Originally Posted By DDMAN26 This seems to be the new literary phenomenon. But from what I've heard it's basically just porn for women, is that accurate?
Originally Posted By utahjosh I haven't read it, but from what I've heard it's chock full of very descriptive and often perverse sex scenes. Our society today.
Originally Posted By ecdc Well, for the non-prude view.... It seems to tap into what a lot of women want or find desirable. We can debate what that says, but it'd probably get heated fast (pun definitely intended.) My wife liked it fine. I think my sister-in-law said it best: [in semi-disgusted tone] Ugh, it's so bad, [switching to lower, breathy voice] but it's soooo good.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on3JCwnwHbU" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...JCwnwHbU</a>
Originally Posted By Tiggirl It wasn't what I would call "perverse" really at all. It didn't really go much further than your run-of-the-mill Harlequin Romance novels. Racy? Sure. Perverse? Not really. lite-to-mild SDSM? Yep. Really poor writing? Oh you bettcha! I read the first one at the instance of a friends mother. I have no real desire to read the other two. The writing was just... ugh. But people seem to enjoy it and I honestly just see it as the next "Trashy Romance Novel". Nothing too scandalous. ~Beth
Originally Posted By LacyBelle That's pretty similar to what a few friends of mine stated that have read one or more of the books, Beth. I had heard so much buzz about theese books that I was going to buy the e-trilogy and start reading it. Then I talked to friends that were reading the first book and they just found them...blah. Tame, they called it. They had no desire to read either of the others. I decided not bother with it.
Originally Posted By mickeymeg A friend of mine heard about it being so popular, but also that it was really awful so just out of curiosity she wanted to read it. She got me curious and I started it too. I have only read the first 5 chapters or so and I keep asking myself how it ever got published. The writing is terrible. The author only knows a handful of sentences and phrases and keeps repeating everything. I can't believe it made it past editing never mind how it got popular. And I haven't even made it to any 'dirty' bits yet.
Originally Posted By EmmaJayne The death of literature. Mickeymeg, that's exactly how I felt.. I was just baffled that anyone ever printed it.. It' started off as fanfiction and you can tell. As other ladies have told me, there's far better erotic literature out there should you need it, written by authors who actually have an idea how to write.. And yet everyone and their Mum seems to be reading it, girls I know who haven't read a book since high school devoured the trilogy in a week. When I've told people I couldn't get into it, they assumed I was a prude. I couldn't convince them the smuttiness doesnt offend me, it's the text itself.
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 I saw a Facebook meme that sums it up best. Proper women would never watch porn, but they'll read the "crap" out of it.
Originally Posted By ecdc I can't help but wonder if it's the subject matter that makes the book the target of "lousy writing" criticism. John Grisham isn't much of a scribe, and Dan Brown is even worse, but unless you're dealing with literary elites who insist Don DeLilo and Thomas Pynchon are all one should be reading, I don't really hear complaints about Grisham or Brown's writing. Fifty Shades of Gray is one of those strange cultural phenomenons that fractures everyone into groups. The prudes, the unapologetic, the bewildered, and the curious but ashamed.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance "Fifty Shades of Gray is one of those strange cultural phenomenons that fractures everyone into groups. The prudes, the unapologetic, the bewildered, and the curious but ashamed." What does it say about you if you're a little bit of each of those things?
Originally Posted By HRM ....and yet, these 3 books are among the top hits of the season, according to the "must read" lists. (i think the genre is labeled "erotica")
Originally Posted By EmmaJayne "I can't help but wonder if it's the subject matter that makes the book the target of "lousy writing" criticism. John Grisham isn't much of a scribe, and Dan Brown is even worse, but unless you're dealing with literary elites who insist Don DeLilo and Thomas Pynchon are all one should be reading, I don't really hear complaints about Grisham or Brown's writing." No really, it's THAT bad I could t even make it to the sexual content. It started as fanfiction and it really shows. I've read books before where I wouldn't exactly praise the writing ( the Twilight saga comes to mind) but this is in a whole new level. I'm not just jumping on a bandwagon here, it's truly the worst published work I've ever read.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper If it gets the motor running then I'm happy to go for a ride. I think the issue is simple. Men are more visual than women. We would rather see it and they would rather imagine it. Reading lets the imagination run.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>It didn't really go much further than your run-of-the-mill Harlequin Romance novels. Racy? Sure. Perverse? Not really. lite-to-mild SDSM? Yep. << Reminds me of my honeymoon.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <Fifty Shades of Gray is one of those strange cultural phenomenons that fractures everyone into groups. The prudes, the unapologetic, the bewildered, and the curious but ashamed.> Put me in "the oblivious." By the time I even heard of the thing it was already simultaneously the hottest thing going and the most widely derided.
Originally Posted By mickeymeg <<No really, it's THAT bad I could t even make it to the sexual content. It started as fanfiction and it really shows. I've read books before where I wouldn't exactly praise the writing ( the Twilight saga comes to mind) but this is in a whole new level. I'm not just jumping on a bandwagon here, it's truly the worst published work I've ever read.>> This !
Originally Posted By DDMAN26 So in other words if I see a woman reading this, would I be out of line if pulled out a Penthouse and started reading the letters section, let's say in theory.
