All of You-STOP

[Mochaspresso]

~*~Princess Nhya~*~ wrote: "Mochaspresso wrote: As an adult, I wouldn't go so far as to say that it is appropriate reading for a 14 year old....I agree that it isn't."

And there in lies the shock/reactions though... It's si..."

I guess I'm not shocked or horrified that 14 yr olds are reading it because I know and remember what I was reading at that age.

[Arielle Rae]

Mochaspresso wrote: "I guess I'm not shocked or horrified that 14 yr olds are reading it because I know and remember what I was reading at that age.
"

Me too. I started reading those kind of novels around the age of 13 and there has been no lasting effects or anything. I haven't changed for the worse and some people I know still consider me quite a prude or 'nun-ish'. I just read the books because I enjoyed reading it, and just because a person reads a lot about sex in an early age doesn't mean that the person will become a sex addict. It might even help them become smarter and capable of being someone who makes wise decisions because they would be more aware

[Cherie]

You read this book because you want to be a ... forensic investigator...? You read it for the psychology? ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
What??? Excuse me while I go bang my head into the wall...

[Cherie]

I mean seriously... what?? The fuck are you people even talking about anymore...

[~*~Princess Nya Vasiliev~*~]

Cherie wrote: "I mean seriously... what?? The fuck are you people even talking about anymore..."

Ummmm.. did you read the thread? Cos that would have answered this question.

Your replies did make me giggle, though :)

[Lexee]

Rose Mikaelson *Dauntless* wrote: "People who judge other people who read this really make me mad. I read this for the psychology of it. I want to be a forensic investigator, so I felt like reading up on the different mindsets of in..."

dude, that just made my day, im to be eighteen soon, and people judge me cause i read it, saying that it is only for adults... but i started reading it as a bet, and fell in love with christian and his fifty shades.. i know i am not an adult, not yet, but i don't read it for its kinkiness now, i read it cause i genuinely crave to know what happens to him. his whole childhood was a complete wreck, and he was so misunderstood for so long. and still is.. this book could be taken as only for horny people, but in all truth this has so much character depth it is ridiculous. <3 and a fantastic read....

[Sharon]

Never judge a book by its cover so to speak. Although there have been bad reviews and good for this series, we ALL read it out of the hype that was caused and curiosity. I didnt think it was well written but I loved the storyline.
We read books for our own reasons whether it be research, to escape, to live in the shoes of another, but nobody should ever criticize a person over the books they read, personal choice and feeling the need to be somewhere else for a while.
Never explain yourself for your choices, Ive read them, I was curios, loved the storyline and it cant be such a bad thing as she was self published and now they are making the movie!
The character of Christian brought to the forefront how a well respected businessman has demons that need to be addressed, it made people look at others and question what was behind their story, so I think it is great that someone can bring a series out that really captures the imagination and shows that nobody is perfect no matter how good a life you lead. The poor guy basically went through hell and its how he dealt with it.
Enjoy wheat ever books you want and dont let anyone judge you or ridicule you for it.
:)

[Sharon]

on a last note....isnt this site about books....isnt fifty shades a set of books...so why not let people read what they want and put their review across without upsetting the person who read it. Its one of the best selling series of books around so it cant be such a dreadful thing to read it! Take no notice hun.

[Ashley]

Psychology of it???? Are you kidding me? The author knows nothing. Most of what she wrote was BS. She looked up the definition of a BDSM dominant male and wrote a book off of it. No research whatsoever. There is no depth to this book. The characters were shaky. There was no love. This book is smut and needs to be burned. Horribly written with a horrible plot.

[~*~Princess Nya Vasiliev~*~]

Juliea wrote: Sharon wrote: "on a last note....isnt this site about books....isnt fifty shades a set of books...so why not let people read what they want and put their review across without upsetting the person who read it. I..."

But it is a book discussion site, so you have to expect opinions that are both negative and positive. "

I think what she was trying to convey is that, book discussions are fine. After all, this is a book discussion/review site. And there will be negative/positive opinions concerning a book. But when it goes into the realm of people insulting others & basing their judgment of one's character/or intelligence just cos they may have liked or dislike a book/series, then there is a problem & ultimately there shouldn't be any cause for that.

[Ginger]

I have to say I read all three books, disliked each one more than the last. I don't judge others that have read the books, but I do have to completely disagree when they say that this was great writing. The characters drove me insane, they never learned anything from their mistakes. The books ended with both of them just as insecure and shallow as when they started. She could have written one book without cutting any content and it would have been just as 'good' and wouldnt have been so REPETATIVE! (Get this author a thesaurus) Well of course then we would have only bought one book instead of three.

[Lexee]

Ginger wrote: "I have to say I read all three books, disliked each one more than the last. I don't judge others that have read the books, but I do have to completely disagree when they say that this was great wri..."
that is not necessarily true, she couldve had these experiences herself and written what she experienced. people who like BDSM all have different wants/needs that they want addressed. and it is just your opinion that they were horribly written. yeah, she repeated a lot, but for all intensive purposes, it is a good read. the charicters arent shaky, i know that christian reminded me of my significant other a lot. they are surreally alike. and my aunt is so much like anastasia it is just weird. your statement was an interesting point of view, but the only thing that i could tell was remotely true was that she was

[Caterina]

I enjoy reading these comments. Although this book is not considered Literature, I remember my Medieval Literature professor saying that Cervantes the author of Don Quixote once said, that the power of story telling should suck the person inside that world and make it as real as possible for the reader. When the an author accomplishes that, they did a good job. I know Cervantes didn't say it like that I am just summarizing. I read the books but didn't make it past book three because of the Twilight Fan Fic.

I do wish Ms. James all the best and can't wait for her next novel she promised in the future. But its true when people say it was poorly written. I didn't like Christian nor Anastasia they both pissed me off quite frankly. Oh and Christian is not my white bronco, I prefer Ian Noble the character in Beth Kery novel Becuase you are Mine. Just sayin.

[Firetop]

Well I have read all 3 books several times. I enjoyed them very much. When reading this type of book (roamance/erotica), I don't expect it to be Pulitzer Prize winning material. However, I do think that both main characters DID grow and learn throughout the books. Christian stopped doing the things he used to do because Ana didn't like it and he wanted to be with her. And Ana grew up over the books. By the end they had a much healthier relationship and still had some great sex. I am not embarrassed to tell people I have read and enjoyed these books. I feel if you can't be honest about who you are and what you like then you are not being your true self.

[Nurlely]

Cherie wrote: "You read this book because you want to be a ... forensic investigator...? You read it for the psychology? .............................................................................................."

Hahahaha.... you surely made my day.
Watching Bones will be better... :)

[Paganalexandria]

Mochaspresso wrote: " ~*~Princess Nhya~*~ wrote: "Mochaspresso wrote: As an adult, I wouldn't go so far as to say that it is appropriate reading for a 14 year old....I agree that it isn't."

And there in lies the shoc...
Me too. I started reading those kind of novels around the age of 13 and there has been no lasting effects or anything. I haven't changed for the worse and some people I know still consider me quite a prude or 'nun-ish'. I just read the books because I enjoyed reading it, and just because a person reads a lot about sex in an early age doesn't mean that the person will become a sex addict. It might even help them become smarter and capable of being someone who makes wise decisions because they would be more aware "

I guess I'm horrified because of my own experience with reading bodice rippers at such a young age. I never got the talk from my parents, so my image of romantic love and sex came mostly from romance novels. Honestly, it wasn't good, because the people involved weren't reading them also...and this was Johanna Lindsey. This is why I keep myself very aware of what the children in my family are being exposed to. That goes for all forms of media because it's very powerful.I wouldn't let a 14 year old watch porn, so why would it be okay just because it's in a book? Reading makes the information stick better, that's why you read versus watch in school. I don't believe in censorship, but vigilant parenting is a must in this world because young minds are very malleable. Hell, I'm over forty and haven't met a cleaning product infomercial that can't have me transfixed. I am not judging this child for reading this book, but my heart is heavy knowing it, and I loved this series.

[Adam]

Here's a bit of psychology for you OP, the stupid things that people enjoy, en masse, are always going to draw a nearly proportional amount of contempt, antipathy, or mockery during the same period of time that it draws all it's money and fanatics. This will go on until the fanatics move on and the haters forget it ever existed. But the hate will happen, justifiably so if you ask me, because we all have bills to pay, and it seems like this women wrote herself out of hers with nothing more than an intriguing title, and an otherwise empty and lazy bit of writing.

[~*~Princess Nya Vasiliev~*~]

Adam wrote: Here's a bit of psychology for you OP, the stupid things that people enjoy, en masse, are always going to draw a nearly proportional amount of contempt, antipathy, or mockery during the same period of time that it draws all it's money and fanatics. This will go on until the fanatics move on and the haters forget it ever existed."

Have to agree with you, there.

[CJ]

I try not to judge people on what they read. However, I did want to point out...you may want to read something else when it comes to understanding the psychology behind BDSM. You can find blogs, autobiographies, studies, and other, non-fiction things that will be a lot more accurate than erotica.

I'm not sure if you still check on this, but if you do: There isn't actually always a clear reason behind people's interest in BDSM. There have been studies, and while some people do use it to cope with previous abuse, there is still a fairly large amount of people into it who haven't been abused or did not have horrible childhoods.

As for whether or not EL James had any responsibility to research BDSM, I say yes, definitely. Even if it wasn't the entire focus of the book, it was still a rather big source of tension. I mean, say there was a book where one character was really into football, had a lot of experience with it, and where it was occasionally described in great detail in the book. It may not have been the focus, but the character talked about it a lot, because it was a source of some disagreement with the main characters. The author would have been expected to know a lot about football, or research it if they didn't. Just because it's fiction doesn't mean you can be entirely inaccurate, especially if you then go and, in the case of 50 Shades, sell sex toys based off of it.

Now for the age, I don't know if it's inherently bad to read erotica when you're 14. As long as you have some other source of information and a frame of reference, I think it's okay (I'd suggest maybe scarleteen, if anyone's curious). On top of that, I've heard someone say they didn't know what a penis was until they were 13, and they also had sex for the first time when they were 13, so lacking knowledge on sex doesn't really stop anything from happening. Also, I don't find it all that shocking, considering I myself am 17, and also have you ever seen fanfiction? I've known a lot of people who write porn when they're 14. Heck, I read/co-wrote stuff involving blood fetishes and scarification at that age. It may not be a good thing for kids to read this stuff, but it's probably nothing that can't be fixed with actual sex ed and some info on what constitutes healthy relationships.

[Lexee]

Winderly wrote: "I try not to judge people on what they read. However, I did want to point out...you may want to read something else when it comes to understanding the psychology behind BDSM. You can find blogs, au..."

this comment seriously Made My Day, i am also seventeen and i agree 100% but on the same hand for the way she wrote, i still enjoyed the books as a whole, it was a beautiful and fucked up and wonderful at the same time, i write stories but as you said it takes a LOT of studying and reading up on for something like this, understanding the subject is like the first step...

[Victoria]

I am a Professional Dominatrix., so I know what I'm talking about in regards to the BDSM aspewct of these books.
On the plus side, the idea of a "contract" is discussed.
On the negative side, I found the book rather predictable with uninteresting characters, for the most part.
The SEX: to me its all just barely,what I call 'vanilla BDSM'.