitted literary snob I can’t help but be annoyed because the writing just isn’t that good.
alanna would like you read..until i saw you dancing // contest