# Fifty Shades of Grey



## MamaStrong (Feb 13, 2015)

What are your thoughts? 

My sister seems to have very strong thoughts about it....never got passed the first book. Her views are Christian. Being a believer of the Good Man myself I don't want to knock her beliefs but....I think it's going a little too far. Here's her blog post about it if you wanna read it: http://fitwithdashspiritualfitness....tanand-my-last-name-is-not-grey.html?spref=fb

I've also seen quite a few news articles on the topic. 

What are YOUR thoughts about the book? 

I need to reread them before I can give my view on them again. The writing was hard to read so that's my only downfall towards the books so far.


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## InstituteMan (Feb 13, 2015)

I blogged my thoughts on the book (blog is in my signature, the post in question is called "50 Shades of Inspiration"). The abridged version of my post is that if 50 Shades can sell so well, there's no reason for me not to write my heart out.

Having not read beyond the first chapter of 50 Shades, my only knowledge of the book is from what others have said. While the relationship described as the focus of the book seems more abusive than kinky, the existence of the book doesn't bother me. To each her/his own.


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## Riptide (Feb 13, 2015)

I liked it. My sister bought for me as a joke for Christmas to get me to write erotica, and, well, I read it in two days. I enjoyed the writing and now write everything present tense and I thought the MC had a cool two sides about her.

But, to me it didn't have much of a story and the ending was rushed, even though it's a trilogy and that was only book one. It was quick to end on a bad note for the characters, like he forced it. That's what I thought, anyway.


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## Deafmute (Feb 13, 2015)

I have read the first two books. I enjoyed them. I have always come to the conclusion that anything that becomes popular especially with women is going to be criticized. People who don't like the genre of a specific thing be it movie, book, video game, tv show etc... will always get sick of something that is constantly the center of attention. As a result they complain about having to hear so much about it and tear it to pieces as though its is inherently bad. 

Value is subjective. To say one thing is better than another must be taken with the understanding that each person's taste is different. I recognized as I read that much of the writing was unrefined. Here and there were phrases or word choices that I feel a more "professional" writer might not have used, but for a novice writing what was effectively armature work, I think it was great. 

The overarching premise was not bad, and though it was twisted I completely believed the characters and their romance. I think she did a good job of redeeming the guy as he struggled to overcome a rough history, and the female lead showed a lot of depth. It showed the intricacy of a relationship while also showing the eroticism of it. She captured titillation extremely effectively. 

So my only commentary would be to ask if people hate something to such an extent that they feel it should be publicly skewered the question should be asked if their hate originates in the actual content, or the resulting fandom.


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## Morkonan (Feb 14, 2015)

MamaStrong said:


> ...What are YOUR thoughts about the book? ..



People will buy anything.

Tomorrow, I'm going to get a 3D scan of what I ate for dinner tonight. Then, I will plot the coordinates and send it to a 3D printer, which will prototype a replica of it for me. I will then paint it fifty shades of brown and put it up for sale on ebay.

Someone will buy it.

Guaranteed.

Will a hundred million people buy it? Maybe. I bet there are some coprophiliacs out there that might rise to the challenge. Perhaps I should start making plastic models of the poo of popular literary characters? What an idea! I'll use literary characters that are out of copyright, so I can actually use their names. What does Captain Ahab's poo look like? I'll be rich!  :/


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## Schrody (Feb 14, 2015)

Don't mix love and romance under the appearance of BDSM with abuse. I'm not saying BDSM is abuse, but those portrayed in the book is.


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## MamaStrong (Feb 14, 2015)

Schrody said:


> Don't mix love and romance under the appearance of BDSM with abuse. I'm not saying BDSM is abuse, but those portrayed in the book is.



Yeah. I wasn't too comfortable reading the whole, "Spanking". I don't see how he did it could ever be "pleasurable". I'm not into the kinky hardcore sex like that described in the book. Actually learned a few things reading it LOL, but the spanking was a total turn off. It was then that I realized the main Male Character was off his rocker.


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## Sam (Feb 14, 2015)

It started as _Twilight _fan-fiction. 

That says it all.


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## Kevin (Feb 14, 2015)

The Geezuz station is running adds against it.


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## shadowwalker (Feb 14, 2015)

Haven't read it because it's not the kind of book I would read. But there are an awful lot of books that have been very successful that fit into that category. Other people like them, a lot, so who am I to judge? I just assume there was something about them that attracted that many readers - it just didn't attract me.


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## JustRob (Feb 14, 2015)

MamaStrong said:


> Yeah. I wasn't too comfortable reading the whole, "Spanking". I don't see how he did it could ever be "pleasurable".



Having not read the book my mind boggles. Aficionados (I really need to link a spelling checker to this application to avoid any embarasment.:fat maintain that some women have nerve endings wired in a certain way that transfers the sensations elsewhere more appropriate during the normal spanking process. I only studied the theory out of curiosity a long time ago of course.

Many decades ago in my youth I used to read a magazine that covered every aspect of sexual practices in a responsible serious manner, (i.e. not many pictures) just to check whether there was anything worthwhile that I was missing. Now that I'm over seventy I think I've covered all that interested me, but knowing the theory about the rest was an education. In that light I get the impression that this particular series of stories may not contain that much once the textbook practices are taken out, but maybe this thread will suggest otherwise. I await the result eagerly, no actually more in a state of complete detachment. (Did I spell that right? I could have written "disinterest" but that might have started yet another controversy on this website.)


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## TKent (Feb 14, 2015)

I loved the title - it is one of the best book titles I can think of.  I thought Christian Grey was pretty hot. 

The story itself was pretty silly, in that it was a melodramatic YA/NA romance (average at best) with doses of erotica thrown in that didn't quite fit. And who has sex ten times a day anyway??

BUUUUUUTTTT... All that said, I read all three because the sex scenes were pretty hot to me. LOL! I'm a pig, what can I say.

My husband liked them too as he reaped the benefits of my mommy porn obsession


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## JustRob (Feb 14, 2015)

TKent said:


> And who has sex ten times a day anyway??
> 
> BUUUUUUTTTT... All that said, I read all three because the sex scenes were pretty hot to me. LOL! I'm a pig, what can I say.



Maybe that's why I can't remember much about the first few weeks of our marriage except being very happy, very tired and losing a lot of weight. It can't have been ten though, not every day at least; we were both working at the time.

When you get the time I'd love to hear from you about my stuff on the top shelf, but no hurry. It sounds like I may have to raise my game. Maybe that remark in itself will increase membership of the group. That's a point. Why are we having sex -- discussed -- in the lounge? Isn't there a kitchen?

Oh drat, that reminds me. In over forty years of marriage I've not done any cooking, in fact none in my life apart from one meat and two veg when my wife was too ill to stir from her bed or even talk about cooking. I've offered to learn but she likes to eat at a reasonable time of day, not three hours late. On that one occasion I got out the cookery book, read the instructions and confidently started to peel the potatoes. The finished product actually tasted okay, but then I enjoy reading my own fiction as well. Tomorrow is a different experience though in that I will be cooking the main attraction of our week, the traditional English Sunday roast. She tells me that there's nothing to it and at least this time she'll be there to supervise, but she'll also be eating it, so criticism is more likely than last time. At least the bottle of wine should help it go down. So don't tell me about dominance and submission, not while I'm wearing my pinny anyway. (No elaboration on that remark is offered.) Maybe I need to read that book just to keep things even in my mind. Sexual equality? My angel would never contemplate sinking that low.


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## bazz cargo (Feb 14, 2015)

50 Sheds Of Grey is better.


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## TKent (Feb 14, 2015)

[*Warning objectionable material*] Speaking of 50 Shades... This is a hilarious poem by poet Pam Ayres. Pip shared it someplace once before but it always cracks me up when I read it 

*'An Ode to Fifty Shades of Grey' by Pam Ayres
*
The missus bought a Paperback
down Shepton, Saturday,
I had a look in her bag;
...T’was “Fifty Shades of Grey”.

Well I just left her to it,
...At ten I went to bed.
An hour later she appeared;
The sight filled me with dread…

In her left hand she held a rope;
And in her right a whip!
She threw them down on the floor,
And then began to strip.

Well fifty years or so ago;
I might have had a peek;
But Mabel hasn’t weathered well;
She’s eighty four next week.

Watching Mabel bump and grind;
Could not have been much grimmer.
Things then went from bad to worse;
She toppled off her Zimmer!

She struggled up upon her feet;
A couple minutes later;
She put her teeth back in and said...
I must dominate her!!

Now if you knew our Mabel,
You’d see just why I spluttered,
I’d spent two months in traction
For the last complaint I’d muttered.

She stood there nude, naked like;
Bent forward just a bit ….
I thought oh well, what the hell,
and stood on her left tit!

Mabel screamed, her teeth shot out;
My god what had I done!?
She moaned and groaned then shouted out:
“Step on the other one!”

Well readers, I can’t tell no more;
About what occurred that day.
Suffice to say my jet black hair,
Turned fifty shades of Grey.


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## JustRob (Feb 14, 2015)

Thanks for the Pam Ayres poem. We love her stuff but haven't seen this one. My wife will be very amused; not quite so much of an angel as I make out actually.


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## Riis Marshall (Feb 14, 2015)

Hello Mama

Although I have read quite a few critiques of _50_, I haven't read it. Based on what I have read, it looks like _Story of O_ by Pauline Réage published in France in 1954 updated with i-phones and microchips (I may be wrong, of course). For any of you who have read both, please let me know whether I'm right or wrong. I read _O_ in the '90s and I found it disturbing; I didn't care for it at all.

The other important criticism I've read about _50_ is it is poorly written and was rushed out without having been proofed decently if at all. These two criticisms are enough to put me off spending my time reading it.

I cannot, however, argue it has not been successful financially for the author, the agent, the publisher or the filmmaker. Would that I could sell some of my work so easily; maybe I need to think about another genre.

All the best with your writing.

Warmest regards
Riis


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## JustRob (Feb 14, 2015)

Riis Marshall said:


> Hello Mama
> 
> Although I have read quite a few critiques of _50_, I haven't read it. Based on what I have read, it looks like _Story of O_ by Pauline Réage published in France in 1954 updated with i-phones and microchips (I may be wrong, of course). For any of you who have read both, please let me know whether I'm right or wrong. I read _O_ in the '90s and I found it disturbing; I didn't care for it at all.



O is of course the definitive classic on this, to my mind. The woman in it is reduced to not even having a name, just a cipher. It is a powerful work but not enjoyable by many including me. Not all literature succeeds because it is enjoyable. That may just be a modern trend. I am in the same position as you, not having read 50, but I would need a good reason after reading O and the sexual aspects probably wouldn't be it.


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## Jeko (Feb 14, 2015)

FSoG is, to me, like ecchi/hentai anime: not going to experience it, but I know enough people will, so it's going to exist - just for them, though. Not for me.


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## bookmasta (Feb 14, 2015)

Honestly, I think 50 Shades of Gray sells women short in a lot of ways, in both perception and intimacy. From a literature standpoint, its absolute trash. It's basically word porn, for women by a Twilight fan who wrote a fanfic spinoff and ended up changing the names.


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## TKent (Feb 14, 2015)

Hmmm...

The literary novelists look down on the pulp/popular fiction novelists and the pop/fiction novelists look down on the romance novelists and the romance novelists look down on the erotic romance novelists and the erotic novelists and they all look down on the fan fic. The great thing about being a writer is that there is such a broad audience for writing, that no matter what you want to write, you'll probably find someone who wants to read it. I don't necessarily need intimacy in my romance or my mommy porn, but I'm kind of weird that way 



> Honestly, I think 50 Shades of Gray sells women short in a lot of ways, in both perception and intimacy. From a literature standpoint, its absolute trash. It's basically word porn, for women by a Twilight fan who wrote a fanfic spinoff and ended up changing the names.


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## JustRob (Feb 14, 2015)

Well I'm off to bed then, but from the verdict so far if I feel like dreaming about unnatural acts it may as well be cooking the dinner. No doubt I'll be able to whip something up for her tomorrow, if she has the appetite for it. That's a point. She never mentioned what the sweet course was going to be. Something with lashings of custard I hope. Goodnight all.


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## TKent (Feb 14, 2015)

Mamastrong,

I just did link to your sister's article and looks like writing runs in the fam   I'm not a christian, and I don't personally feel guilt about reading/watching soft porn, but I completely respect the beliefs of others who do. I thought she did a good job putting forth her argument.

I had to chuckle at the part where she's sitting in cold water after being drawn into the books. I made the mistake of starting one right before a camping trip with about twenty other people. Everyone kept asking what I was reading so I'd say, "A historical romance."  LOL.


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## Kyle R (Feb 14, 2015)

I think E.L. James hit the jackpot writing what she enjoyed, and I envy her for it. One day, I hope to achieve the same. I'll just be writing in a different genre, that's all. :encouragement:

I think _Fifty Shades_ gets a lot of disdain because of the subject matter. In my opinion, there's nothing wrong with erotica. Fiction serves one primary purpose: entertainment. Some people are entertained by spaceships and ray guns. Others are entertained by romance and sex. Me? I'm entertained by superheroes and airships. 

We all have different subject matters that we enjoy reading about.

The only thing _I_ find distasteful or trashy is when people put down others for liking what they like.


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## TKent (Feb 14, 2015)

Do the superheroes have masks? any leather accessories? 



> Me? I'm entertained by superheroes and airships.


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## J Anfinson (Feb 14, 2015)

My wife enjoyed it. I've read the blurb and it doesn't interest me. But I'm a much harder sell than she is.


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## Loveabull (Feb 14, 2015)

Yawn...I think it's interesting how much hype is surrounding this book but it's not something that hasn't been done before. "The Last Tango in Paris", "The Story of O", "9 1/2 Weeks" same theme basically. Perhaps I've just gotten old and I never appreciated chick lit or romance novels of any kind. Gettin' freaky is for when you're young, flexible, and adventurous. As you get older you definitely remember those days...but putting heat rub on the hurting places and getting comfortably in bed becomes paramount. Oh okay, perhaps on the full moon. Throw me on the ice floe hehhehheh


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## Plasticweld (Feb 14, 2015)

Mama, as a Christian I can't get as worked up as your sister when it comes to 50 shades  or any other forms of erotica.  Would I recommend the book to a 20 year, probably not; at the same time I have dealt with many Christians who struggle because they deny their sexuality.  Having been part of a young men's ministry for years there is not much I have not heard or not dealt with.  Fantasy is part of who we are as humans, I have no more of an idea why some things turn on some people and why others don't.  I gave up long ago of trying to apply logic to something that is felt.   There are many aspects to being married and sharing a rewarding relationship that involves many things that defy logic yet should still be addressed.  Being a good lover involves being honest and caring enough to find out what makes your partner tick.


Being a Christian means only that you have a desire to have a relationship with God and recognize Christ as his son who died for our sins.  It means that you accept the fact that you are not perfect but that you have a means of forgiveness.   


I get  hungry, I can't tell you why only that I do, I eat so I am no longer hungry it is part of what keeps me alive.  There are certain foods that  l like, some are better for me than others and too much of anything in excess is  not good for me.  Not everybody likes the same food, not everybody can consume the same quantities.  I do know that after 38 years of being happily married that I don't always want to eat the same dish every night. but I sit down at the same dinner table in the same house with the same woman every night... Just  my thoughts on the matter...Bob


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## TKent (Feb 14, 2015)

LOL. I can't imagine how many trips to the chiropractor I'd need to get over one trip to the 'red room' 




> Gettin' freaky is for when you're young, flexible, and adventurous.


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## Morkonan (Feb 15, 2015)

Riis Marshall said:


> Hello Mama
> 
> Although I have read quite a few critiques of _50_, I haven't read it. Based on what I have read, it looks like _Story of O_ by Pauline Réage published in France in 1954 updated with i-phones and microchips (I may be wrong, of course). For any of you who have read both, please let me know whether I'm right or wrong. I read _O_ in the '90s and I found it disturbing; I didn't care for it at all....



I read "The Story of O" way back when. I haven't read more than excerpts of "50 Shades...". I think that TSoO is likely the better book, by far. It's also more likely to have some literary merit. I didn't pass judgement on it, back then. Today, I'd probably think the same. I think TSoO is certainly better written.


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## Crowley K. Jarvis (Feb 15, 2015)

In that link, she quoted Romans 12:1-2. Hm. Paul  was making the point simply that we should respect our bodies.  A respectable thought regardless of your beliefs. 

I much prefer Plastic's way of speaking about it. Some people get too...stupid, in their choice of words and that lady was no different. 

And it's not in question how some lifestyles lead to sickness and unhappiness. Of course the book only mentions the things that seem like fun. Funny how it never mentions the people who seriously suffer because they chose to live that way.
And it's no wonder why diseases are rampant now. 

For that reason alone, because many are sad and unhappy living that way, I don't enjoy reading about people who do. Sex isn't all there is. We can't do it 24/7! And yes! Someday it'll break your spine! 

And as it's already been brought out, as a BOOK, it's not abundantly well-written. I've read a lot myself and honestly I wasn't even aroused because, simply, the word choice was not erotic at all. It was all kind of matter-of-fact. This happened. Then that happened. 
Oh really? I'm so excited. Not. Haha.


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## JustRob (Feb 15, 2015)

TKent said:


> Do the superheroes have masks? any leather accessories?





Loveabull said:


> "The Last Tango in Paris", "The Story of O", "9 1/2 Weeks" same theme basically. Perhaps I've just gotten old and I never appreciated chick lit or romance novels of any kind. Gettin' freaky is for when you're young, flexible, and adventurous.



 I agree, yawn. However, my experience of getting old is that nowadays I'm so often_ too _flexible to enjoy the adventure. Still would if I could and will when I can though, even if it may involve leather accessories -- or wearing that pinny. Still have that cooking to do today, by the way. Now that is perverted, but maybe I really am getting old if I think that. Isn't that the point though, that the appeal is that it's something different from normal life, something that one wouldn't contemplate doing, whether it be BDSM or cooking? For some people going to church would be freaky, perverted even maybe.


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## Schrody (Feb 15, 2015)

.


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## Bishop (Feb 16, 2015)

My only way of describing it is this...

It pains me, physically, that someone wrote an American college senior who has never once used a computer in their life and thought it could come across as believable. In a world where six year old students in grade school are taught computer use, it's impossible for someone to get into their mid twenties in this nation without having touched one.

What pains me even more is that millions of people aren't pained by that character choice--and the dozens of others in those books. And no, I didn't just read this on the web--I've read the first book in its entirety.


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## Sam (Feb 16, 2015)

The character could have been a Luddite or a technophobe. 

But it's highly doubtful that the author knows what either of those are.


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## escorial (Feb 16, 2015)

probably will never read it but one has to admire the success of the book


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## dither (Feb 16, 2015)

When copies of the book are languishing in charity shops, on sale for a pound a go, maybe i'll get around to reading the book.


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## dither (Feb 16, 2015)

My life is such a perfect opposite. Maybe if/when in years to come i find myself living alone, retired and in a reasonable condition mentally, i might just attempt to write about it.
But until then i shall just live it.


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## Kevin (Feb 16, 2015)

> probably will never read it


you're the wrong demographic (t'wood help if y'had a v'j-j)


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## JamesR (Feb 17, 2015)

I read about half of the first book for curiosity's sake and I found it to be a train wreck. It is some of the worst prose I've ever had the displeasure of reading and it is no exaggeration when I say that 90% of this forum can produce something better than that book. The author uses awkward sentence structures, ramble-on's, as well as generic puns. It's also repetitive, filled with the same corny expletives like "holy cow" and "...or something." (the latter of which isn't just repetitive but also bad writing). Worse still, the author's attempts to be poetic come off as tacky and laughable. For crying out loud, she even tries to make up words and/or use existing words in the wrong way--ex. "my sex" when referring to her genitals. Unless you're Tolstoy, Eliot, or one of the writing gods, you probably shouldn't take the liberty to do such a thing.

The book is simply pornography for middle aged women. Not that there's anything wrong with that or that I'm judging in light of my own vices, but it doesn't carry much literary value. It is made to appeal to a crowd that does not read very often and therefore can't discern a good book from a bad one. What the Jonas Brothers and Backstreet Boys are to rock n roll, 50 Shades of Grey is to erotica.

Regarding its controversial content, while admittedly I'm already a bit prudish and weird about sex being a virgin and religious as most people like me are, the book doesn't just seem to be about kinkiness and consensual BDSM within a loving relationship, but more so about abuse and Stockholm Syndrome. The male is an insecure, pathologically disturbed, and sociopathic villain who enjoys BDSM not simply for kinks and play but as a result of his very real problems. In fact, I wouldn't even call it BDSM as much as I'd call it consensual abuse. One could even argue borderline rape because it's hinted that he tries to get her drunk. The female exhibits literally every trait that counselors would tell women not to exhibit and fall into for the sake of their own wellbeing. She's uncertain, she tries to rationalize abuse, she comes to love her abuser in textbook Stockholm Syndrome, etc. I didn't find the message very enlightening. But hey, it's pornography, it's not supposed to be. I can respect that, but to try to elevate it into erotica or true literature is absurd IMHO.

That said though, I don't feel angered by its very existence like some people do. People could read whatever they want. It doesn't bother me as long as I don't have to read it.


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## JustRob (Feb 17, 2015)

dither said:


> When copies of the book are languishing in charity shops, on sale for a pound a go, maybe i'll get around to reading the book.



I believe that there are already discussions around the place on uses for old copies, a bit like uses for old CDs are discussed. The suggestions are that the only thing one wouldn't do with a copy is read it. Not having read it myself I couldn't comment on that.

Our 77 year old lady neighbour has told my wife that she has read all three books because a friend recommended them and gave copies to her. She said that she saw no point or merit in them at all and gave them to her daughter, who was horrified and asked her mother why she was reading such stuff. What I don't understand was why she read all three if none had any merit. Was she just giving the author the benefit of a great deal of doubt? The bad news is that she only managed to read a few chapters of my novel before giving up through being completely befuddled by it. That's a shame because that means that she didn't even get to the sexy bit. It's no good, my career as a writer is in ruins. There clearly wasn't enough sex in my writing to begin with. Later I fear that there's too much. Well, we all run out of ideas eventually.

I am a member of the really tiny private group who are trying to determine whether there is a middle way between pornography and erotica to write about sex in a responsible fashion and incorporate it into our writing. It is an essential component of close human relationships and we can't deny its existence. It's early days for the group and the experience is, er, interesting to say the least but one can't be critical about what happens there without also being prepared to provide a viable alternative. If we consider the most fundamental activities required for survival they boil down to three major things, eating, sex and, if you'll pardon the expression, defecation. Eating is easy to portray as an interactive social event, sex is that much harder and defecation hasn't been seen as a social act probably since Roman times, although a fair amount of social activity takes place at the urinals in the gents even now, otherwise one just stares at the wall and whistles like an idiot. By coincidence my wife and I will be holidaying this June in a castle which has a unique feature, a four seater garderobe. It's just a tourist attraction now though, not an essential active part of the facilities or socialisation, we hope. We're not expecting an orgy either, just good food.

We can't condemn the books currently under discussion without offering the public better alternatives to educate them. There's the challenge then, to perform sex, to enjoy sex and to write about sex well or else become extinct. I am a mathematician, so I know that there are many entertaining ways to multiply. Oh, go on, it wasn't that bad for a novice writer like me. You don't always have to be so critical you know.


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## Kyle R (Feb 17, 2015)

JamesR said:
			
		

> For crying out loud, she even tries to make up words and/or use existing words in the wrong way--ex. "my sex" when referring to her genitals. Unless you're Tolstoy, Eliot, or one of the writing gods, you probably shouldn't take the liberty to do such a thing.


Describing female genitalia as "my sex" or "my wetness" or "her core" is the normal thing to do when writing erotica for female readers. When writing for male readers, more crass terms are usually used.


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## dither (Feb 17, 2015)

JustRob said:


> I believe that there are already discussions around the place on uses for old copies, a bit like uses for old CDs are discussed. The suggestions are that the only thing one wouldn't do with a copy is read it. Not having read it myself I couldn't comment on that.
> 
> Our 77 year old lady neighbour has told my wife that she has read all three books because a friend recommended them and gave copies to her. She said that she saw no point or merit in them at all and gave them to her daughter, who was horrified and asked her mother why she was reading such stuff. What I don't understand was why she read all three if none had any merit. Was she just giving the author the benefit of a great deal of doubt? The bad news is that she only managed to read a few chapters of my novel before giving up through being completely befuddled by it. That's a shame because that means that she didn't even get to the sexy bit. It's no good, my career as a writer is in ruins. There clearly wasn't enough sex in my writing to begin with. Later I fear that there's too much. Well, we all run out of ideas eventually.
> 
> ...



I think that the trick is to keep it real. Y'know?

I actually have something swimming around in my head right now., Yeah, ME!


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## Kyle R (Feb 17, 2015)

Bishop said:


> My only way of describing it is this...
> 
> It pains me, physically, that someone wrote an American college senior who has never once used a computer in their life and thought it could come across as believable. In a world where six year old students in grade school are taught computer use, it's impossible for someone to get into their mid twenties in this nation without having touched one.


If I remember correctly, she knew how to use computers. She just didn't own her own or have "access" to one.

I have my theory about why E.L. James chose to do this—plot. Christian Grey gives her a computer as a gift at one point in the story. So, I'm guessing James decided to have Anastasia announce that she didn't own one, in order to make this plot point logical.

My wife thinks it's more of a remnant from _Twilight_, as Bella owns a crappy computer that only works on dial-up. Keep in mind _Fifty Shades _was originally written as erotic _Twilight_ fan-fiction, called _Master of the Universe_. Anastasia Steele was originally written as Bella Swan—then, when _MotU _attracted professional notice, James' had to change things so the story wouldn't resemble Meyer's work. 

So, possibly James thought, "Hmm, Bella has a crappy computer. I'll twist it a little and make Anastasia have _no_ computer!"

This theory would make a lot of sense, too, as a lot _Fifty Shades_ has remnants of its _Twilight_ fan-fiction origins scattered through it. For example: José Rodriguez is really just the altered version of Jacob Black.

The more I consider it, the more I think my wife is right. James had to tweak everything to make the story different enough from its original source. The computer thing is a result of augmenting Bella Swan's situation with her dial-up computer. This turned into Anastasia Steele not owning a computer. Eventually logical issues had to surface somewhere. :encouragement:


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## JustRob (Feb 17, 2015)

dither said:


> I think that the trick is to keep it real. Y'know?



My wife tells me that it is 90% imagination and 10% friction. She also tells me that without the 90% the 10% wouldn't work. Equally I suspect that just describing the 10% real component in literature might not work either. Personally I will always throw in the imaginative component just to hammer it home / hit the spot / push the point all the way / ensure no misunderstanding. (delete as appropriate --  Note to moderator -- possibly all of them, possibly the entire post. This subject is in the wrong forum anyway.)

My wife is an angel only in the way that she behaves. So far as how she thinks though, as the song goes, she's somethin' else.

This post was brought to you by kind permission of just Rob's wife. Five foot six, eyes of blue ... Sorry angel, could you crouch down a bit. No, of course it's nothing kinky. I'm just having trouble with these lyrics, honestly ...


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## TKent (Feb 17, 2015)

Does Sunny know you have to actually 'consider' whether she is right? KR, you might want to keep that little tidbit to yourself... Just sayin'



> The more I consider it, the more I think my wife is right.


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## JustRob (Feb 17, 2015)

JustRob said:


> Our 77 year old lady neighbour has told my wife that she has read all three books because a friend recommended them and gave copies to her.



Update from our neighbour. She was talking about her recent knee operation a short while ago and then mentioned that she has a pair of exercise balls to roll around in her hand to help her arthritis. She then added that in these books they are used for some other completely different purpose. I can see that we're going to have a problem with her now. Why did I ever join this thread?


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