Fifty Shades of Grey
discussion
Sick and tired of all the controversy!!!
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Susie wrote: "I am so sick and tired of hearing all the arguments about Fifty Shades this and Fifty Shades that!!! For CRYING OUT LOUD this is NOT the ONLY sexually explicit romance novel out there!!! And I say ..."At the risk of sounding like a meanie, its called taking the rough with the smooth, any author who could amass such critique for something as mediocre as fifty shades certainly shouldn't be complaining,Good attention or bad
I myself fall into the incensed and bewildered category, and the only reason I haven't followed with my own scathing review is because like many others was unable to endure what was the first and last for me.
There is not enough good books out there to aid as an antidote to this garble of hyperbole. I felt the brain drain literally from page one.
In actuality I only picked it up in the supermarket because it looked and sounded intriguing and not because of any viral overload. Silly me for letting ambiguity be my guide after googling this author wasn't surprised to learn its humble origins.
Anyone exposing themselves to Fanfiction knows it can be a blessing and a scourge because when its bad is still regaled by its peers as being porntastic with EL James or Icy managing to reinforce the stigma rather than pave the way.
If the trilogy wasn't bad enough The bigger kick is the way women are going overboard for something that Katie Price aka Jordan might have penned without the assistance of a ghost writer, instead of from the pen of someone who is suppose to be perceived as intelligent.
It kind of Beggars belief but each to his own. I'm not the literary police just someone who defends the right to an opinion. Just as you feel compelled to rant so do I.
Hannah-rebecca hit the nail on the head...
Hannah-rebecca wrote: "Meh. There's always controversy. If people are going to take up arms against this book, they should do it based on the terrible writing, not the content."In the author's defence, she did a wonderful job developing the characters and the intensity of their relationship/love story. However, her timeline left a lot be be desired, it wasn't realistic at all and the fact that I had to use a dictionary through out the book.
It's a book. If the writing is bad I'm going to criticize it. It's the medium of the story after all. If the writing is bad it's difficult to enjoy the story. It should meet a certain standard and this book doesn't. Julie wrote: "Hannah-rebecca wrote: "Meh. There's always controversy. If people are going to take up arms against this book, they should do it based on the terrible writing, not the content."
In the author's de..."
I disagree with this because those weren't things the author did herself. Her characters and their relationships were written by someone else. James just lifted them, tossed them into a new situation and changed their names.
Lady Turtles wrote: "It's a book. If the writing is bad I'm going to criticize it. It's the medium of the story after all. If the writing is bad it's difficult to enjoy the story. It should meet a certain standard and ..."And, sadly, it still wasn't well done. Start with bad writing...
Lady Turtles wrote: "It's a book. If the writing is bad I'm going to criticize it. It's the medium of the story after all. If the writing is bad it's difficult to enjoy the story. It should meet a certain standard and ..."what do you mean they were written by someone else?
Susie wrote: "Lady Turtles wrote: "It's a book. If the writing is bad I'm going to criticize it. It's the medium of the story after all. If the writing is bad it's difficult to enjoy the story. It should meet a ..."EL james first wrote this story as a Twilight fanfiction called Master of the Universe, with the same character personalities and relationships as Twilight. The only thing changed between Master of the Universe and 50 Shades of Grey is the names of the characters and some of the phrasing. The characters were Stephanie Meyer's, the relationships were written by Stephanie Meyer, James just placed them in a different situation and swapped out the names.
Katrina wrote: "Lady Turtles wrote: "It's a book. If the writing is bad I'm going to criticize it. It's the medium of the story after all. If the writing is bad it's difficult to enjoy the story. It should meet a ..."
James somehow managed to make the writing worse than Twilight, which scares me.
I've only read the first book of Twilight but I've seen the movies and I don't see any similarities between Edward and Bella, and Christian and Ana. So I dunno...
I just think the author added in unnecessary, long, hard-to-understand words in parts of the book to make up for the rest of her writing skills.
Alex wrote: "I just think the author added in unnecessary, long, hard-to-understand words in parts of the book to make up for the rest of her writing skills."I think there are two many crimes to list at what is a poorly written garble of words that have no real context other than she was trying to show off or as you rightly say compensate for a lack of skill.
I don't know what was worse her indulgent abuse of adjectives or ridiculous metaphors like comparing orgasms to washing machines.
Subconsciously speaking raises a somnambulant head as well as an eybrow... or two....
I'm going to repeat what I said in my review, James should give half the money she made with 50 Shades to Stephenie because the only reason her book is getting such hype and attention is because it was a Twilight fanfic. 50 Shades is not a master piece in terms of writing and not any different than the tons of erotica books in the market.When I read the first book I didn't know it was a Twilight fanfic because let's face it, the plot in Twilight was a pretty basic one and lots of other romance books follow the same pattern. It doesn't matter though, it was a Twilight fanfic and that was what caught the media's attention.
Like many people who attempt to read 50 Shades, I felt my brain cells die and I really couldn't dig the 'story' out of the endless amount of sex. Really, it felt like I was reading the script of a bad porn movie. I managed to finish the first book but I couldn't push through the second.
Michelle wrote: "I'm going to repeat what I said in my review, James should give half the money she made with 50 Shades to Stephenie because the only reason her book is getting such hype and attention is because it..."That's one of the biggest issues! It gets better after the first book. Oh well.
Alex wrote: "I just think the author added in unnecessary, long, hard-to-understand words in parts of the book to make up for the rest of her writing skills."I just finished the first book, and my biggest issue wasn't words being hard to understand, it was just lack of diversity of word choice. She used the same words, and phrases, over and over again.
Regardless though. I was pretty entertained by the whole thing.
Read my review of it. That's all I have to say. People need to stop pretending they're so damned innocent.
Susie wrote: "Michelle wrote: "I'm going to repeat what I said in my review, James should give half the money she made with 50 Shades to Stephenie because the only reason her book is getting such hype and attent..."I read half of the second book so nobody can say I didn't try. It just wasn't for me. Too many sex scenes and not a lot of story. And to clarify, I'm not a prude, I love a good steamy sex scene but after so many of them, they just get boring. Plus, I didn't care for the characters either. Yeah, yeah, Christian was a tortured soul and Ana was his salvation. Nothing I have not seen before in the gazillion of romance books out there. The problem for me was the execution.
Alex wrote: "I just think the author added in unnecessary, long, hard-to-understand words in parts of the book to make up for the rest of her writing skills."so true
her writing sucks
it equivalents to mine and my writing is bad
Julie wrote: "Hannah-rebecca wrote: "Meh. There's always controversy. If people are going to take up arms against this book, they should do it based on the terrible writing, not the content."In the author's de..."
One of the things I hated most about this book was the undeveloped characters. There was no depth, just the same shit over and over again. They love, they fight (about the same thing), they repeat. Even the sex got boring and repetitive. Every the conversation is EXACTLY THE SAME through out the three books. E. L. James should have used her handy thesaurus more often then she already did, maybe the conversations would have been somewhat bearable to read.
Also, how does an English Literature graduate only have four responses in her vocabulary? "Oh" "Oh my" "Holy cow" "Holy shit." This is the narrative were talking about here. The important part of the book that explains how Ana really feels, giving us a glimpse in to her thoughts on a subject that she can't discuss with anyone else... And what do we get... "Oh my." I could have a more interesting conversation with my cat. Oh, and "please." I thought this was a BDSM book? Tell us what you want!! And make it fucking freaky!!! seeing as this book is supposed to be, well, freaky.
When a character only says four narrative phrases throughout a trilogy, you know you have a SHIT book. How did this get through editing? Really? Fuck, I should write a book. I can put a string of letter together to form sentences, I'm pretty sure I can also rip off someone else's story to make one of my own, and I can definitely use a thesaurus.
I assure you, it will be better then these books.
Joanne wrote: "Julie wrote: "Hannah-rebecca wrote: "Meh. There's always controversy. If people are going to take up arms against this book, they should do it based on the terrible writing, not the content."In t..."
LOL. And you forgot to mention her 'inner goddess'. I swear I wanted to freaking kill the dammed goddess.
I was ok with the book and the whole sexual theme but what I didn't like is that all three books take place within like a 4 month period. This is disturbing and unrealistic to me. It makes girls that fall head over heels in love or lust those first few months seem there can be happily ever after with marriage like in this book. I just wished the books were further apart and he at least was engaged after knowing her a good year.
Joanne wrote: "Julie wrote: "Hannah-rebecca wrote: "Meh. There's always controversy. If people are going to take up arms against this book, they should do it based on the terrible writing, not the content."In t..."
Well write book about email exchanges and you might get rich!!!!
Susie wrote: "I am so sick and tired of hearing all the arguments about Fifty Shades this and Fifty Shades that!!! For CRYING OUT LOUD this is NOT the ONLY sexually explicit romance novel out there!!! And I say ..."I completely agree with you susie... were they the best written books? Nope. Should they be considered classic American novels? Probably not. But they are definately more than just sex. There is a really good story woven through all three of them. A friend and I were recently discussing them and we came up with the following: book I, hot and heavy... book II, a romance... and book III, action and intrigue. I read for enjoyment, and I so enjoyed Fifty!
Tricia wrote: "Susie wrote: "I am so sick and tired of hearing all the arguments about Fifty Shades this and Fifty Shades that!!! For CRYING OUT LOUD this is NOT the ONLY sexually explicit romance novel out there..."Out of all three I thought book three was the most fun to read. More story behind it
Lesley wrote: "I was ok with the book and the whole sexual theme but what I didn't like is that all three books take place within like a 4 month period. This is disturbing and unrealistic to me. It makes girls th..."its the "Pretty Women" concept...someone with less meets someone with more - they struggle in their relationship, have conflict,they live happily ever after.
it a trilogy, not reality.
What these books have done is bring the BDSM lifestyle out into the open - provided mainstream exposure to concepts that normally would be very foreign to most people - its made this lifestyle a topic of daily conversions, spanning different age groups, religious groups & socioeconomic groups.
All of the sexual content and repetitive use of inner goddess, etc., I think this writer might improve. The third novel had a better story line, but it seemed that when perhaps she had a lull in the story line, bam - insert steamy sex "scene." Most of it, I could do without. I agree with "Paris" post above - the story could have been told in one novel.
Seriously, if you just want a little spice, read the series. If you want a really good page-turning story, save your money.
Seriously, if you just want a little spice, read the series. If you want a really good page-turning story, save your money.
I won't ever read these books. Ever. Even reading stuff about "sexy" tampon scenes, "inner goddesses", etc. make me embarrassed for humanity. You know what? I hate f**king sex scenes in books. Does that make me a prude? I don't know, maybe it does. I just don't feel the need to flip ahead to a sex scene to get all hot and bothered...and my sex life is just fine.I read to be entertained, transported to a different world, to see values illustrated in truth. I love good literary talent. I love reading writers like Janet Fitch who dazzle the hell out of me with prose. Not fanfic writers who write bullsh*t and make millions while there are modern day classics in a bargain bin at some Borders store because the right people didn't hype them enough.
Susie wrote: "I am so sick and tired of hearing all the arguments about Fifty Shades this and Fifty Shades that!!! For CRYING OUT LOUD this is NOT the ONLY sexually explicit romance novel out there!!! And I say ..."AMEN SUSIE!!!! Just an added thought..... It's not for everyone.IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT DON'T READ IT! BUT.. For heaven sake Stop Complaining about it !! Geez! It's that simple.
Susie wrote: "It's my own fault that I am so annoyed I should just stop reading all the freaking comments, but when I keep seeing them pop up it's almost impossible to stop from saying "hmm I wonder what crap they're saying now?"I don't even want people to reply to this post, I just need a place to rant!!
..."
Too funny. 75% of the responses are from the group you are ranting about!
"AMEN SUSIE!!!! Just an added thought..... It's not for everyone.IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT DON'T READ IT! BUT.. For heaven sake Stop Complaining about it !! Geez! It's that simple."1.How is anyone supposed to know whether or not they'll like something without first reading it?
2. Why should those of us who don't like it have to stop complaining about it while those who do like it are allowed to praise it?
Paris (kerbytejas) wrote: "What these books have done is bring the BDSM lifestyle out into the open - provided mainstream exposure to concepts that normally would be very foreign to most people - its made this lifestyle a to..."Actually, it's insulted those who practice consensual BDSM and vilified the practice as something only "abused", "sick", "twisted" people do.
If you really think this book is doing BDSM any favors, you haven't been paying attention.
Rose *I believe in ordinary acts on bravery...* wrote: "Read my review of it. That's all I have to say. People need to stop pretending they're so damned innocent."Who said anything about being innocent? I enjoy some freaky sex, the sex scenes are not all anyone takes issue with regarding these horrible monstrosities of literature. They're terribly written and have a repugnant message regarding relationships. And if the spelling error in your own screen name is any indication of your literary prowess, I'm not surprised you rated FSoG five stars.
Susie wrote: "I've only read the first book of Twilight but I've seen the movies and I don't see any similarities between Edward and Bella, and Christian and Ana. So I dunno..."http://jamigold.com/2012/03/when-does...
Paris (kerbytejas) wrote:"its the "Pretty Women" concept...someone with less meets someone with more - they struggle in their relationship, have conflict,they live happily ever after.it a trilogy, not reality.
Last time I checked, Richard Gere didn't threaten Julia Roberts with physical violence if she displeased him.
Maybe I'm remembering it all wrong...
Katrina wrote: "Who said anything about being innocent? I enjoy some freaky sex, the sex scenes are not all anyone takes issue with regarding these horrible monstrosities of literature. They're terribly written and have a repugnant message regarding relationships. And if the spelling error in your own screen name is any indication of your literary prowess, I'm not surprised you rated FSoG five stars."Of course you have a right to express your opinion of the book, but please keep the personal cheap shots to yourself...they do not belong in this thread.
WOW ya'll are just... I don't know but, why can't we have a positive thread? Why do people put so much time into something they don't like? If you don't like it, why bother with it? Let it go, move on to something you do like.I don't want any fan bashing on this thread, I started it so I think I should have a say in what is posted here.
First of all, I even stated that I wanted no replies but obviously people don't care! I wish there was an option to block them but I don't think there is.
Secondly, if there are going to be posts then please be fans or at least non-haters! Those of us who do like the book would like a place to talk to others and have a good time. We don't want to deal with all the negativity! There is enough of it in A LOT of other threads!
I don't say mean things to people who don't like the book. That is your personal preference so why do us, the fans, have to put up with all the negative comments directed toward us?
I am sure that the majority of the fans do not agree with or condone a lot of what Christian does, but it is FICTION! We are old enough to know things don't work out like that in real life. We are mature enough to realize that it is not all healthy. But that doesn't change the fact that as FICTION we enjoyed reading about their struggle to grow and heal and become better people in order to find happiness and love!
So please, as the old saying goes "If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all!"
Thank you!
Susie wrote: "WOW ya'll are just... I don't know but, why can't we have a positive thread? Why do people put so much time into something they don't like? If you don't like it, why bother with it? Let it go, move..."I totally agree with you Susie, to me this is a book of fiction that showed a struggle of how people can grow and heal into better people, like you said above.
I find it tiresome that I come on here, and there are also endless threads that either start out negative or end up being hijacked into being negative especially on this forum although seen it elsewhere as well.
For me if I do not like a book I might put one or two star on the rating, but I do not go and then slate it in a forum endlessly. I have more time productive things to be doing than getting worked up over a book of fiction.
I have only read the first in this trilogy. The other 2 are in my book case, awaiting the time to dive in. As an avid reader and a writer, I agree with some and disagree with others. When controversial reviews and ratings are placed on books, music and movies, it tends to boost those sales. Let's face it, we will gravitate to those controversial items that make us stop and rethink our beliefs/directions, etc.Yes, it may be perceived as 'fluff,' but it's our choice to buy, or borrow the product that we have deemed mindless matter! We can also pick up a worth while book, or go to a tastefully done movie. We can also make the choice to listen to music that doesn't ingratiate violence or sex in it.
That being said.....Right now with this whole topic of 50 Shades and it's hype, we are doing exactly as planned by the marketers, media moguls, the author's agent and the publishing giant. We're feeding into and buying into the controversy that has been planned out for us. And who says that we can't step out of our comfort zone and venture out into topics that make us re-examine ourselves??
Katrina wrote: ""AMEN SUSIE!!!! Just an added thought..... It's not for everyone.IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT DON'T READ IT! BUT.. For heaven sake Stop Complaining about it !! Geez! It's that simple."1.How is anyone sup..."
I agree - you have a right to not read it and that same right to complain about it...its called freedom of expression.
I have found books which I didn't like and stopped reading them and I have complained about what i didn't like about a book in other threads, and that group got just as upset with my dislike of their LOVED book. Its human nature to defend what we like I guess
Katrina wrote: "Paris (kerbytejas) wrote:"its the "Pretty Women" concept...someone with less meets someone with more - they struggle in their relationship, have conflict,they live happily ever after.it a trilogy,..."
I didn't see Ana as being threatened...she had an out if the experience was not to her liking in the story
Paris (kerbytejas) wrote: "Lesley wrote: "I was ok with the book and the whole sexual theme but what I didn't like is that all three books take place within like a 4 month period. This is disturbing and unrealistic to me. It..."I know its not reality but as someone who works daily with young women with some relationship issues this can be misleading. I see daily young women jump into relationships after knowing the guy 2 weeks and have gotten pregnant too. Unfortunately many people want what they read and see on Tv and think they can have the happily ever after as easy as ana did.
Lesley wrote: "Paris (kerbytejas) wrote: "Lesley wrote: "I was ok with the book and the whole sexual theme but what I didn't like is that all three books take place within like a 4 month period. This is di..."Lelsey - thank you for being there for those that need you / assistance - it is sad that young girls and some young boys end up making choices that will forever impact their lives - I have a family member who has made poor choices (in my opinion), and as a result will have a difficult life, I can only hope that she has learned from her choices and will help her young boys to make better decisions as they grow up.
Lifes not like the movies,TV or a good book there are no quick fixes, and it can have long term effects on ones future with no guarantee of a HEA.
Hannah-rebecca wrote: "Meh. There's always controversy. If people are going to take up arms against this book, they should do it based on the terrible writing, not the content."AAAAAMEN!
If giving an opinion is considered a complaint, then I definitely did that on my review of this book. At the end of the day, if you take all the sex away from the first book, because I have not read the other two yet, there isn't a story, plain and simple! I don't mind juicy love scenes throughout a "great" story, which I use loosely here, but there was NO STORY! If you are honest with yourself, remove the sex, what do you really have in this story, and I'm referring to the Fifty Shades of Grey! Of course people are talking about this becuase it's sex and it sells. What I find is that many are hypocrites. Lots of people talk and pass judgment on the porn industry, yet they hail this book as "great" and it's the best! Just makes me wonder what is wrong with this picture?
Susie wrote: "WOW ya'll are just... I don't know but, why can't we have a positive thread? Why do people put so much time into something they don't like? If you don't like it, why bother with it? Let it go, move..."I think your confusing constructive opinion as being inflammatory rather than a freedom of expression. Just as you have the right to say how much you enjoyed these books others like myself feel the complete opposite and kind of duped that we missed the hype before forking out good money that might have been better in my bank account than icy's.
As for content I couldn't even muster up the strength to agree or disagree on the power struggles that coexisted between the main protagonists why?? because I simply couldn't care less about cardboard.
As for your point on offering only positive critique how is an author supposed to grow if everybody just nods and agrees at how completely lovely it is instead of pointing out the fatal flaws.
The bottom line is this never really transcended beyond its humble beginnings as a free read. Its also not worthy of all the hype or praise that's being heaped upon it.
I suppose as one commentator has already pointed out no publicity is bad publicity. So in that respect the money is guaranteed to keep rolling in.
Paris (kerbytejas) wrote: "What these books have done is bring the BDSM lifestyle out into the open - provided mainstream exposure to concepts that normally would be very foreign to most people - its made this lifestyle a to..."You are right that it brought BDSM to the mainstream (which I wasn't familiar yet), and it made for some crazy-kinky and entertaining scenes. Unfortunately, 60 pages into book two, the story seems to be going in the other direction now, the sex scenes seem lazier and are too frequent. The tension I felt in the first book seems to have fizzled a bit. I'm gonna keep pushing through, I guess I am curious to see what she does next. But if she was trying to say something about the whole BDSM thing, it seems to have disappeared at this point.
I enjoyed the books. Although there are some similarities in the characters with Bella and Edward, it is not really the same story. I did find the erotic themes to get boring after awhile, but overall it was a fun read which is really all I was looking for with this series.
I understand that FSoG started as fanfic, but has any romance piece been original since Jane Eyre? (Poor woman, rich man, conflict, separation, reacquaintance.) Stephanie Myers stated that Jane Eyre was an inspiration when writing Twilight. So would Twilight be considered fanfic?
Landofthedragon wrote: "Susie wrote: "WOW ya'll are just... I don't know but, why can't we have a positive thread? Why do people put so much time into something they don't like? If you don't like it, why bother with it? L..."You completely missed the point! It's like you read my post but didn't really see what I said!
"As for your point on offering only positive critique how is an author supposed to grow if everybody just nods and agrees at how completely lovely it is instead of pointing out the fatal flaws."
I said nothing about critiquing, positive or otherwise. I only stated that people with like tastes would like to be able to talk and discuss the books without all the people who didn't like it jumping in and taking over! It's not that you can't complain or critique the book, just don't do it on my thread. There are plenty of threads out there with people who have similar opinions about the book. If you want to complain or critique just go to one of those threads, there are plenty to choose from.
"The bottom line is this never really transcended beyond its humble beginnings as a free read. Its also not worthy of all the hype or praise that's being heaped upon it."
I have not been praising the book as you say because I know it is not the best out there, hints the 3 star rating I gave the first book, but that doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy it. People can like something without singing praises to it just like someone can dislike something without trashing it!
And as for "wasting money" on it, then why did you? You could have borrowed it from some one, or like me checked it out of the library. I did not spend $9.99 on an e-book to read, so maybe others could have done something to prevent it, say like skimming through the book at the store before buying it to see the if you like the content, ask people who have similar ideas if they liked the book. Checked it out of your own library. Wait until the other people who didn't like it take it to a used book store and buy it for cheaper! There were plenty of choices that didn't include jumping on the bandwagon.
And like I have said before somewhere on goodreads, that if you are not mature enough to know the difference between reality and fiction then you are not mature enough to read a book that contains sex in it, plain and simple. Take a look at Disney, I have seen a post going around facebook that states how almost all the heroes on Disney are not that great of men.
Soooo... lets all start trashing Disney instead J/K!!!!!!!!!
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It's my own fault that I am so annoyed I should just stop reading all the freaking comments, but when I keep seeing them pop up it's almost impossible to stop from saying "hmm I wonder what crap they're saying now?"
I don't even want people to reply to this post, I just need a place to rant!!