Sunday, July 15, 2012

Fifty Shades...

Short break from the environment to chat about reading....

Everyone was talking about it. I knew it was Twilight fan fiction (meaning a fan, not an author, wrote a spin or "alternate" based on Twilight) sans vampires, and I may have truly despised the Twilight series, but I thought "Hey, I read fluff novels, I can handle poor writing!".

I was wrong.

While reading the first book on Andrew's kindle I went from derisive to frighteningly angry that I actually wasted money on this piece of written crap that offended my sensibilities as an intelligent feminist.

If you want to read erotica, there are about a million options out there that are actually well written and have strong, kick ass female characters. You know, women who aren't emotionally and physically abused.

But who am I to say all this?

If you really want to know what the Fifty Shades reading experience is like- check out the most HILARIOUS review on Goodreads I have ever read. There are pictures. And come back here to let me know what you think.

10 comments:

  1. I got the ebook from the library, because I didn't want to pay for it. I tried reading the first few chapters but it is so poorly written. I would be interested in reading some good erotica though.

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    1. there is some great erotica out there- Anne Rice wrote some interesting stuff with the fairy tale of sleeping beauty (google: "The Taming of Beauty"+Anne Rice- she wrote it under a pseudo name though).

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  2. That was hilarious! Wow, it really does sound terrible. I didnt read twilight but nobody can do vampires like anne rice just saying . Back to the point thank you for this. And now i know not even to buy it unless its for less than 5 bucks...just for kicks!

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    1. haha- i know!
      I enjoyed a few of the Anne Rice vampire novels, but I liked her "The Witching Hour" better :)

      Ya know, if it were less than 5$ (or free) I might have felt better lol

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  3. I read excerpts online (mostly on 50 Shades of Suck, which is hilarious) and found it so poorly written I wanted to kill myself. The sex was dull, too. The only thing I find truly regrettable is that it has no doubt given so many people the wrong idea about fan fiction--there is so much incredibly original, well-written fanfic out there, whatever your fandom is. Hear me, internet: Don't let this half-assed Twilight ripoff dissuade you!

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    1. You know- I'm glad you said this, cuz I was wondering about fanfiction. I know it's a hugely popular genre of writing...

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    2. It's a totally legit area of scholarship, too. It raises really fascinating questions about the nature of fandom and online communities as well as ways in which writers/readers collaborate. Also, how can you not love something that spawned the awesome field of "Buffy Studies"?! (In case you can't tell, I am rather a big nerd and go crazy for intertextuality, appropriated texts, alternate endings, and fun stuff like that!) I have this book--haven't read it yet, but am looking forward to it. http://www.amazon.com/Fan-Fiction-Communities-Age-Internet/dp/0786426403

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  4. I'm giggling that you actually read that thing! Honestly, the title was enough to put me off ;)

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    1. hahaha- well... i'm also surprised that i read it. I think it was kinda like Anna Karinina, in the sense that Oprah was reading it- so obviously I was going to as well. I'm prone to peer pressure sometimes lol.

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  5. Just found your blog, thanks to Oh She Glows, and so far I'm loving it, especially NOW! THANK YOU for saying that it was awful. I will shamefully admit that I read the entire series because, even though I KNEW what would happen (spoiler alert: they get married and have babies), I had to finish it. What can I say? I was an English major and I couldn't leave it unfinished despite how offensive it was to me as a woman AND an English major. I'm not a feminist and I'm not a prude when it comes to sex, but as a woman, I was SO offended by this book. It's one thing to get a little kinky in bed..whatever floats your boat, but for her to say she doesn't like it, have complete freak outs and mental breakdowns only to COME BACK FOR MORE and expect a different outcome is just...it's like..it was an abusive relationship, but you don't blame the guy at all. Also, it's basically the definition of insanity (though, one could make the argument that I was just as insane for reading the damn thing). I mean, he was just who he was and he friggin told her! Yet, she was all "I can change him and I'll save him!" while at the same time being a complete idiotic damsel in distress.
    The only thing that makes me more furious than this book is reading all the freaking pins on Pinterest about how amazing Christian Grey is. I'm all for sticking with a man who has some issues if you love him, but that's not what Ana did. It was just...so effed up and I can't stand all the woman saying "It was a great book! It's not meant to win a Nobel Prize. Don't take it so seriously" and that Chrisian is amazing just because he's super attractive. No, no, no. And, sure, it's not meant to be the next great American novel, as they say, but I still have some expectations when I read a published work.

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