What do we think of "50 Shades of Grey"?

stanley_jeffries · May 28, 2012

A "non-kinky" friend mentioned this book to me in hushed tones a couple of weeks ago.

This is a person I feel comfortable sharing bawdy jokes with - and she gives as good as she gets. But she doesn't actually know I'm an author of S&M fiction

Anyway I'm 100 pages in and I have to say it's bordering on vanilla (so far), and the characters are a bit 2 dimensional. But I guess all things are relative, and it may "heat up".

Personally I think any novel that gets BDSM out there into the wider world has to be a good thing.

What say you?

sebastian · May 28, 2012

I haven't read it, but my understanding is that character presented as a dom is really just an abusive asshole.

stanley_jeffries · May 28, 2012

I have to say I got that impression too. That's certainly the way he's painted initially, but there are some hints that he has a "caring side".

Not sure I'll finish it in the next few days, but if I do I will let you know!

Cheers,
Stanley

Smallest · May 28, 2012

I haven't read it, but the excerpts I've read I've really disliked. Another erotica writer with one of my publishers agrees, and has been going on about it. I'm mostly looking from a 'how it's written' perspective than how vanilla vs kinky it is though.

Also, re: two dimensional characters- it is fanfiction, soo...

MistressMaria86 · May 28, 2012

Lol I have read book one and am now on book two. I saw that my lil' bro's girlfriend was reading it ...as was my mum.... and having read the blurb on the back (and working out that it was 'my kind of thing' although on the reverse I thought I would give it a go. Its almost like the author was reading parts of my mind when she wrote this story - of course lots of it is no where near but its so funny to read familiar words and practices and even some of thought processes going through the main character Ana's mind. IN soe ways I wish that my sub wanted more of a relationship like Ana wants from her Dom but but I guess in a made up story you write exactly what you want and no one gets hurt lol.

I did also notice a lot of repetition - and do people really orgasm that quickly and frequently?? Also it seemed to me that there were spelling mistakes and also bits which just didnt make sense but maybe that was just me.

Be interested to know others' thoughts

In the mean time its great escapism

stanley_jeffries · May 29, 2012

I didn't realize this was fan fiction - that explains a lot!

Looked it up on Wikipedia and I see it's based on the Twilight series, which I've never watched. I do understand the series of novels and movies are an international phenomenon, however.

I'm surprised this book made it to New York Times #1.

So does that indicate:

A: You can write anything and call it "Twilight fan fiction" and it will be a success?

B: There's a pent up demand for "respectable" S&M literature, and the fact that it was linked with Twilight gave "ordinary" people the psychological permission to read it?

C: A bit of both

subarama30 · May 29, 2012

I was interested initially when I heard about it but having read online a lot of what others thought, both vanilla and kink readers, it seems to be getting a lot of negativity, especially with how Grey is portrayed. He does seem to come off as an abuser rather than a Dom and everyone has mentioned the repetitions and amazing multiple orgasms, both of which would just irritate me so I am deliberately avoiding reading this.

sebastian · May 29, 2012

Dan Savage also discussed the novel a little. Grey is described as having irrational rages, and as having been abused as a child and playing out that pain with the sub. The first is something no dom should ever demonstrate and the second is bullshit psychology. Although many subs seem to have experienced some abuse, few dome ever seem to mention that or connect it to their dominance. So Grey looks much more like an abusive boyfriend than a real dom.

Too bad Mr. Benson never got on the bestseller list. He's a real dom.

Smallest · May 29, 2012

Stanley- It's all about money. The story was getting a ton of attention, so the publisher realized that not only could they jump on the twilight bandwagon (whether one likes twilight or not, you have to admit, it's a huge bandwagon) and make erotica somehow seem innovative.

I know someone who's totally irate about all this, so I'm picking up more off her

sebastian · May 29, 2012

I'm a little curious about the legality of this work. Fan fic is legally unpublishable, because it violates copyright. How did this author get around that?

What do we think of "50 Shades of Grey"?

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