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E.L. James: Fifty Shades of Grey

Anamnesis

Anamnesis

Active Member
From Twilight fanfiction to bestselling novel

Ebook downloads have discreetly driven much of the sales – accounting for more than 250,000 copies of all three books – while new ebook editions of the trilogy are expected to be released on Monday by Vintage Books, who emerged as the victor following a bidding war and reportedly parting with a seven-figure sum.

"We're making a statement that this is bigger than one genre," the New York Times quoted Anne Messitte, the publisher of Vintage Anchor, as saying.

"The people who are reading this are not only people who read romance. It's gone much broader than that."

The newspaper quoted one reader, who insisted on anonymity so that she would not embarrass her employer, as saying said the book had gained "an obsessive following among her friends, the first erotic novel they have ever discussed".

"Women just feel like it's OK to read it," she added. "It's taboo for women to admit that they watch pornography, but for some reason it's OK to admit that they're reading this book."
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It remains to be seen just how much more erotic than a conventional romance it really is. The kindle sample pages for all three volumes show highly professional "romance" writing and a potentially interesting story line, but there are no actual copies around here to delve further. Yay for kindle for a first look!
 
Over ten million copies sold

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group president Anthony Chirico had this statement: “This is an astonishing number. The sales velocity for Fifty Shades of Grey is unprecedented, with reader demand still growing. BookScan data indicates that the trilogy has captured twenty-five percent of the adult fiction market in recent weeks.”
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It surprises me not at all, and in a happy way, I guess.
All three volumes have the top shelf in the New Books dispaly at the Barnes and Noble we visit, and the first volume was stacked right next to the register in an indie we visited over the weekend. The owner, with a roll of her eyes at what she classed as awful writing, said they were flying out of the store.
I think I am happy that interest in a book can generate popular demand such as this and gain fame for an author who might otherwise have been kept on the margins by conventional opinion.
Jf it is Harry Potter all over again, I say "Yay!"
 
It's that word "porn" that did it.
And when "mommy porn" was interpreted to mean "acceptable porn" then all restraints broke loose and the book went mainstream.
I still haven't heard many claim that it is actually porn however, apart from a few library systems --and especially amid no claims that it is "explicit."
There seems to me to be a vast factual and critical silence -- surprising for a highly publicized new book on the market. Surely some who have bought it have read it. Or maybe they fell asleep half-way through. :confused:
 
By way of explanation, before my previous terse comment leads to question:

My own impression of the writing in 50 Shades of Grey (which I have already expressed upthread) was quite different from the reaction of the person who wrote and illustrated the tumblr.com page cited by Beer Good. So I'll still proceed forward, to reading the book with my own eyes and using my own judgement of its merits.
 
lenny nero said:
'Mommy Porn' makes me think of Kay Parker. Oh, to be a young Leonard Nero again, seeing Taboo for the first time. :D
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Mmmmmmm....Kay Parker. Me and and a former member here watched that movie together once over Skype, which was interesting. :whistling: #toomuchinformation
 
Having not read the book, I tend to agree with the following statement
A reviewer on the feminist-friendly website Jezebel wrote: “Our consensus: the book is pretty ridiculous — for every lashing there's an ‘OMG!’ — but if it's making more women feel comfortable discussing their sexuality, we're all for it.”
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That being said, and judging by the sample sentences posted on 50 Shades of Suck, the book does seem to be very poorly written.
 
Landslide said:
Having not read the book, I tend to agree with the following statement


That being said, and judging by the sample sentences posted on 50 Shades of Suck, the book does seem to be very poorly written.
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You may well be right Landslide. I keep thinking however that someone that can only come up with a headline such as "50 Shades of Suck" cannot be one to throw stones in that particular glass house.

My other thought is that James is laughing all the way to the bank. More power to her!
 
Why do so many people absolutely hate this book so much?

One can swim in the vitriol.

So it's poorly written? So what?
 
I'm not falling over myself to read it no matter how "empowering" it is for women to explore their sexuality. I am sure I will read it at some point to see what reaction the prose will have for me, but it is not this day. (or month, or probably even year) There are a lot more books out there that I'd rather be reading than something everyone lovingly refers to as porn.
 
Peder said:
Why do so many people absolutely hate this book so much?

One can swim in the vitriol.

So it's poorly written? So what?
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Well, some people criticized the book for similar reasons as E.L. James' beloved Twilight: misogyny and glorification of an abusive relationship. I also heard the sex scenes weren't really tantalizing or provocative. From the excerpts I did read, I'll have to agree with those people.
 
Anamnesis said:
Well, some people criticized the book for similar reasons as E.L. James' beloved Twilight: misogyny and glorification of an abusive relationship. I also heard the sex scenes weren't really tantalizing or provocative. From the excerpts I did read, I'll have to agree with those people.
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Thank you, Anamnesis, for responding to my post and adding a few more reasons why people might well dislike the book and criticize it, in addition to its "poor writing." My point was not especially to disagree with people who had reasons for not liking the book. I haven't read it yet, so won't offer any general observations or judgements about it.

I was talking more about the nature of the criticism I have seen (mainly here) and was more struck by a level of negative reaction which seemed, to my eye amyway, to go well beyond "dislike" into the realm of "hatred." But since the difference between dislike and hatred may be elusive to characterize in the current context, and since I seem to the wrong gender anyway for the target audience, I'm content to leave the question hanging and see what other people have to say.

For myself, though, I can't see hating a book which doen't have tantalizing sex scenes in it. Be disappopinted maybe, but hate it? And hatred of a book for poor writing? Please.

Somehow a sense of proportion seems to me to have gotten lost in reacting to this book.

Thanks again for your reply,
Sincerely,
Peder
 
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