I have
put this off for far too long now. Everyone has stated their opinion about
Fifty Shades of Grey, on videos, on blogs, on social media, et cetera. I chose
to read the entire book this time and of course, see the movie before I stated my opinion. I did write something about this book, in passing but it was in a blog entry related to fanfiction. After reading the book and watching the movie, they were both excruciatingly
disconcerting!
Everyone who made comments about the abuse that takes place in this book were right! It is disturbing, however BDSM is a lifestyle choice. Favored by the those who enjoy that rype of relationship, so I am not going to state my opinion about BDSM, I’ve never practiced it, and I'm not interested.
As for
the author’s writing, well, I’ve read worse. Yes, I know, some of you will say,
“Where did you read worse?” Let’s just say, that I have. I think that her books
are easy read. I consider some of my books easy read, however I do edit them before publishing. I believe that the author did her own editing. I don’t believe a publishing company had a HAND in this
trilogy but even if she did publish through an Independent Publishing company,
she still has the responsibility to edit her work, thoroughly.
Now, most people
demean the character’s dialogue in the book. Anna says, "Holy cow," or "my inner
goddess," more times too many and not to mention the texting thing going on between the characters, however the book is based on Anna’s narration, first person narrative, so it's excusable. Any author can make
their character talk and act whatever way they want in their books. I did, with the
first book I wrote. In Chandra’s Quest book 1, the original 2003 version, the book is based on the main characters’ journals, written as a first-person narrative. The FEW people who read my
book back in the day, made a few disparaging comments about it, but not on Amazon where I was selling it as a third party seller, mostly on forums & social media. Unlike EL James books, Chandra’s Quest was not based on fanfiction, it's original. I wrote my story using my own imagination, but I did take
inspiration from TV shows like, Earth Final Conflict, Lexx and other sci-fi, shows that were popular at the time.
Side note: If
you’re inspired to write a story based on a TV show or movie you like, it is
not the same as stealing from them.
In EL James books you can clearly see
it.
In
Fifty Shades, Christian Grey is controlling, narcissistic, intimidating and abusive.
Something that would send a red flag in any real woman out there. However, the
author made the story seem romantic! Many people have noticed this, and critics
pointed it out. There is a movie called The Secretary, that might have inspired her too. Referring to the BDSM parts.
The main character's name in that movie is Edward Grey. I will provide
a link to the information to this movie below. Trust me, there are similarities. Technically,
she fanfic both Twilight and The Secretary, using pieces from them. Watch the movie, you'll see.
It’s okay to get inspiration from TV shows, but the similarities in her
books are too accurate, except for some name changes.
Why
was this book called, Mommy Porn?
Many critics refer to the series as “mommy porn”, alongside
jokes about the poor literary quality of the novels. This reveals a disdainful
attitude toward fans of the franchise, who are often dismissed as bored,
borderline illiterate housewives.
Hmm.
Interesting. I’m a housewife, I work a part-time job, graduated high school,
took a writing class in community college, yet I don’t consider myself
ILLITERATE, but I can’t believe that people thought that most stay at home
moms, are illiterate! How insulting is that?
I think the appeal of this book to
most women is curiosity. Curiosity is what encouraged me to download the book and read
it, but it isn’t sexy because of the abuse. Maybe when I was in my early 20’s I would have found it
sexy, very appealing and I would have been one of her biggest fans.
What
part of Fifty Shades was Twilight fanfic?
All. The fanfiction story E.L. James
wrote on fanfic.net was called Masters of the Universe. Look it up.
In E.L
James own words:
"I just sat on my sofa and just read them
and read them and read them," James told ABC back in 2012, referring to
the books in the "Twilight" series. "I was inspired by (Twilight'
author) Stephanie Meyer ... she just kind of flipped this switch in my
head."
(She was referring to
the twilight books.)
When did she decide to write
the books?
Shortly after reading the Twilight books, the
author said she sat down and decided to write a book of her own.
Not everyone liked her stories:
Many readers deemed James' stories too
provocative for Fanfiction.net, and she was forced to remove some of them from
the site.
Just as I thought, she
was irked over certain people (haters) complaining to the website about her stories. She was
forced to remove her content. That would piss off any writer.
In conclusion, I give her book a 2 star. It’s
not great but it’s not bad either. Since I’m not a twilight fan, I can be partial, not bias.
