Fifty Shades of Grey
discussion
dont like it ..dont read it
Mary wrote: "Jenna wrote: "i didnt say the book as a whole was terrible just the writting style and i never said spelling errors or anythig like that my other comments in this thread i said the repettitve phras..."and Mary i understand its hard to catch those things but in my eyes both are at fault the writer and the editor.. yes the editor more so cuz thats their job but its still both
Mary wrote: "Jenna wrote: "i didnt say the book as a whole was terrible just the writting style and i never said spelling errors or anythig like that my other comments in this thread i said the repettitve phras..."and i think we talked about this another day she didnt have an editor only her self and her husband
Lorie wrote: "Duchess Nicole wrote: "Lorie wrote: "Dana wrote: "I don't think a person is going to know if they like it till they actually read it. I can't say I don't like something f I haven't read it. And if ..."See, I credit Twilight with getting me interested in reading again. After real life took over (having babies and job and husband,) I lost interest in reading for a few years. But after reading Twilight, I remembered why I like reading so much. I injoy YA novels, but there are certainly maturity levels.
Could you suggest any fanfic that you did like?
Sorry Jenna,Didn't mean to make you repeat your response, i didn't realize that you had already addressed my question. :-)
Although I enjoyed these books, I think that readers have every right in the world to dislike a book bc they felt the writing was bad. No author has the same writing style, and the writing alone is just as important as the story line. Actually, the writing is MOST important bc it is what makes or breaks any story. Another author could have written EL's exact story and it would probably end up almost unrecognizable due to different writing techniques.I just abandoned a book called The Boy Who Sneaks in my Bedroom Window bc I could not acclimate myself to the writing. However... I did like the story line. For someone else, the writing in this book could have better suited their taste.
Karen wrote: "Michelle wrote: "I knew there was going to be alot of sYex in it and I knew what kind. I couldn't finish reading it b/c it was horribly written, I didn't like the characters and couldn't have cared..."I didn't care to even finish the first book so you are right in that I did not finish the series. I don't care if he improved or not. He is still not my idea of relationship material and I'd rather not waste my time reading 50 when there is really good smut out there to read. Lol
Karen wrote: "Sorry Jenna,Didn't mean to make you repeat your response, i didn't realize that you had already addressed my question. :-)"
lol its okay hun :) yea i never once said i didnt like the story it didnt catch my interest and make me like OMG lol like lets say Lover unbound with V ;) haha but i just feel the story was good but written better it could have been AMAZING
Jenna wrote: "Mary wrote: "Jenna wrote: "i didnt say the book as a whole was terrible just the writting style and i never said spelling errors or anythig like that my other comments in this thread i said the rep..."Gonna agree with Jenna on this. When I used to write, I would almost always keep a dictionary and thesaurus on hand to use just in case I needed it. There are a couple of times where James clearly used the wrong word in a sentence. One example is her use of "terminal velocity": [image error] (Any Princess Bride fans out there? :P )
lol i love that movie :)
Michelle wrote: "I'd rather not waste my time reading 50 when there is really good smut out there to read"Your response says it all.
I really think the fact that she wrote this as fanfic is a HUGE reason that these errors are still there. She had a huge fan base before she even changed the names from Edward and Bella to Ana and Christian. Do you guys think that your opinion of the book would change drastically had she hired an editor? Jenna, if you liked the story itself, could you have given this a better rating than one star?
Duchess Nicole wrote: "Lorie wrote: "Duchess Nicole wrote: "Lorie wrote: "Dana wrote: "I don't think a person is going to know if they like it till they actually read it. I can't say I don't like something f I haven't re..."Oh I totally understand what you mean! I said a few posts back that I like to read something light when I finish a "heavy" book. I still love to read YA for sure I guess I meant that I realized I wasn't into love triangles and stories that focus heavily on romance (not that there is anything wrong with that obviously). =)
I guess for me, editing has never been a huge issue. I focus almost entirely on the story itself. Unless it's just too poor to read, I ignore most grammatical errors. Even the 'terminal velocity' thing I understood, so I didn't focus on it. I got what she was trying to say, so I just glossed over it.
no and why do u care what i rate a book it didnt keep my interest because it got boring because i didnt like the writting style i take all that into account when i rate a book for my PERSONAL referance
Lorie wrote: "There are a couple of times where James clearly used the wrong word in a sentence. One example is her use of "terminal velocity": "I don't understand your problem with this... I took it as a sarcastic comment regarding the ridiculously fast speed of the elevator. Am I wrong? How are you taking it?
I suppose because she was traveling up instead of down?
Lorie wrote: "Duchess Nicole wrote: "Lorie wrote: "Duchess Nicole wrote: "Lorie wrote: "Dana wrote: "I don't think a person is going to know if they like it till they actually read it. I can't say I don't like s..."I'm a romance junkie :) It's my guilty pleasure.
Duchess Nicole wrote: "I really think the fact that she wrote this as fanfic is a HUGE reason that these errors are still there. She had a huge fan base before she even changed the names from Edward and Bella to Ana and..."That's what I thought too about the errors. For me personally, even if the writing were better I would probably have given it a 2 or something. I give ratings on how much I actually enjoyed the book. I probably would have given it a 2 because I also like to be challenged when I read; I find it enjoyable when I learn a new word or I have to re-read something to better understand it.
Karen wrote: "Lorie wrote: "There are a couple of times where James clearly used the wrong word in a sentence. One example is her use of "terminal velocity": "I don't understand your problem with this... I too..."
I think they're taking it literally, and we are taking it loosely. Like I said earlier, I didn't even notice the phrase until someone pointed it out to me as a misuse. *shrug*
Jenna wrote: "no and why do u care what i rate a book it didnt keep my interest because it got boring because i didnt like the writting style i take all that into account when i rate a book for my PERSONAL refer..."I suppose I care about your rating just because I was curious how you enjoyed the story but still rated it one star. Again, I was not trying to offend you. I'll address my questions elsewhere if you prefer.
Duchess Nicole wrote: "I think they're taking it literally, and we are taking it loosely."The only way you can see this as a misused phrase is to see that she used it in describing the ascension of the elevator, as opposed to its descent.
Otherwise it can only be perceived as a sarcastic description.
i like how we are being grouped separatly because we dont see eye to eye on things makes me think way back to highschool :)
just because i liked the story line doesnt mean i enjoyed it ive said SEVERAL times i liked the story line and if written better it could have been Great doesnt mean that i LOVED IT it just means i think it had potential
Grammatical errors and awkward phrasing are direct results of poor editing. But the actual writing "style" is something entirely different which even the greatest editor around cannot correct, and has no right to. EL has her own, very distinctive writing style. Readers have the right to either love it or hate it, and to also comment on it bc it is a subjective issue. Why does it seem taboo to claim you dislike a book bc of the writing. I love many books bc of my opinion of the writing. Shouldn't it work both ways?
Karen wrote: "Duchess Nicole wrote: "I think they're taking it literally, and we are taking it loosely."The only way you can see this as a misused phrase is to see that she used it in describing the ascension ..."
I just personally think she had no clue what it meant. You can't use 'with terminal velocity' to mean 'really really fast'. Like you said Karen, it means that it is falling. In addition, it should be AT terminal velocity even if she did mean to use it in the way she thought. Terminal velocity is a specific velocity. For example, you don't say "someone is driving with 40mph" you say "someone is driving AT 40mph".
thanks for the add Lorie :)
Lorie wrote: "Karen wrote: "Duchess Nicole wrote: "I think they're taking it literally, and we are taking it loosely."The only way you can see this as a misused phrase is to see that she used it in describing ..."
I suppose that I just understood what point she was trying to make, regardless of whether the phrase was used correctly. That's why I wasn't aware of it. I tend to read quickly enough that I don't notice a lot of editing issues, and I for sure don't write well enough to catch them most of the time.
I admire her for doing what she's done. I think its sad that her success has to be overshadowed by people saying how bad of a writer she is. She didn't write this to be a literary masterpeice. She had a story, and put it on paper. Enough people fell in love with it that she now has a hugely popular and widely criticized work. I wish I could write so poorly, LOL! I know I'd take the criticism!
Jenna wrote: "thanks for the add Lorie :)"Yeah! We're in the same clique now after all! =P
Kris wrote: "Although I enjoyed these books, I think that readers have every right in the world to dislike a book bc they felt the writing was bad. No author has the same writing style, and the writing alone is..."i know what you mean i just started a book that i wanna give up and i NEVER stop reading a book i struggle thru it no matter because i just have a thing about that. and the tittle to this one is ROOM and i just dont know im only a few pages in but its rough im tryin really hard to give it a chance just dunno if i can
Lorie wrote: "Jenna wrote: "thanks for the add Lorie :)"Yeah! We're in the same clique now after all! =P"
LMAO i was thinkin the same thing we are just to Literall :D
Kris wrote: "Grammatical errors and awkward phrasing are direct results of poor editing. But the actual writing "style" is something entirely different which even the greatest editor around cannot correct, and ..."I don't think its taboo at all to not like something because you don't enjoy the writing, as long as its known that it's just an opinion. A lot of people state that the writing is terrible as if it's fact, and that's what I would like to see differentiated. I have a lot of GR friends that have the same favorite books as me...and then we'll completely differ on our opinion of a new book. Some books just don't strike the right chord with people.
Duchess Nicole wrote: "Kris wrote: "Grammatical errors and awkward phrasing are direct results of poor editing. But the actual writing "style" is something entirely different which even the greatest editor around cannot ..."Of course it's an opinion, but the FACT is that they felt the writing style was poor and failed to meet their expectations.
I honestly enjoyed the series. The writing style wasn't a favorite of mine, but I liked the story enough for it to work.
Like I said, grammatical errors are not subjective, but the quality of someone's writing style is. I don't feel that anyone would be so popmous as to believe that their opinion on a particular style of writing equates to an unequivocal truth.
lmao Kris.....welcome to the dark side its great....we have popcicles
Jenna wrote: "lmao Kris.....welcome to the dark side its great....we have popcicles"And cookies!
hey Karen whos in the next BDB book? after phurys? is it Rev?
I feel like I am offending a couple of you no matter what I say. I'm not understanding where I'm going wrong here. Am I attacking someone and not aware of it?
Duchess Nicole wrote: "I feel like I am offending a couple of you no matter what I say. I'm not understanding where I'm going wrong here. Am I attacking someone and not aware of it?"the way ur comming across is your opinon is all that matters, its like ur not even attempting to see other ppls POV urs is the only right one, u say its YOUR opinon but it just seems like other things u say ur takin jabs at ppl and looking down ur nose at some of us and thats comming from me im not speakin for anyone else if u guys feel like i am im not thats my take on it
Kris wrote: "Duchess Nicole wrote: "Kris wrote: "Grammatical errors and awkward phrasing are direct results of poor editing. But the actual writing "style" is something entirely different which even the greates..."I don't see how we have a different opinion here. We are both saying the same thing.
Jenna wrote: "just because i liked the story line doesnt mean i enjoyed it ive said SEVERAL times i liked the story line and if written better it could have been Great doesnt mean that i LOVED IT it just means i..."I don't know what you mean here. Maybe this is where I'm confused. You like the story line but don't enjoy it. Then you condescend to tell me how you've repeated yourself SEVERAL times. If you want to have a discussion, I'm more than willing. But you're taking what I say the wrong way. I don't feel as if I've said anything that should lead you to respond to me in the way that you have. I was curious about your rating, and I suppose from your response, I shouldn't be. But you stated earlier that you enjoyed the story line, but not the writing. How was I supposed to ask about that in a way that wouldn't offend you?
Duchess Nicole wrote: "I feel like I am offending a couple of you no matter what I say. I'm not understanding where I'm going wrong here. Am I attacking someone and not aware of it?"I'm not offending you simply bc I disagree with you a bit, am I? That is not my intention. You have stated your opinion and supplied your reasoning, and i, in turn, have done the same.
I just feel it's important for everyone to be allowed to give their opinion on the book as well as it's writing, without being told that their opinions are not factual, when that should just be a given.
But I am not offended by you statements at all ;)
Duchess Nicole wrote: "Kris wrote: "Duchess Nicole wrote: "Kris wrote: "Grammatical errors and awkward phrasing are direct results of poor editing. But the actual writing "style" is something entirely different which eve..."We have similar views, yes, I was just commenting on your post where you said...as long as they know their bad writing comments are opinion... I felt that they were simply stating their opinion in the first place and that is what I was trying to get across in my last post. I do not mean to come off rude at all, just chiming in with some of my thoughts on the matter. And I have not been offended by you.
Duchess Nicole wrote: "Lorie wrote: "Karen wrote: "Duchess Nicole wrote: "I think they're taking it literally, and we are taking it loosely."The only way you can see this as a misused phrase is to see that she used it ..."
Well that's why I am honestly shocked that it is a NY Times Bestseller... I get that people love the story, I truly do but some of the writing errors/editing errors are just unbearable. I think that's why some people, myself included, are baffled by this.
This is what my original post was on this subject:The 'bad writing' that everyone touts is entirely subjective. I'd love for them to give examples of just what bad writing is. I believe most of it is their own opinion, which they are entitled to. But they can't force me to not like the series, and to make a blanket statement like that makes me want to disregard what they say, anyways.
Then, someone posted examples of how the book had editing errors and I pointed out the difference between bad writing and bad editing. So yes, I felt like they were stating their opinion as if I should agree with them. That's what I was trying to refute, and it has snoballed into me offending people. That was never my intent. And I'm not pointing fingers at anyone and telling them that they are wrong. I've just read the same arguments for why people have a distaste or even hate the series, and act as if I'm crazy for being able to enjoy it. It's obvious it brings out strong feelings.
Lorie wrote: "Duchess Nicole wrote: "Lorie wrote: "Karen wrote: "Duchess Nicole wrote: "I think they're taking it literally, and we are taking it loosely."The only way you can see this as a misused phrase is t..."
Honestly, the thing that shocked me is that this was touted as BDSM and it's on the NYT Best seller list. I honestly didn't think THAT many people would want to read a book like that.
Kris wrote: "Duchess Nicole wrote: "I feel like I am offending a couple of you no matter what I say. I'm not understanding where I'm going wrong here. Am I attacking someone and not aware of it?"I'm not off..."
And no, Kris...you don't offend me at all.
Duchess Nicole wrote: "This is what my original post was on this subject:The 'bad writing' that everyone touts is entirely subjective. I'd love for them to give examples of just what bad writing is. I believe most of i..."
Gotcha, I don't think I saw your initial post as there has been so much activity here. I guess both sides feel very strongly on their views and want to make sure the other side is aware that their feelings on the writing style are mere opinion... When all of this is, in fact, opinion. So we're all on the same path here, just running in opposite directions!! ;)
Lorie wrote: "Karen wrote: "Duchess Nicole wrote: "I think they're taking it literally, and we are taking it loosely."The only way you can see this as a misused phrase is to see that she used it in describing ..."
Again, I don't think she meant to use this term in the literal sense. It was probably chosen, (or I took it to mean) as sarcasm, indicating ridiculously fast.
I don't think this was used inappropriately. As long as the reader "gets" the meaning, and it was received with the sarcastic flare that was intended, then it was used correctly.
Either way, I think that is nit picking the text, truthfully.
Jenna wrote: "hey Karen whos in the next BDB book? after phurys? is it Rev?"Yes, I believe so, and it is a great story... I liked it better than Phury's story.
i liked phurys but i didnt think it focused on him as much as it did the other brothers in their books
But even if she wasnt using it "literally" it still would not make sense... there are plenty of other terms she could have used to describe how fast she felt the elevator go but I personally think she tried too hard and failed. I think its fin I guess if people "get" it but I just have a problem with words being used incorrectly and it being ok.
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Just curious, what was it about the story itself, that you disliked so much, or that yo..."
like i said i didnt say the spelling errors i said the repetitive phrases she over used alot of things which made me bored i said i liked the story line to it i ALSO said the sex scenes became repetitive to never once said the spelling erroros or mis use of words like their there they're never said that