RE: 50 Shades of Grey (Full Version)

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steve95476 -> RE: 50 Shades of Grey (3/16/2012 5:50:55 PM)

My 2 cents, since I'm fast-reading it now. It is BS. Fodder. The modern romance novel. A handsome multi-millionaire meets a virgin and introduces her to the ways of submission (give me a break!.) Penthouses, beautiful gifts, black Audi 4x4s and who knows what. Much more to come, I'm sure. I wouldn't be surprised if by the end of the series she turns him into a submissive and they live happily ever after.

The style in the beginning is unique, catchy but gets old extremely quickly, and the text is filled with "Oh my God!"s and "Oh My!"s. Nothing but gross commercialization. Whether you're dominant, submissive, switch or just interested--in my opinion, this guy doesn't know what he's talking about.

I don't agree with D. H. Lawrence's view of women, but he was unsurpassed when it came to setting tone and theme!

steve



MsSylverdawn -> RE: 50 Shades of Grey (3/16/2012 6:22:04 PM)

Here is my two cents..

thank you very much .. now Im going to have to wade through a whole new batch of weekend warriors to get to my favorite station at the local dungeon!!!...




Winterapple -> RE: 50 Shades of Grey (3/16/2012 6:38:25 PM)

There's nothing unique about the style.
The style is Twilight which is YA romance.
The first chapter is the first chapter of
Twilight with a few tweaks.
Ana's verbal tics are Bella on speed.
In romance the heroine tames the alpha
male hero through looove. The rakish
male never corrupts the female.
Romance is a genre like any other with
it's tropes. It's a genre that's written
and read primarily by women so it gets
slagged a lot. Popular fiction of any genre
can be cliche ridden.
There are any number of decently written
and edited kinky romances available.
Popular fiction can be well crafted but it
rarely if ever reaches anything like the
level of DH Lawrence who was a great writer.
A great writer who wrote some sexy stuff.
To my knowledge this series hasn't been
picked up by a traditional publisher.
I don't think a traditional publisher would
touch it out of fear of being sued by
Stephanie Meyers for infringement.
If she made enough noise she could
probably shut down the author from
being able to financially profit from it.
And as erotica this series is nowhere
near what Anne Rice achieved with the
Beauty series. Anne Rice is an actual writer.
Not on the DH Lawrence level but well
above a Twilight fanfiction writer.
Well above Stephanie Meyers for that
matter. Interview with the Vampire is
a minor classic. None of the Twilight
books come close to that.
Hasn't stopped a lot of people getting
pleasure from them but a lot of people
love McDonalds and Dan Brown to.



Winterapple -> RE: 50 Shades of Grey (3/16/2012 6:51:21 PM)

And yes I've ate McDonalds(going to get me a shamrock
shake tomorrow!) and read Dan Brown.
I read romance in it's various categories
to. I have no problem with reading for
pleasure and escapism.
But you can buy a new, edited mass
paperback for less than she's charging
for her fanfiction.
Will it unleash a temporary army of
weekend warriors? Who knows?
I'm guessing most who are excited
by the series aren't the types to
explore the public scene.




xssve -> RE: 50 Shades of Grey (3/16/2012 11:23:33 PM)

quote:


Well, the Beauty trilogy is my favorite set of BDSM mainstream fiction. But it is not my favorite piece of literature by any stretch....
I did enjoy reading her while I did - I had read several from the library, the first Two or Three in the Interview series, and my sister-in-law at the time gave me a whole collection later, but I had sort of burned out on the genre, I think I liked the historical aspects of it better than the vampire stuff.

But, I've got nothing against the genre, I'm an SF/fantasy/horror buff from way, way back, converted by Andre Norton, and I was a big fan of C.J Cherryah for a while, but I think Blood and Donuts is the best Vampire movie of all time, everything after that is baked if you ask me, lol.

I did start a True Blood book not too long ago, just to get a feel for the genre as it has evolved, and I like it so far, good pacing, and I didn't glaze over after the first page.

I don't think I've read that many BDSM novels other than O - one by anonymous I guess, an 19th century thing that wasn't bad, lots of freaky sex, and a whole underlying arc involving power plays within and between families that gave it structure, can't remember the name.

Some De Sade, although you'd be hard pressed to call that erotica, more like horror I believe, and parts of some others I was able to find online texts for, I really need to start reading again, my ability to concentrate was completely shot after the kids were born - you know they need something every seven minutes. [>:]



fucktoyprincess -> RE: 50 Shades of Grey (3/18/2012 5:38:39 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: xssve
I really need to start reading again, my ability to concentrate was completely shot after the kids were born - you know they need something every seven minutes. [>:]


I guess you need the seven-minute installment series.....[:D]



steve95476 -> RE: 50 Shades of Grey (3/18/2012 6:33:18 PM)

For some reason, I have an image of a group women sitting in a row in a hair salon underneath hair dryers in Baltimore. They're all reading the best selling 50 Shades of Grey.

Suddenly the hair dryers begin to short out, one by one! Then the lights of Baltimore go out.

OMG! Or, as our heroine is fond of saying, "Wow!" Or, "Hot!"

Our country is in danger! No wonder Sanatorium is so concerned!



ProlificNeeds -> RE: 50 Shades of Grey (4/12/2012 12:50:29 PM)

Ressurecting this thread to get some more input from anyone who's read it.

50 Shades of grey was printed in paperback and now I've got to sell and promote the damn thing at work. (Yaaaay bookstores!)

Of course 99% of my customers make screwy faces when I even whisper 'bdsm' in regards to the book. I also find myself hard pressed to really give them a vanilla-accurate assessment of how graphic or extream the book's content is, given that most of it seems rediculously tame to me.

The fact that it is completely unrealistic doesn't seem to occure to most of my readers, which makes me sad, they seem to really like the way BDSM is demonized, and makes 'Christian' a 'bad guy'.



How would you guys describe or rate this book to vanilla friends?



JeffBC -> RE: 50 Shades of Grey (4/12/2012 1:50:18 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: steve95476
The modern romance novel

Somehow, I'm suspecting that the author wasn't trying to write a BDSM reference manual. And honestly, I see an awful lot of that same story in BDSM-land. I see it everywhere actually. Why do you think the vampire stories are so popular?

So yeah, women would like to be taken... by a strong, assertive yet sensitive, dominant male... but only the right one. And oh yeah, if he's wealthy that's certainly a plus. There's enough of a market on that story line to have been driving best sellers for my whole life and I suspect quite a bit longer. To paraphrase the old-spice guy, "A lot of women are looking for a guy on a horse."



ProlificNeeds -> RE: 50 Shades of Grey (4/12/2012 1:54:13 PM)

Yea but Jeff... this guy has a helicopter and a PLANE... no horses!



fucktoyprincess -> RE: 50 Shades of Grey (4/12/2012 2:05:48 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: ProlificNeeds

Ressurecting this thread to get some more input from anyone who's read it.

50 Shades of grey was printed in paperback and now I've got to sell and promote the damn thing at work. (Yaaaay bookstores!)

Of course 99% of my customers make screwy faces when I even whisper 'bdsm' in regards to the book. I also find myself hard pressed to really give them a vanilla-accurate assessment of how graphic or extream the book's content is, given that most of it seems rediculously tame to me.

The fact that it is completely unrealistic doesn't seem to occure to most of my readers, which makes me sad, they seem to really like the way BDSM is demonized, and makes 'Christian' a 'bad guy'.



How would you guys describe or rate this book to vanilla friends?


Oddly, the only way I would describe it (and I confess to not having read them), is a tamer less interesting version of the first half of The Story of O. A sort of Harlequin romance meets Story of O. But The Story of O is an award winning book. It's real literature - just as unrealistic as 50 Shades, but much more true to BDSM (at least in my mind). I guess I would actually be steering readers to The Story of O if I had to....I know, I know, I'm not being helpful...[:D]



ProlificNeeds -> RE: 50 Shades of Grey (4/12/2012 2:18:21 PM)

FTP - if only we HAD Story of O in the store!

I'm in a very rural area, people have funny ideas out here, I suspect they might burn the store down if we carried too much liturate of a 'questionable nature'...



fucktoyprincess -> RE: 50 Shades of Grey (4/12/2012 6:50:03 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: ProlificNeeds

FTP - if only we HAD Story of O in the store!

I'm in a very rural area, people have funny ideas out here, I suspect they might burn the store down if we carried too much liturate of a 'questionable nature'...


Oh no! Well we certainly don't want you run out of town for recommending "questionable" reading material.

Actually, I suppose this is another way to view 50 Shades of Grey - as an almost vanilla version of a BDSM tale. Probably about as extreme as you can have in certain parts of the country/world.



graceadieu -> RE: 50 Shades of Grey (4/13/2012 9:23:05 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: ProlificNeeds

Yea but Jeff... this guy has a helicopter and a PLANE... no horses!



Well then, it's definitely the modern romance novel! Instead of Lord So-and-So riding a horse around ripping the bodices of village girls, we have Rich Vampire Guy riding around in his plane seducing virginal high school girls. [:D]



knows -> RE: 50 Shades of Grey (4/13/2012 3:11:18 PM)

I am reading the first book and have ordered the next two. I like that it takes me back to the beginning and my feelings when I discovered my needs and desires. It also proves that BDSM can be loving and not all the rape and torture crap that fill so many websites.



fucktoyprincess -> RE: 50 Shades of Grey (4/14/2012 11:15:54 AM)

FR

As I re-read this thread I do want to just add one thing. This set of books does not strike my fancy. Not my thing really. However, for those of you who are, in fact, enjoying it, enjoy away. I love books, reading, the written word too much to fault anyone for reading and enjoying anything that is harmless entertainment in the end. [sm=2cents.gif]



kalikshama -> RE: 50 Shades of Grey (4/14/2012 3:55:42 PM)

I like it when I'm in the mood for erotica.



ClassAct2006 -> RE: 50 Shades of Grey (4/14/2012 11:27:29 PM)

That is the interesting point. Someone not submissive is just not going to like to read this kind of thing just as I always skip through any story with a male sub. Good luck with marketing it. There may be lots of subs out there who have not found the internet and they like the book or they want to be shocked or they want to be disgusted. I think it sold 1m copies very quickly so we have to say well done to the UK writer who has now been able to give up her day job. It is something most of us cannot manage.

I just posted these comments on the other thread:

I am reading the first one. I think most submissives would like it as it describes how we are and it's nice to feel vindicated in a sense and acknowledged.
The male character in the story had been a sub for years. I tend to find dojminant men who have said they have been sub probably aren't inherently dom in the way I need. I felt submissive all my life from age 5 or younger and the doms who fit with me tend to have been much the same, in their DNA never changed , so that put me off a bit from that character.

Secondly, he was abused as a child so just like The Secretary we have yet another book saying our sexuality is caused by abuse, whereas mine is just how I am, just as gay men are born gay and it is not because of how their mothers treated them.

Notwithstanding those two points it is a perfectly readable light read and it illustrates well the importance of safety and the fact a dom both cares and has his way, that with getting what he needs he also has duties and responsibilities which is how I see D/s relationships as mutually giving.

I am not sure the character is very sub. She seems at the point I have reached to push against his control a lot whereas I suspect a lot of us who are sub would just fall into it and love it, even if it were a first time, because we're made like that.

quote:

ORIGINAL: ProlificNeeds

Ressurecting this thread to get some more input from anyone who's read it.

50 Shades of grey was printed in paperback and now I've got to sell and promote the damn thing at work. (Yaaaay bookstores!)

Of course 99% of my customers make screwy faces when I even whisper 'bdsm' in regards to the book. I also find myself hard pressed to really give them a vanilla-accurate assessment of how graphic or extream the book's content is, given that most of it seems rediculously tame to me.

The fact that it is completely unrealistic doesn't seem to occure to most of my readers, which makes me sad, they seem to really like the way BDSM is demonized, and makes 'Christian' a 'bad guy'.



How would you guys describe or rate this book to vanilla friends?




tabbz -> RE: 50 Shades of Grey (4/15/2012 3:32:20 AM)

well...im half way through the first one...order it despite bad reviews on amazon...its ok...kind of an idyllic dream version but ok...making me want to read on anyways..x



AAkasha -> RE: 50 Shades of Grey (4/16/2012 6:16:01 PM)



A few vanilla power suits in my world are talking about this book right now and how sexy it is, and of course they don't know I'm a femdom, and I don't really have any interest in it. I'm reading gay male porn right now anyway.

But curious if anyone knows of any mainstream(ish) 50 shades of grey with a FEMDOM feel that's current?

Akasha



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