Yes, every writer on the planet has given their two cents about what the success of this novel means to them. I'm late. Sorry. I wasn't even going to write anything about it, but my good friend Jay Fingers wrote a piece this week mentioning that the trilogy had sold 10 millions copies. And I just had to pause and reflect on that for a minute.
10 million copies. Holy shit. That is crazy.
First of all, I have to admit that I have not read it. And I'm pretty sure I won't be. Well, I'm definitely sure I won't be. I just looked it up on Amazon and it's 528 pages long. There is no way in hell I would ever be able to finish that.
So, being the industrious woman that I am, I did the next best thing. I read all of the pages that Amazon would let me see, for free. But they wouldn't let me see any of the smutty stuff, so I looked up some smutty free passages and I found them on Jezebel.
Now, you may be saying, You can't judge a 528 page book by reading 20 pages of it. But, yes you can. When Jonathan Franzen published his newest novel, and everyone once again began to talk about what a fantastic writer he was, I realized that I had never read a word that he had written. I went to Google, looked up Jonathan Franzen quotes, and devoured every single one. It was clear to me, in one sentence, that I wanted to read his work. I ordered The Corrections immediately. I'm still on page 50- but hey- I have every intention of reading it.
Needless to say, this did not happen when I read a few pages of Fifty Shades of Grey. Maybe it's because Anastasia Steele is the most mother f-ing ridiculous name that anyone has given a protagonist, ever. Maybe it's because she used the word gamine on page two. Maybe it's because I think her writing style is crap. The bottom line is- who cares? I won't read it.
Instead, I read all of that backlash about it, because I find that more interesting. Of course, the feminist backlash is the stuff that interests me the most. Next is the "real writer" backlash.
There have been lots of observations about the novel as anti-feminist. Of course, it's anti-feminist for women to fantasize about being dominated, right? Katie Roiphe, probably the first woman ever to argue that women have a hand in date rape (gross) claims that the book offers an escape from the dreariness and hard work of equality. Oh god, really? The idea that any woman would pick up a piece of Twilight fan fiction to escape the hard work of equality is just stupid. Almost as stupid as the phrase the hard work of equality. And implying that millions of women across the land are doing themselves a disservice by reading some harmless erotica is pretty insulting. It's not anti-feminist to fantasize about being sexually dominated. Give me a break. And in BDSM relationships, the one that is being dominated controls all of the action, because they are the one that decides when it stops. Ever heard of a safe-word. Duh.
And naturally, other writers are pissed. Of course they are! The publishing industry is ridiculously hard to break into. And this woman, who writes things like, My inner goddess is prostrate, is now a wildly famous, successful author. That sucks. But that's life.
That fact brings me to this point. Creative people- yes I am talking to you- there is an endless amount of inspiration out there. If one person makes it, discovers the next big thing, and becomes a gazillionaire on the back of some poorly written erotica- who cares? If anything, it should inspire you- just a little. Whatever you think of this woman and her work, she created something out of nothing, and sold 10 million copies of it. That's impressive.
That's enough for today. My inner goddess is prostrate, and I think I just heard my husband walk in the door.
Just kidding. I have to do laundry.
I read all three over the course of a few months. It got to the point where there was so many sex parts that I started skimming over those parts to get back to the story. It was overkill and may have turned me off to erotica forever. And the same phrases over and over became redundant ;).
ReplyDeleteI do think the plot of the story was okay (and a friend loaned me the last two books because no way was I paying for them) and that's why I went ahead and read it all--but yes, it was very poorly written. But SEX! It has lots of SEX. And we all know sex sells.
I haven't read the book and don't really feel any need to. I, like you, have read a few passages - mostly those on Jezebel - and know all I need to know. Which is that these books that mombloggers everywhere are clawing eyes out over is, in fact, not so much a romance novel as it is erotica the likes of which anyone can read for free on Literotica. Seriously. Nothing I read in any quoted passages is anything I haven't seen already on that website. And hey, I have no problem with the book being big, but I do find it fascinating that women who would otherwise never ever dream of talking about their sex lives or anything remotely sexual, let alone endorse something as purely pornographic more than literature based as Literotica think it is no big deal to defend to the death the awesomeness of the S&M god that is this Grey character, or whatever his name is. Like, it's not really any 'better' than the other but they sure as heckfire would never admit to having ever selected an erotic tale from a porn site. I guess being printed in a book makes a difference. To some. ;)
ReplyDeleteOh god, the characters seem ridiculous. But I guess the point is that that's not the point, right? Just like the plot in a porn flick totally isn't the point. I agree that the mainstream-ness of it all is making it safe for women. And you're right- they love it. I just lost 2 fans on my Facebook page for writing about it!
DeleteI just can't get over how serious ladies are taking this stuff. I had a person I follow on Twitter get all "Nobody better say anything about Christian!" "I just can't get him off my mind!!!11!1!BBQ!" and I could not help rolling my eyes.
DeleteI haven't read any of this, but as a writer and literature snob, I hate it when people get snobby about reading. I have no intention of reading this, it's clearly crap, but that means that maybe (since I'm spending all my energy on equality) I could just put a little less effort in my writing... Also, who doesn't love a mindless read every now and again? The Entire Collection of Janet Evanovich on my bookshelf underneath Chretien de Troyes proves that point.
ReplyDeleteI am reading the first book now on Nook. Super easy read. Absolutely no thinking needed on my part and that is the point. Sometimes a mindless read and a little harmless panting is what we need. It's fiction and just like many of the other silly romance novels I've read. What usually ends up irritating me is that the woman seem weak to me and Ana is no exception. Sigh. Maybe by book three.
ReplyDeleteI have read the trilogy. Because I usually have to finish things I start and I was curious. The writing is TERRIBLE. The same words used over and over again, plus the sex scenes get repetitive and the plot is stupid. And seriously? I want to know what man had Christian's refractory period. I mean, come on.
ReplyDeleteugh.
Anyway, another fantastic post!
Brittany at barefootfoodie posted a list of books that she says are much better reads with similarly sexy themes. I read through sections of the original fanfic that inspired the novels and they were awful. Even as a person who enjoys this kind of theme in erotic lit, the writing was terrible and the scenarios completely idiotic. Read better erotic lit, women! We deserve better!
ReplyDeleteSPOILErS
ReplyDeleteThe best sex scene is at around page 120, and has nothing to do with kink or BDSM.
As for the hand-wringing, I don't think Anastasia is being dominated at all. First of all, as you say, in a BDSM relationship, the submissive has as much power as the dominant, if not more. But this book isn't even about BDSM. Of the 15-20 sex scenes, only 2-3 involved real BDSM, and Anastasia is not a real submissive anyway. I'd say it's more of a traditional romance novel-- the girl and the guy secretly like each other, but won't admit it, and there's zounds of faux drama as the heroine struggles against herself and wonders if her budding love is requited.
The hand-wringing is more about the fact that in all the traditional measures of power-- wisdom, experience, age, money-- Christian is out of this world [Mark Zuckerberg is literally the only person in the world right now close to being in Christian's league, and even he is nowhere there physically] whereas Anastasia is the polar opposite-- extremely ordinary and inexperienced. It implies that women fantasize about someone smarter, stronger, wealthier, and more powerful to sweep them off their feet. That's a very traditional narrative. It's the Cinderella story. It's not that Anastasia has no power-- it's that her power derives from her emotional hold over Christian. She has no independent power.