“My inner goddess:” an expression I hope never to encounter in a novel or anywhere again.
Add to that, “stop biting your lip.”
Top it off with “double crap” and “jeez.”
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then you’ve somehow missed the word-of-mouth magic that turned the novel 50 Shades of Grey and its sequels into a major success. And I mean major.
It seems like everyone has read 50 Shades of Grey and its sequels, or is about to read it. Others, out of a general anti-pop culture sentiment, refuse to read it. Those are the same people who skipped the Harry Potter books, Hunger Games, The Help, and Twilight. Having somehow managed not to read Twilight, see the movies, or watch a single episode of The Real Housewives of any city, I suppose I reside in both camps. (I’m Hunger Games obsessed, a Harry Potter fanatic, and I loved The Help.)
But back to 50 Shades. I read the first book in the trilogy for the same reason as any other woman–word of mouth and the allure of something racy. I heard about it in early February from my best friend, who lives in New York City and likes to keep my quaint Minnesotan leanings up to speed. She insisted we read the book after all of her Upper East Side friends were telling her to get going already. She didn’t want to be left out of the conversation. And then neither did I.
E.L. James forces the reader through several laborious chapters before arriving at the steamy scenes. By the time you’ve reached the section of the book everybody’s whispering about in corners of the pre-school, you’ve already made a hefty investment in Ana and Christian’s unusual relationship. So despite James’s grating use of last names throughout the entire story, her overuse of Ana’s self talk (like the aforementioned “double crap”), and the formal dialogue and stiff prose (no pun intended), I soldiered on to the end of the first book. I had to see what would happen next in the red room of pain. Oh yes, you read that correctly.
I started the second book because the first practically ends mid-sentence. But one “inner goddess” mention too many made me stop around the 20% mark. Even the sex scenes felt overly gratuitous by that point. I mean come on, she’s screaming and out of her mind every single time? Sign me up for the movie though. I’m not a 50 Shades hater by any stretch. Listen, I get why people like the books. What baffles me is why so many people like them.
I honestly can’t stop thinking about the story’s massive popularity. Is this craze the result of some sort of mob mentality? Is it that nobody wants to be the lone voice in a group of friends saying, “What’s the big deal?” Are we witnessing old-school peer pressure like when I pretended to like Rusted Root my freshman year of college and somehow knew the words to numerous Phish songs?
I guess I’m coming out as a stick in the mud maximus. There are other reasons the writing annoyed me, but this post isn’t about tearing down the book in intense detail or delving into the Twilight rip-off problem–two issues you can find easily enough in a Google search. But on a related note: If erotic fan-fiction of popular books is going to become a mainstream publishing “thing” now, I’d like to see Harry Potter and Hermoine Granger get together. Or what about Harry Potter and Katniss from Hunger Games in the ultimate dirty mash up? Ginny Weasley and Peeta? Just saying.
Have you read the 50 Shades books? What did you think? If not, does the hype make you want to read it? Do you think my mob mentality theory has merit?
And finally, I’m thrilled to announce the winners of last week’s book giveaway. Stacy Jensen and Shanna Krider will each receive Confessions of a Scary Mommy by Jill Smokler on April 3rd. I’m pre-ordering the book for you ladies the minute I have your addresses. Email me at ninabadzinblog@gmail.com.
Nina (@NinaBadzin)
Latest posts by Nina (@NinaBadzin) (see all)
- The Spanx Effect of Controlling my iPhone Time - May 21, 2013
- The Post Listen to Your Mother Post - May 14, 2013
- When a Friendship Needs a Break - May 6, 2013
Welcome! I am a freelance writer living in Minneapolis with my husband and four children. My essays on parenting, social media etiquette, improving my habits, Jewish life and more appear in the Huffington Post, Kveller.com, The Jewish Daily Forward and elsewhere. I'm glad you found your way here!
I have not read 50SOG and I do not want to. I am simply fascinated by the phenomenon of a less-than-gifted writer managing to get all this media and reader attention. Here is my question: everyone mentions how bad the writing is, how weak the characters are etc. If the only thing to recommend this series is touching on a subject which will possibly lose popularity once the 15 minutes of fame are up … what will E.L. James write next? Will her publishers send her to writing school? Will they get a team of ghost writers behind her (as I suspect is the case with many ‘top’ authors)? Where to from here if a ‘writer’ is dependent on reader popularity and not actual skill? People will ulitmately get bored with a monotonous set-up. I ask BSDM writers to correct me here – how many different types of scenarios can two people get into without running out of ideas? It’s like any relationship: once the sex and passion settles down they have to talk (gasp!) to each other. Can an author sustain more books if that author has no idea of how to create deep, meaningful characters and real plots. Hey, maybe I am too demanding and secretly readers just want to read the bits about whips ‘n’ pain…
I’ve never heard of these books, but this post has saved me a lot of time, Nina! They don’t really sound like my “inner goddess’” cup of tea…
I get curious when a book is getting so much hype, so I read 50 shades of grey (I also read the first Twilight book – ugh. I do love Harry Potter). I thought 50 shades was poorly written, the sex scenes were not so racy, and there wasn’t that many of them. I’m kind of torn about books 2 and 3 because I’m wondering if I’m right in predicting what happens but don’t really want to waste my time reading them to find out. I guess Google will come in handy.
I tend to wait before reading anything which seems to be super-trending. I don’t think I read any of the Harry Potter books until they were almost all out (loved them, btw). Anyways, the whole “erotic” thing was pretty much a deal breaker for me. Not exactly my thing. It’s nice to hear that the writing itself wasn’t even that good; now I *really* don’t mind skipping this series.
The fact that it was derived from Twilight fanfic is enough to make me run, screaming, in the opposite direction! But I also haven’t read any good reviews. I’ve read that lots of people love it, supposedly, but of the people I know personally who have read it, not one of them thought it was good. Also, a friend who is involved in the BDSM scene thought it was utterly ridiculous and unrealistic.
So all that is to say: No, I’m probably not going to bother.
Living in a place even more backwoods than Minnesota, I have never heard of this book, and now I don’t want to waste my brain cells or my time. Thanks for the heads up, Nina! : )
The whole point of the books WAS the sex scenes-they aren’t gratuitous. The story was secondary. The dialogue was weirdly formal, the odd use of Mr & Mrs. instead of first names, and Ana’s contrasting multiple personalities as well as Christians over bearing single one are all secondary. And that is why everyone is reading, and why its so popular. I like me some good literature. But, sometimes I just like some junk. But, the conundrum is due to my predilection for well-written prose, I have trouble with most of the crappy light stuff that’s out there-its like reading torture. However, when couched in the smut EL James intersperses amongst her smattering of storyline, somehow the junk becomes palatable, or rather, ignorable. The whole point of the books is to drop any sense of intellect, and just escape. Maybe they’re not for everyone, but seriously, just like going to see an American Pie movie, when you have no expectations of excellence,you might just have a great time.
Glorified fanfic, that is all this is. She wiped all traces of it’s original Master Of The Universe and cntrl + F’d out the Twilight names. How effing original. If you want good erotica read The Sleeping Beauty Trilogy, seeing as 3/4′s of what EJ wrote is a rip-off of that series. Not a fan of EJ as a person, she should have stuck to role playing Twilight on Twitter instead of writing crap like this.
I will admit that I couldn’t stomach the story enough to read the whole thing. BUT: I read most of the first and last book and thought 50 was absolutely awful. A lot of things really bug me about this series. 1) I’m bothered by the fact that someone can make a half-hearted attempt at fanfic based off of someone else’s original story and become a multi-millionaire, now known as a NYT best selling author. Meanwhile, writers creating thoughtfully crafted prose can’t even get an agent. I know publishers are in business to make a profit but it saddens me that this is what sells so well, especially since many people equate sales/genpop enthusiasm with quality. (Honestly this isn’t sour grapes – I’m not a writer!) 2) James took all the most annoying aspects of Twilight and fetishized them (or attempted to) as if they were her own character creations. I thought there was a lot of Twilight in the books, which is fine if it had stayed fanfic, but when you’re going to publish with a legitimate publishing house you need to produce original work. 3) IMO, anyone who claims 50 supports and promotes women’s sexual independence is reading the story backwards. Ana may physically consent to be a sub, but her complete inexperience with men and lack of self respect make her easy prey to be psychologically coerced into subjugation by a dominant man who wants to control every aspect of her life – food, clothing, sleep, etc. I know the BDSM powerplay people use to defend this and just don’t buy into it. Books don’t just randomly become this popular in any given time; it’s not a coincidence that 50 is resonating with readers now. The story of a young woman being sexually controlled by a man (the only man she’s ever with!)? Christian should have been a Teaparty senator.
I will admit that I instantly get skeptical when something becomes hugely popular. I fell in love with Downton Abbey before the hype really took off, I begrudgingly started Harry Potter after GoF came out and love it more than I can say. No interest in reading The Help; Hunger Games passed me by. Read (and for a briefly fevered time liked) the first three Twilight books until the horrifying last installment ruined it. I do like the early Black Dagger Brotherhood books and some other romance books.
Very interesting, analysis! Thank you for sharing here. I haven’t read much about the feminist take on it, but I do know there have been discussions on both sides (that it’s pro and anti).
I first heard about 50 Shades in my writing class, when a fellow student brought it up as an example of what writers can do with eBooks these days (and self-publishing). I wasn’t that interested in reading it (I tend to stay away from things that get a lot of hype – I’ve never read Harry Potter or Twilight, but I don’t like vampires) and now I really don’t want to read it. What you described doesn’t sound like anything I’d want to read. I do find it interesting the way that some books do get this sort of hype and word-of-mouth promotion, even when they are poorly written or lack originality. Is the author just riding on the popularity of Twilight – and are people so desperate for anything Twilight that they’ll even read crap like this? I watched The Help not because of the hype but because I was interested in the story (and really enjoyed it).
50 Shades of Gray shows how misogynistic a female writer can be. It sets women back 100 years. If we’re going to accept S&M, we need books about women dominating men and the men enjoying it.
“If we’re going to accept S&M, we need books about women dominating men and the men enjoying it.”
I have read some stories in which that occurs. I personally don’t agree with your suggestion of the writers misogyny, she probably just liked being dominated herself in fantasised BDSM relationships.
Don’t forget that DSM is regulated, consensual, harmless role-playing in which dominant roles are freely applicable to BOTH sexes (and in which both sexes can indisputably enjoy.)
I have to agree. Read all 3 books last week and was so relieved to finish because it just dragged too much for me. The repetition in the series was too much in the end. Christian grey was sexy to begin with, but too much of a contradiction in a “roll your eyes” kinda way. Will see the movie, but hope its only one movie and not 3.
Now I’m wondering if I should at least finish #2 and read #3. It seems like I need to know for myself what happens.
Hi Nina, I just googled “el james” and “mob mentality” and your blog was the first thing that came up. Thank goodness it’s not the entire world that’s gone mad! Phew!!
Phil, UK
My little blog comes up first? I love it! Hysterical. Well, I guess I can and should thank E.L. James for THAT.
Thanks for letting me know!
No, the ENTIRE world hasn’t gone mad – just those who read and praised this drivel. As a member of an on-line writing group that has completed one on-line novel & is working on the sequel, it’s made us feel REALLY good about our writing. So there is SOMETHING positive to come out of it, LOL
I still can’t quite wrap my head around it either. But I totally be down for some Harry Potter and Katniss! That would be a fun crossover.
Glad someone appreciates that idea!
[...] in the bedroom, but luckily lots and lots of people called them on that. Some chalk it up to the mob mentality. But in my opinion, it’s really more about the Cinderella story than the sex. In fact, I [...]
The first book hooked me, but the repetative “inner goddess” “lipi-biting”, etc. and overall bad writing, character development, character believability in general has forced me to stop halfway through the second. Now I can’t stand and don’t care what happens to the charaters, they’re always jealous of anyone that looks at the other and, incidently, it seems like everyone is attracted to both of them for no particular reason? They’re both horribly written, everyone keeps telling Ana she’s so “brave” etc…brave, how? Her inner dialogue is that of a thirteen year old girl infatuated with her boyfriend, and in love with being in love. There’s no depth, nothing to attach yourself to. The BDSM, sexual aspect of the book in the beginning, when you could un-fault her for her naiveity, was hot, but as time went on and I moved on to the second book, her insecurity and “does he love me even though he buys me cars and says he does”, etc. was such a turn-off that it became hard to enjoy even that aspect of the writing. Hard, but not impossible:) If it weren’t for the sex in the book it would not be popular at all-it’s a blatent twilight rip-off with the gratification of sex-scenes included, and frankly there’s much better erotica out there.
Great commentary! People often ask me if it’s the sex that bothered me about the book. On the contrary! Without the sex it would have been completely unreadable.
AMEN to both of you!!! Couldn’t agree more. I’m so sick of hearing about how great it is – obviously coming from people who rarely read.
omg! i said the same exact thing in a facebook post the other day! and today in barnes in nobels i told a women who was holding it that it was overrated and her friend said “no its not! have you red it” haha i said yes it is and yes i have.
Doesn’t that enormous spread in Barnes and Noble kind of depress you? I feel bad for all the authors with books releasing right now. They kind of don’t stand a chance of getting noticed.
I would like to see more character development and less sex! Yes, I said it, LESS! When they can’t keep their hands off each other long enough to have a real conversation about the babies they may or may not have one day, it’s just too much. It’s not even turning me on anymore and I’m on the third book. By all means, continue to read it… I just want to know how it ends at this point! Will she get pregnant and move into their multi-million dollar house or will some jealous ex off him in a moment of passion?
I am so with you! “Less is more” certainly could have applied well here.
Again, ITA! My friend’s husband read it and said “You know it’s bad when I think – ‘enough sex already! How about some more story?’”
I am sorry to say but say but I don’t agree with any of these posts. Yes all that sex every five minutes is not really believable and truthfully could have delt with less of that. I really liked the book. I thought it had everything love, mystery, romance. I loved all the flirting and emails and text messages between them and all the playfulness. You saw Christian change over the 3 books and it was exciting to see the change. Not for nothing, as far as Anna having immature thoughts in her head you have to remember she is only 21 and never had a relationship before and her self image wasn’t the best so I thought that was completely expected along with the jealousy over Christian. As for Christian, he was emotionally under developed and was so messed up so early in life he had all kinds of issues with love and trust and always had control in relationships that did NOT involve love so the jealousy on his part was expected as well . I just love the way the relationship between Anna and Christian evolved. I felt like I spent so much time with them and got to know them and was sad to see it end.
Lynn, You’re not alone! Most of my friends loved the series and would absolutely agree with you over me.
FINALLY someone who agrees with me. Maybe the big fuss is because this is the first time erotic fiction has been introduced into the mainstream. The naughtiness of it is the pull. For me, not so much. (Maybe I’m too naughty, myself? haha) I found myself cringing at her ‘little girl’ speak and descriptions of ‘down there.’ It’s like the writer wanted to push the boundaries but stopped short and got embarrassed. I, however have NOT sold gajillions of books and am NOT at the top of any bestseller list, so what do I know? Nice blog
I love that I’m not alone! I just heard her husband sold a book. Not sure if it’s true!
Nina, you and I are good writers, maybe we should turn to erotica – seems like we could make a bundle ;p
Ha!
Could not agree more! I just finished the last book (Thank the Lord!) I held on under the mentality of “I am not a quitter”, but geez louis it got down right boring midway through book 2 and all of book three. I was on board for the majority of book one, they should have added 1/2 a chapter to the end of it and called it a day. The longer it went on the more it felt like the publisher kept calling the author saying – “it’s doing so well, can’t you squeeze out just one more novel??” Monotonous and pointless.
You could not have summed it up any better. The first half of book two was interesting. Now I’m on a downward spiral again. How on earth did this book get so popular??
And keeps staying popular!
And IO *heard* that her husband got a book deal, but I don’t know if it’s true. Wouldn’t surprise me though!
Had to share this link with you: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/340987215
I think you’re kindred spirits. Most entertaining book review I’ve ever read.
I LOVE that link!!! Someone shared it with me on Facebook. Hilarious. Thanks for thinking to share it here though.
First of all, let me just go on record as saying that I think the Twilight books are some of the most inept, trashy writing in history.
Whew! I feel better, like I’ve sicked up something rotten.
As for Shades of Gray… I’ve only read a few excerpts – but those reminded me that nothing is new. If you want steamy, kinky, bondage/S-M fantasy sex, go to the Anne Rice Sleeping Beauty trilogy that she wrote under the pseudonym, A. N. Roquelaure.
Now THERE’s some kinky stuff!
I keep hearing about those Anne Rice books! Don’t know if I can handle them . . .
The book was totally overrated. It was basically a sexual version of Twilight. It’s the Twilight crap all over again. Dominating sexy man swoops in on a shy little average girl blah blah. I cringed when reading those emails between them. And the sex scenes? Not buying it. You could find better sex stories on those porn stories websites.
I finished the first book and have no desire at all to read on.
And the movies? They know they’ll earn a lot less money of it’s rated R. But dumbing it down to PG 13? Not working either. It’s twilight all over again.
I know . . . a few emails would have been more than enough to get the idea. Re: the movie . . . are they making it PG 13??? I can’t imagine that.
I think that it is over rated. I cant wait to finish the third one but it is taking me forever because im bored of it. The story is too far fetched, Christian Grey is a controlling stalker who scares the life out of Anna, shes always worried that he will react bad to anything she says or that he will hit her with his ‘twitchy palm’ after hes ‘cocked his head to one side’ and ‘pressed his lips into a hard thin line’ and that’s all the book is about really. the sex scenes are unbelievably boring i skip through them because they’re all the same. I wish i never succumbed to the peer pressure what a waste of time and money.
You know things are going south when you’re skipping the sex scenes!
Thanks for visiting and stopping to add your two cents.
[...] to state clearly that I have never claimed to write reviews on my blog. Okay, I wrote one called 50 Shades Overrated in March, but that was an exception. What I do instead is keep track of the books I’ve read [...]
Hi Nina, I just found your blog and got sucked in to the Twitter advice, but had to be the one, some what, descending voice on the Fifty Shades bashing. I agree 100% with everything that’s been said so far – the books were terrible. Completely unrealistic, annoyingly repetitive, full of editing errors and don’t even get me started on the dialogue. With all that said, I read them in 4 days. The whole time, I was grimacing at the inept nature of the books, but I could not put them down. After the first few, i did skim the sex scenes – could she really be “ready” for him every single time? But here’s the big confession; after I finished and was left feeling really cheap for, so veraciously, reading that worthless trash, I re-read them. I needed to understand why I got addicted. In the end, I liked the books even less the second time, but the conclusion I came to is there was a vulnerability and sweetness in the chemistry between Christian and Ana that is every teenage girl’s image of what romance is. Realistic, no. A little creepy, yes. Some rich man sweeping me off my feet and thinking geeky me is amazing? Hell yes. For me, it was an escape to a world with no laundry piled on the couch, no doctors appointments and baby’s oxygen monitor beeping at me and no 3 year old with skid marks in his pants. In that context, I’ve come to terms with the fact that it’s not a literary masterpiece and openly swoon over Christian Grey (although he’s much closer to George Clooney, in my mind)
Tatum,
You bring up an excellent point about zipping through the books. There must be a reason!! I love that you went back to “study” it. I’ve done that too with certain books. Every reading experience is a learning one if you’re a writer!
[...] do not write reviews on my blog. Okay, I wrote one called “50 Shades Overrated” in March, but that was an exception. What I do instead is keep track of the books I’ve [...]
I wonder if the recent popularity in ereaders has given this book more space to be a success? I mean I’ve seen people read it on the trains on their kindles and nooks. I guess what I’m saying is with a book like this, I’m betting it’s a lot easier to read it on a device than out in the open with the glaring cover! Obviously, I could be wrong. I have no intention of even picking these books up.
[...] to state clearly that I have never claimed to write reviews on my blog. Okay, I wrote one called 50 Shades Overrated in March, but that was an exception. What I do instead is keep track of the books I’ve read [...]
[...] will say that I agree with Nina Badzin on this: if I never hear the phrase “my inner goddess” again, I will die a happy woman. James was going [...]
Don’t forget “Oh my”
Which I can’t stand anymore.
Yes–good call! That one drove me crazy, too.
I’m a bit appalled by people who are hating 50 Shades of Grey just because it became mainstream. People forget at the end of the day, it’s all about entertainment, and each has a liberty on what materials would make them ‘entertained.’
Reading 50 Shades of Grey was fun. Just don’t take it seriously. Geez, people.
I’m also baffled by the popularity of this series. From the hype you hear about this book you’d think it would be the best of the best…
So why this book? There’s a lot of low-brow smut out there, particularly Twilight fanfic. It can’t just be that the author tapped into powerful characters someone else developed(although that does cheapen the book considerably at the get-go…) I wonder if the title was just catchy for people? Sex sells…
Either way I’m deeply bothered that such a horrible writer has made so much fame and money polluting people’s heads.
Loved reading your thoughts on this OLD post! Really! It was fun to revisit.