Fifty Shades...

I am bereft.

My soul is downcast.

Why you ask?

Well, I just completed the Fifty Shades Trilogy and I have that melancholy feeling I get when something great has come to an end. When I end a good series I always have a hard time re-entering the “real world.” It happened with Harry Potter, the Twilight Saga, The Vampire Academy series, The Mark of the Lion trilogy…. Friends (the TV show)….and now, this.

Have you heard of the Fifty Shades Trilogy? If not, don’t worry, I only heard  of it a couple of weeks ago. Although it was just published in April it has become something of a phenomenon, gaining and maintaining bestseller status since. The term “Fifty shades” kept popping up in some random friends’ statues on my Facebook news feed. After using context clues to figure out the term was the name of a book, I googled it. Here is the beginning of the Wikipedia article on the series- “Fifty Shades of Grey is a New York Times #1 bestselling erotic fiction paperback and e-book by E. L. James. Set largely in Seattle, it is the first installment in a trilogy that traces the deepening relationship between college graduate Anastasia Steele and a young business magnate, Christian Grey. It is notable for its explicitly erotic scenes featuring elements of BDSM.”

BDSM?! Whaaaa? This description (as well as many others that I found) sounded kind of wonky and strange so I decided to pass. But then “fifty shades” popped up one time too many—a friend posted a facebook status saying how excitedshe was about finally getting the third book. Curiosity got the best of me again and I went over to Amazon.com to see some more reader reviews. As I read praise after praise of the trilogy I became more and more intrigued. Maybe it wasn’t so wonky after all. It was the last line of the official book description that really made me consider reading it though. It read “Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.” I thought, hmm how can this book that has been dubbed “mommy porn” be “deeply moving” ?

Over the next week I did more scant research, and although the descriptions of the book remained off putting (I’m just not one to read erotic fiction for the sake of erotic fiction y’know?), something gradually shifted in my brain and I went from feeling mmm, meh about the book to thinking I have to buy this tonight! No…tonight? No…tonight? Yes. Yes!” So a week and two days ago I purchased the kindle version of the first book (I have a “Kindle for PC” not an actual handheld kindle) Fifty Shades of Grey and I stayed up all night reading it. Doing so was an unwise decision on my part as I had a tremendously busy day and rest of the week ahead. But I couldn’t stop. I finished the 514 page book on Thursday night (it would’ve been sooner if not for the aforementioned tremendous business). It was seriously fantastic. FAN-TAS-TIC. I promptly purchased the second one, Fifty Shades Darker, online Thursday or Friday and on Saturday during a Target trip I bought a physical copy of the third and final book in the series, Fifty Shades Freed.

The past couple of days when I took Emile (my babysitting protégé) to the park I used some of the time to read. On both those days I had mothers at the park with their children glimpse the book in my hand and exclaim “oh you’re reading Fifty shades?!” One woman told me that her husband bought her the trilogy for mother’s day, and then another mother told me that she was also halfway through the 3^rd book. Considering the “erotic” nature of the books, this was HI-LARIOUS for me. Especially because of this  SNL Skit hahaha.

 I’m waiting for this series to become really, really big to the point where there are more facebook statuses either gushing about it or expressing annoyance over it. I am expecting more of the latter. After the second mother approached me in the park, when my initial amusement died down, I randomly thought, the series would gain legitimacy if men liked it. That thought sparked some  other thoughts about “men’s fiction” and “women’s fiction” and how one term garners respect, while the other is more likely to solicit eye rolls. Then I thought, well actually there really isn’t an explicit“men’s fiction,” genre. You won’t see that term printed on a book spine. Kind of like how you won’t see a “white fiction” genre or “white entertainment tv.” And, well it is legitimate to say that a truly good book is one that both women and men will enjoy, that’s fair. But then I thought but there’s more to it than that… unless a book is backed up by male approval, thought it may be popular, it just doesn’t get the same critical acclaim or legitimacy it would otherwise, while if a woman says “this is a good book!” that judgment is up for more debate and needs to be validated by a male opinion. Then I wondered—is the problem that women are more likely to be attracted to “sillier” books than men? If so, why? Or are certain books thought of as silly because women rather than men are attracted to them? And whose definition of “silly” (or “not silly”) is legit?

I don’t know how valid these thoughts were. ::Shrug:: I feel like things are this way but that’s only my perception. I guess my main point now is that I think society is quicker to negatively judge a popular book because it doesn’t appeal to the majority of men whereas if a popular book does not appeal to the majority of women it’s not bad at all—in fact that could be one of its merits. It is then a sensible, logical book—and I see things playing out this way for this series.

Anyway, I really just wanted to share how much I loved the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. It was a great reintroduction to the world of fiction after a couple of months of predominantly reading my chemistry text book and books about food and nutrition. I will probably read it again soon. Slowly. If you are curious I would recommend checking it out. Be forewarned that all the descriptions you find of the series might sound silly. But before you get judgy (pssh did Morgan really read this crap?!) or think it’s not worth your time, remember your initial reaction when someone suggested you read Harry Potter or Twilight. Exactly.

Yes its very risqué and I have to admit that I did get a little tired of all the sex. I remember it felt especially tedious in the second book. I’d turn the page and would think “Oh look…they’re having crazy sex…again. But for the most part it’s not pointless. It’s not erotica for the sake of erotica... for the most part. And for those who would find BDSM morally offensive, be slightly reassured that there’s no hardcore, outrageous stuff and the book does not actually promote the practice. It’s just a part of the plot. And it is a good plot. The books are very funny and the characters are super wittyJ. And like I said before it really is “deeply moving” like amazon promised :).

If you give it a chance, I don’t think you’ll regret reading it. You might even be a little sad when it’s done.

Sigh L.

I liked this cluster of reviews that I found on Wikipedia :

“The Telegraph criticized the book as "treacly cliché" but also wrote that the sexual politics in Fifty Shades of Grey will have female readers "discussing it for years to come."^[9]A reviewer for the Ledger-Enquirerdescribed the book as guilty fun and escapism, but that it "also touches on one aspect of female existence [female submission]. And acknowledging that fact – maybe even appreciating it – shouldn't be a cause for guilt."^[10]

Interesting no?

Also, there is a good article about it on the Huffington Post (it has a couple of minor spoilers though) And oemgee please watch this video of Ellen Degeneres supposedly doing a reading for the audiobook. It is effing hilarious.

Bye friends!