Fifty Shades of Grey

My wife has read the trilogy at least twice I think. I certainly didn't mind - gave me more TV time at the very least! She agrees it isn't particularly well written, nor is it anywhere near the raunch level of some of the erotic lit she already owns, but it clearly had her hooked on it.

I read it. Felt like a very lazy story really, but I did blast through it pretty fast.

The only thing that annoys me about the hype is the 'greytards' on Facebook who bang on and on about "the film" and which bloke they would most like to drool over as lead role, regardless of whether it actually matches Grey's description or not (ie: Christian is pratically a ginger... "cast Ian Somerhalder!")

The push for Emilia Clarke as Ana does me fine though...
 
Shamikebab said:
I don't think that's true at all, all the women I've spoken to who have read it weren't aware of this connection.

The simple reason it's so popular is because of word of mouth and the media. As soon as it got a little coverage and someone said "have you heard of this naughty book people are reading?" nearly every woman had to try it for herself.
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Twilight is where it began. It would have struggled at the start were it not for that. Once the popularity and word of mouth builds, then I agree that's irrelevant, but it needed it to get off the ground and differentiate it from the avalanche of Jilly Cooper.
 
Working in a store that sells books, I find it funny how many other paperbacks there are with similarly-designed covers, and stickers saying "If you liked Fifty Shades, you'll love this!". Eugh.
 
Shamikebab said:
That's like saying people who read the sun count as readers :p
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Provided they're not just looking at the pictures that's fine. :p It wouldn't be my choice of newspaper as I generally dislike being told what my opinion is in big bold and underlined text but if people are using some form of media to stay informed about the World then that's almost always better than not.

desires said:
It's like advertising though. Everyone that sees an advert won't buy the product, but some will. The popularisation of books even crappy ones will make at least some people continue reading.

Harry Potter did it, LotR did it, GoT did it, no doubt Twilight and Mr Grey will do it too. Sure the majority of people reading 50 shades will never read another book again, and I'd put a bet on a large percentage not even finishing the book. There will be some converts though, and this is only a good thing for the book market, allowing aspiring authors a better chance of getting their work published.
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The hope that people will start from this and read more is one of the main reasons why I'd try not to criticise the book too much. There's always going to be a part of me wondering why not just pick a better book initially but I remain hopeful that for some it's merely a starting point.

I probably wouldn't quite class Lord Of The Rings in the same category as it was a decent set of novels long before it ever became a film but I accept the point that the media exposure can open up new markets.
 
Morba said:
I always thought of erotica as for women. Why do you read so much of it?
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Because I like it. I love erotica, sex and everything related to it: especially if it's well-written, since I love language. Anais Nin is my favourite author by a long way. Read "The House of Incest" or "Ladders to Fire". The writing quality is exquisite.
 
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Lysander said:
Because I like it. I love erotica, sex and everything related to it: especially if it's well-written, since I love language. Anais Nin is my favourite author by a long way. Read "The House of Incest" or "Ladders to Fire". The writing quality is exquisite.
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Anais Nin is brilliant, and in another league to 50 Shades.
 
I went on holiday last month to a holiday village, family orientated place. Literally every other women was reading this series of book. The pools etc where full of dads playing with their kids while women were nailed to their sun beds reading a book in 2 days.

50 shades of grey is the colour your pubes have to be to get turned on by such purely written ****. Women seem to think they are cool for reading it and bang on like they are so edgy.
 
dannyjo22 said:
I went on holiday last month to a holiday village, family orientated place. Literally every other women was reading this series of book. The pools etc where full of dads playing with their kids while women were nailed to their sun beds reading a book in 2 days.

50 shades of grey is the colour your pubes have to be to get turned on by such purely written ****. Women seem to think they are cool for reading it and bang on like they are so edgy.
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Totaly agree.
 
dannyjo22 said:
50 shades of grey is the colour your pubes have to be to get turned on by such purely written ****. Women seem to think they are cool for reading it and bang on like they are so edgy.
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Pretty much the whole nation disagrees with you :p

It's still a terrible piece of writing though.
 
My secretary was asked about the books the other day by one of the accounts girls and she said " it's a story about a retarded girl and her abusive boyfriend who can't resolve the issues he has with his parents"
 
Just got back from 2 weeks in Sorrento and I'm not exaggerating when I say virtually every woman and two men were reading this book around the pool.
I'm also talking about women well into their 80s and for me it was like finding out your Mum & Dad still had sex after the age of 35, I just wanted to vomit.
It did start to wind me up because if I started reading a top shelf mag I'd be tutted at even if I took all the pictures out.
It really was as though the women were trying to say 'Look at me, how sexy I am reading this stuff'.
 
Lysander said:
Because I like it. I love erotica, sex and everything related to it: especially if it's well-written, since I love language. Anais Nin is my favourite author by a long way. Read "The House of Incest" or "Ladders to Fire". The writing quality is exquisite.
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Thanks for the heads-up, I'll look those up. Reading the first book at the moment because I was curious but it's a bit of a drag (maybe it'll get more interesting)
 
shroomz said:
Thanks for the heads-up, I'll look those up. Reading the first book at the moment because I was curious but it's a bit of a drag (maybe it'll get more interesting)
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The start is definitely a bit slow but it picks up. I actually thought the story was reasonable however terrible the writing is. Certainly kept me amused for a few days anyway
 
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