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Fifty Shades of Grey... have you heard of it? Read it?

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Contributor: Petite Valentine Petite Valentine
I read about Fifty Shades of Grey today and I am curious. So far I've seen it likened to Eat, Pray, Love and Twilight just with lots of extra porn. Has anyone here read it? Plan to read it?

There is more information on the Huffington Post website.
03/11/2012
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Contributor: underHim underHim
My husband actually just found out about it yesterday and it sounds fun.
03/11/2012
Contributor: Rod Ronald Rod Ronald
This sounds good too! It's amazing how good some of the book suggestions on here are! Thanks
03/13/2012
Contributor: Errant Venture Errant Venture
I wouldn't recommend it. For two main reasons: First - the sex scenes are really quite bad (I've read far better on here). The BDSM is stereotypical and unrealistic. Second - it started out as Twilight fanfic. There's a cardinal rule in the fan fiction community, and that's to not make money off of your work, and this book skirts that rule to a very uncomfortable degree.
03/20/2012
Contributor: Petite Valentine Petite Valentine
I found this article about the book today:

CNN, 'Mommy porn' novel has retro message

I'll definitely be skipping it.
04/10/2012
Contributor: roskat roskat
I don't think I could read this book after watching this:
Youtube, Dramatic Reading of 50 Shades of Grey

Hilarious!
04/10/2012
Contributor: Petite Valentine Petite Valentine
Quote:
Originally posted by roskat
I don't think I could read this book after watching this:
Youtube, Dramatic Reading of 50 Shades of Grey

Hilarious!
OMG...

A 750,000 print run of that trash? What is the literary world coming to?
04/11/2012
Contributor: roskat roskat
I know! Someone is certainly laughing all the way to the bank...
04/11/2012
Contributor: jc123 jc123
I will admit to buying the book. (In my defense, I was stuck in an airport dealing with flight delays and had nothing else to do.)

I was pleasantly surprised. I find a lot of BDSM lit to be really trite or forced. I had thought this would probably be very forced and also way too tame for my taste, given how mainstream the book has become. But... This was honestly one of the better depictions of D/s that I've found.

The characters are developed enough that you care about them until the end of the book (atypical of lots of kink lit). Some (not all, but about half) of the sex scenes are pretty hot, and I think I'll probably read this book again in a few months.
04/12/2012
Contributor: Petite Valentine Petite Valentine
I was forwarded some links to Jezebel today...

Fifty Shades of Grey’s Success Has Nothing to Do with Repressed Feminist Fantasies

Is the Bestselling ‘Mommy Porn’ Book Worth the Hype?

The more quotes I read, the more horrified I become.
04/16/2012
Contributor: Errant Venture Errant Venture
A friend of mine wrote a post on her blog on her reaction to the media coverage of the book (link).
04/18/2012
Contributor: nanamondoute nanamondoute
I read this book in two days -- it was actually an interesting book that made me keep reading. While it wasn't written in the best way nor were the sex scenes amazing, the character development and plot had some draw. I especially liked how the author attempted to have some literary background -- pulling in allusions to other novels. This is more than I can say for porn in general, but then again, I haven't read many erotica books before.

I say, if you want something more than sex scenes, give this book a try.
04/18/2012
Contributor: submissive.sweetheart submissive.sweetheart
i just saw this on TV yesterday, some women were talking about it. Just for the dynamic of how the relationship unfolds from what i can see i am very excited to read it!
04/19/2012
Contributor: BG529 BG529
I'm am currently reading the second book. and I am in love! I love their story and everything about them. I enjoy the sex sences and everything about the books.
04/28/2012
Contributor: gorgeous gorgeous
The only time I have heard of this is when Ellen was reading it and wouldn't use the words in the book. The video is on youtube and it is great!
04/29/2012
Contributor: Petite Valentine Petite Valentine
Quote:
Originally posted by gorgeous
The only time I have heard of this is when Ellen was reading it and wouldn't use the words in the book. The video is on youtube and it is great!
I found it on YouTube, I love it!

Ellen Reads '50 Shades of Grey'
04/29/2012
Contributor: BG529 BG529
I just watched Ellen on Youtube as well and OMG how Funny!!!!
04/30/2012
Contributor: BBW Talks Toys BBW Talks Toys
Okay, the Ellen thing is HILARIOUS!

That said, I just have mixed feelings about all this. I feel like kink in mainstream media is what is giving it its popularity. When I read the synopsis, I felt like, "Oh, hey, I saw this. It was called Secretary." I'm undecided on this.
05/01/2012
Contributor: Femme Mystique Femme Mystique
Ha, this is the first I've heard of this. Yes, sounds a lot like The Secretary.
05/01/2012
Contributor: BG529 BG529
I have read the books. and seen "The Secretary" and they are nothing alike in my opinion. In The Secretary she does everything he tell her to do. In 50 Shades, its completely different. I'm not going to tell you how, you'll just have to read it to find out. But, I think its a great story.
05/01/2012
Contributor: jc123 jc123
After having read all three of the books, I changed my mind. I'm not a fan of the books at all. I really hate the way the books imply that BDSM desires are all rooted in mental illness and child abuse. The title of the last book "freed" implies that his embracing the vanilla lifestyle of their relationship was somehow symbolic of him freeing himself from his past.

I hate when things like this are picked up in the mainstream- it just makes it that much harder for people to accept people with different desires.
05/03/2012
Contributor: Petite Valentine Petite Valentine
Quote:
Originally posted by jc123
After having read all three of the books, I changed my mind. I'm not a fan of the books at all. I really hate the way the books imply that BDSM desires are all rooted in mental illness and child abuse. The title of the last book ... more
Not that I care since I have ZERO desire to read the book, but a spoiler warning would have been nice on the post.
05/03/2012
Contributor: mmmmm mmmmm
i have it havent gotten around to reading it heard good things about it
05/04/2012
Contributor: Nora29714 Nora29714
Quote:
Originally posted by jc123
After having read all three of the books, I changed my mind. I'm not a fan of the books at all. I really hate the way the books imply that BDSM desires are all rooted in mental illness and child abuse. The title of the last book ... more
The author never says she believes that. She created a character who was trying to understand a lifestyle that she had no intentions of really being interested in. He tells Ana a bunch of times that it's not because of child abuse, it was his choice.

I love when different things are picked up by the mainstream because it makes everyone aware of what is out there.

I love their story and I hope it doesn't end there.
05/04/2012
Contributor: namelesschaos namelesschaos
I've heard much about it but have no interest in reading it.
05/04/2012
Contributor: pestilence pestilence
A friend of mine linked to the original fanfic version of it and I'm not sure whether she was trying to insult me.
05/05/2012
Contributor: Annemarie Annemarie
Quote:
Originally posted by Errant Venture
I wouldn't recommend it. For two main reasons: First - the sex scenes are really quite bad (I've read far better on here). The BDSM is stereotypical and unrealistic. Second - it started out as Twilight fanfic. There's a cardinal rule in ... more
I figured it started out as Twilight fanfic. It's almost a copyright infringement on Twilight.

That said, I'm interested, to a degree. It's one of those books that I'm SO annoyed with, but can't put down. I started reading it a couple days ago when the book I was reading (Silk) was quite disappointing as my first exposure to erotica.

Everyone has a trashy book they like for no reason.
05/07/2012
Contributor: Yaoi Pervette (deleted) Yaoi Pervette (deleted)
Quote:
Originally posted by jc123
After having read all three of the books, I changed my mind. I'm not a fan of the books at all. I really hate the way the books imply that BDSM desires are all rooted in mental illness and child abuse. The title of the last book ... more
Interesting. I read the "Mommy Porn" article posted above, and I find it annoying that mainstream culture seems to equate being a female sub in a modern BDSM relationship with being devoid of basic human rights as women were centuries ago. It is certainly not the same. What the mainstream fails to understand is the concept of power exchange. The dom or domme only has what power has been granted to him/her by the sub. The sub can at any time terminate the activity and still retains his/her rights outside of the scene. The dominant men in a lot of these types of books aren't good doms; they are just jerks.
05/07/2012
Contributor: Petite Valentine Petite Valentine
I fear this will only help sell more copies ...

Florida county libraries ban ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’

"Risque trilogy was pulled from shelves due to its “perceived pornographic nature”"
05/08/2012
Contributor: roskat roskat
Quote:
Originally posted by Petite Valentine
I fear this will only help sell more copies ...

Florida county libraries ban ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’

"Risque trilogy was pulled from shelves due to its “perceived pornographic nature”"
Florida, LOL.
05/08/2012