Fifty Shades of Grey

carolsue · Post by **carolsue** » 23 Aug 2012, 18:33

redibrd wrote:
About the book,yes it is about the sex but is also about two people that love each other,it is about very bad childhood and dealing with very traumatic memories and about getting to the point of happily ever after!
I got to love them both and yeah I cannot wait for the new couple from EJ JAmes!

[/quote]

This is how I saw the book, too. I had heard many bad reviews, but since I get my e-books free from the library I figured if I didn't like it I could just delete it. Nothing lost. I am so glad I didn't listen to the bad reviews, because I loved it. I think it's selling like hot cakes because sex sells. But in between the very graphic sex scenes is a love story. Christian, the male character, is very disturbed due to some things that happened in his youth. Ana, the female character has fallen head over heels in love with him, and he with her, although he won't admit it. Gradually, she is winning him over, and he is giving in to her needs for "hearts and flowers." I never read a book twice, but I believe I will join the waiting list and read this one over again!

PS I believe I quoted the wrong person here and don't know how to fix it. I'm new here, I'm sorry!

DustyDiamond23 · Post by **DustyDiamond23** » 29 Aug 2012, 07:17

Fran wrote:
DustyDiamond23 wrote:I have recently read the seris and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed them when I thought that I wouldn't - not for the fact of being a prude but sheerly because I had heard that they were written poorly. I would tend to agree that some of the vocabulary was a bit cringeworthy at times and it wasn't the best written piece of work but I still thought they were worth a read!

There were times when it was a case of 'oh dear god not again!' but there was still a plot there, a fairly easy read plot i'll grant you but a plot none the less. I think as a general rule unless you have read the books you can't really slate them. There are a lot of people out there that haven't read them but are more than willing to give their none too complimentry opinion about the series.

I do think there is a small amount of literature in there if you look past the sex. I think people are hung up on that too much. It's sex, get over it and read the book!!

I thought E L Jmaes did a fabulous job of creating a fantasy that a lot of women have and making into a best seller! I would love to see other amatuer writers who have slated her do the same! All in all I think you have to read it to make your own judgement but I enjoyed them and would - and have - recommend the series to anyone!
IMO it's really a marketing dept. achievement aided by a gullible public of course

I am guessing you have read the books and formed an independent opinion of them prior to writing this post? Whilst I understand the whole 'bandwagon concept' I am a perfectly intelligable human being who can form an opinion without the aid of marketing schemes thank you very much and I still liked the book. In fact I put off reading them for a while simply because it had gotten talked about. E L James is a perfectly good writer who has created a brilliant set of books - afterall it got the public talking.

If I followed marketing schemes I would have read Twilight but I don't so I didn't.

Fran · Post by **Fran** » 29 Aug 2012, 09:14

@DustyDiamond23
You guess incorrectly .... apart from the free chaper on Amazon, & I couldn't even finish that, I have not read it nor will I be reading it ... not because the content is offensive but because my life is too sort to waste any of it 50 whatevers & thankfully there are way too many books on my TBR demanding my attention and it's growing daily as I add recommendations from reliable reviewers with a long track record of identifying books that have proved more than worth my time & effort not to mention my hard earned EUR!

I'm glad for you if you liked it but I am still convinced that the inordinate publicity this book has been given is principally driven my a marketing budget and none too subtly at that. Popularity & controversy alone are not the best indicators of a good read IMHO.

But you are entitled to your view as am I and I wish you happy reading whatever genre you choose.

DustyDiamond23 · Post by **DustyDiamond23** » 29 Aug 2012, 13:00

@Fran

When the book was origanlly published it was done so through a small Australian company....it was word of mouth that spread it around at first. Once it had proved popularity through that the media got hold of it and then it picked up. I don't remember seeing any large advertising campaign, it was all media attention.

Fran · Post by **Fran** » 29 Aug 2012, 14:28

DustyDiamond23 wrote:@Fran

When the book was origanlly published it was done so through a small Australian company....it was word of mouth that spread it around at first. Once it had proved popularity through that the media got hold of it and then it picked up. I don't remember seeing any large advertising campaign, it was all media attention.

Not all marketing is done by advertising campaigns ... planted stories and "reviews" come to mind

DustyDiamond23 · Post by **DustyDiamond23** » 30 Aug 2012, 06:20

Fran wrote:
DustyDiamond23 wrote:@Fran

When the book was origanlly published it was done so through a small Australian company....it was word of mouth that spread it around at first. Once it had proved popularity through that the media got hold of it and then it picked up. I don't remember seeing any large advertising campaign, it was all media attention.
Not all marketing is done by advertising campaigns ... planted stories and "reviews" come to mind

Well if that's your arguement you are clearly so very right and the whole population that have bought the books are wrong. Of course there are planted reviews and stories....how could I have been so silly to think that people might actually have a brain independent to the one that the media hands to them?!

Elainegr9 · Post by **Elainegr9** » 01 Sep 2012, 14:44

I am reading this book now and I am loving every bit of it. Everywhere I go my kindle comes with me. I can't help to blurt out a laugh here and there and I realize that people are looking at me. If they only knew.

MAKBrown · Post by **MAKBrown** » 03 Sep 2012, 14:05

it is so erotic yet well written. I love what I am reading so far

Caretames1 · Post by **Caretames1** » 08 Sep 2012, 10:29

I've read the first one, and while yes, it can be a bit much for some, it's a quick beach type reading for when you can't invest in something heavy.

I don't know if I'll get the other 2, maybe if I can borrow form someone.

laci_baby · Post by **laci_baby** » 08 Sep 2012, 14:25

Spoilers

I bought the first book yesterday for my local book club, stayed up until eight this morning reading it and absolutely hated it. I get why theres so many sexual scenes in the book as it points out the kind of man Grey is and the sub/dom relationship. I got that. But her description of every sexual act was the same (not meaning the obvious things that would have changed. don't want to get too descriptive with that...) I'm not big on porn books and this is the mother of them. And I have to agree that in a way it is twilight on viagra as someone said above. But I came into the book expecting all of this. I am intrigued to finally see a dom/sub lovestory (not that I'm either sub nor dom

) but what bothered me was the actual characters and how people took them. You get the people that are in love with grey, not because of what he is or what he does but because of how seductive he is and the lovestory parts of him. They didn't get the point at all. They see what they want to see. They see the sex and get all giggly and that's it. They're just accepting of the monster they think he is because of the sex. I do know men that are like Grey pretty much to a T. Knowing that and understanding the Dom relationships I couldn't read the book thinking of Grey as a monster. He likes what he likes and he can't help that. Not once did he force her into anything. The most annoyance for me was Ana. She was so damn whiney. She complained about the type of man he was everytime she wasnt getting screwed by him. She knew what she was signing up for, literally. She had the chance to leave at any time. Instead, within one page I might add, she went from willing to do whatever he wanted even after he said it was moot to her asking him to 'negotiate' by letting her really have it to hating him for doing what she asked. It's not that complicated. Either do it and shut the hell up or run for the hills. Geez. Not looking forward to having to read the next two. Ugh.

Ant · Post by **Ant** » 08 Sep 2012, 18:23

Interesting review Laci, there seems to be a big divide on this book(s), you either love them or hate them. My wife read the three books and enjoyed them and I would consider her a very intelligent woman....she thinks that people are taking the books too seriously and trying to read things in the books that just are not there, it's just a bit of harmless titilation not to be taken too seriously, she thinks I should read it, but I am resisting ( no pun intended )

laci_baby · Post by **laci_baby** » 08 Sep 2012, 19:10

Ant- this is one of my biggest problems when it comes to books. I always think too much haha. (Even if some bits were titillating

)
I'm sure your wife is a very intelligent woman and respect her views that people are thinking about it too much. Much respect for that.

But as I said I do know some Doms so it was just hard for me to see it the way it was meant to be seen. Always the complicated one, aren't I?

Honestly if the writing was better and wasn't played down so much I might have liked the book much much more.
(Plus If Ana hadn't have been so damn whiney.)

Ant · Post by **Ant** » 09 Sep 2012, 10:59

Agreed, she said that Ana was a week willed wimp

Must admit you are one up on both of us, we don't know any Doms.....straight laced old fogeys were turning in to

laci_baby · Post by **laci_baby** » 09 Sep 2012, 12:35

hahaha if your wife is calling Ana a weak willed wimp there's hope for her yet jk

Finn · Post by **Finn** » 09 Sep 2012, 15:10

After reading the first book it became blatantly obvious that the standard of writing was shockingly bad, to see that a trilogy with no sign of any merit in terms of literature and a flimsy, ridiculously cheesy storyline has sold millions of copies and become what appears to be the only books people seem to be discussing really is frustrating, just because of the 'over-hyped' scenes of unrealistic sexual waffle, which, quite frankly, can be found anywhere on the internet. Hopefully we will all soon realise that this sham of a series is nothing more than a cheap fad that should be forgotten and buried in the history of other forgotton "sensations".
My advice, don't bother, and read something which can be called literature.