Fifty Shades of Grey, by E. L. James (pen name for Erica Mitchell)
Pros: Despite what everyone’s heard, there is much more to Fifty Shades of Grey than explicit sex.
Cons: For me, it was a small print.
Fifty Shades of Grey is the first of a trilogy. The second and third titles are Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shade Freed.
Most people read this book and salivated in expectation of the film. That’s the way things usually happen with a popular book. Most critics felt that the film didn’t live up to the novel. That’s something that usually happens when the hype from a wildly popular book exceeds any possible outcome for the upcoming film. I compare it to the disappointment we experience when a meticulously planned event doesn’t quite go the way we planned it. Instead of celebrating what we have, we curse at the dream that wasn’t realized.
I’m not like most people. I actually prefer reading the book after seeing the film. True, I’m not riding the tidal wave of “trending,” but I can enjoy the film without comparing it to the book. When I do read the book, some aspects of the characters that were left in the air on film become clear and help me get to an “aha moment” that I didn’t even know I missed.
Seeing Fifty Shades of Grey prior to reading also helped me absorb the story instead of just the erotica. Don’t get me wrong, I found myself inexplicably out of breath while reading the parade of sexual encounters between Ana and Christian – and I’m not even talking about the “S&M” events. I wondered if my husband and I could have ever managed multiple encounters within minutes of each other when we were in our 20s. My conclusion is that one of us would have fallen asleep from sheer exhaustion during the second or third time.
Reading Ana’s first encounter with Christian reminded me of the first book I read that detailed the first sex act, Peyton Place. I was at least 20 at the time and still a virgin (this is important to note). The book, film, and TV show had faded from the spotlight years before I happened upon my mother’s copy. I remembered seeing the film a few years earlier, but that was a time when anything controversial was filtered in film. You had to know the keywords used during pivotal scenes to understand what they were talking about. The courtroom scenes relied on Legalese to keep the censors at bay. The book was an eye-opener, especially for someone whose mother sheltered her from anything too explicit. I understood the general mechanics of sex but didn’t know how it would feel, especially the first time. Lucky for me, Peyton Place took the reins and told me that it would hurt and there would be blood. I remember thinking about that on my wedding night. I wondered if the hotel would sue us if they couldn’t get the stains out (yes, guilty conscience trumps carnal anticipation).
After reading Ana’s inauguration into sexuality, it made Peyton Place look like a sixth-grade health class textbook! I decided immediately that my husband should read this book. Why? I remembered comments from men who read excerpts from the book state that it didn’t turn them on. When I told my husband I wanted to see the film, he said that he read an article stating that women get turned on by thoughts instead of images while men are the opposite. If he reads it without – ahem – losing his objectivity, he might be able to learn more about women (particularly the one he’s been married to for 37 years). He might read it, he told me the other day.
When you get past all the sex and the Dominant/Submissive chapters, you have a love story told in first person. Anastasia Steele meets Christian Grey when she interviews him as a favor to her sick roommate. The chemistry is overwhelming, and Ana spends most of the interview trying to ignore it while reading her roommate’s questions. When Christian shows up at her job, she tells herself it’s a coincidence, but it doesn’t take much more for her to realize that Christian is pursuing her – and she reluctantly likes it. I say reluctantly because she’s not fond of receiving extravagant gifts. When Christian shows Ana his playroom and hands her a contract describing the limits of their arrangement, she’s completely unprepared for the world she’s asked to enter.
Ana soon discovers that being in love with a man who cannot return it is as painful as being a Submissive. Christian treats the “arrangement” like a professional contract. Terms like “genital clamps” glare at the reader in the contract Ana must decide whether or not to sign.
To relate anything more of the plot would be a spoiler.
However, I can tell you that Fifty Shades of Grey is a good read — especially if you want more than a Harlequin romance. Ana is an intelligent, independent woman preparing for a career in publishing. She is no pushover. Christian is young but every bit the CEO – control is what he feeds on.
E. L. James even inserts a bit of comedy when Ana and Christian meet each other’s parents. On the surface, they’re boyfriend and girlfriend; but there is so much more going on between glances and stares. She writes not just Ana’s feelings and sensations, she paints a picture of Christian’s stares. His gray eyes seem to change tone with his emotions. Hence, Fifty Shades of Grey can also refer to his eyes – but that’s my take as an artist.
For anyone who feels intimidated by the shock of seeing expletives in print, try to put that feeling aside. Those words have purpose. They’re not merely there to shock. For example, the difference between “f—ing” and “making love” has to be illustrated. If the language is G-rated, everything else falls flat.
My recommendation is to buy Fifty Shades of Grey. I borrowed it from our local library and now regret that I’ll have to return it. I plan on reading the rest of the trilogy, and it would have been nice to consult the first book to jog my memory – or just reread it on the spur of the moment.
