From the Bookshelf of The Mysterious Reading Society…

Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades, #1)

E.L. James

Start date: August 1, 2012

Finish date: August 15, 2012

Discussion: Books We Read In Common

Why we're reading this: Featured Book for our sponsored discussion during the Filipino ReaderCon 2012 on August 18th!
[close] Featured Book for our sponsored discussion during the Filipino ReaderCon 2012 on August 18th!

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Books We Read In Common

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By Meann · 23 posts · 5 views

last updated Nov 08, 2011 08:32AM

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What Members Thought

May 08, 2012 Ronald Lim rated it did not like it

Originally from here.

If there’s one thing that’s been trumpeted about this book throughout the different media outlets in the United States, it is it’s supposedly salacious content and its BDSM (Bondage, Dominance, and Sadomasochism) sex scenes. As such, I started reading this novel with the expectation that I would be treated to something along the lines of Anne Rice’s classic “Sleeping Beauty” series.

That may have been a mistake, because the book barely treads into the dark depths of BDSM, if Originally from here.

If there’s one thing that’s been trumpeted about this book throughout the different media outlets in the United States, it is it’s supposedly salacious content and its BDSM (Bondage, Dominance, and Sadomasochism) sex scenes. As such, I started reading this novel with the expectation that I would be treated to something along the lines of Anne Rice’s classic “Sleeping Beauty” series.

That may have been a mistake, because the book barely treads into the dark depths of BDSM, if at all. There’s a bit of spanking — with a hand, a flogger, and a belt — as well as one scene involving a spreader bar, but it’s all pretty much on the tame side. Which pretty much meant that I was really, really disappointed for about 500+ pages.

There’s also the fact that for a book with a title that plays on ambiguity, much of the views towards sex and sexual play in “Fifty Shades of Grey” tended to be in black and white. Rather than treating BDSM play as just another bullet point in two consenting adults’ sexual repertoire, James seems intent on painting it as something one needs to be saved from, something representative of a broken personality. In the universe James present to us, being a sexual outsider automatically equates to not being able to love.

For a book that’s tagged as “erotic romance”, complete with a “For Mature Readers” warning on the back cover, “Fifty Shades of Grey” is also quite prudish about coming out and just calling reproductive organs by their names. Of the many varied and colorful things that you could calla penis and a vagina, James decides to settle on “down there”. Are we 12-years-old?

The prose and the plotting isn’t anything to crow about either. Anybody who follows me on Twitter know all about my frustration with the constant repetition of “Oh my” sprinkled all throughout the text. The plot, or whatever it is you call it, is merely Ana and Christian having the same conversation over and over and over again in between the already sparse sex scenes.

If there’s anything that can explain its immense popularity at the moment, perhaps it’s the fact that “Fifty Shades of Grey” mines the same rich vein of wish fulfillment that “Twilight” and countless romance novels have been mining throughout the years. Here is a rich, handsome rake who inexplicably has eyes only for you, and you reform him through the power of twu wuv. It’s a heady feeling for someone to experience, and a trusted formula that hasn’t failed yet. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jun 30, 2012 Leia rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Jul 18, 2012 Meann rated it did not like it

Shelves: the-mysterious-reading-society

Apr 19, 2012 Claire rated it it was ok

Shelves: owned-paperback

Jul 06, 2012 Lianne rated it it was ok

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