Am I the only one who finds " Fifty Shades of Grey ", a boring pile of crap?

As a North American living and working in a foreign country in international finance, I am extremely busy and always on the go, traveling around to a few countries for business or for pleasure. I have neglected my reading ( and I was a voracious reader throughout most of my life ). So for a year, I kept on hearing about references to " Fifty Shades of Grey " and how it has changed certain things for women. Curiously, I picked up the book JUST a few weeks ago and started reading. Also, I meet a lot of " Christian Grey " characters in my career. I don't sleep with them for I have a long-term relationship but I am very familiar with the characterization of the protagonist, Christian Grey.

What an UTTER PIECE OF BORING CRAP. Here are some thoughts that flashed into my head :

1) ARE WOMEN AROUND THE WORLD THAT DEPRIVED OF GOOD, AMAZING SEX?

Apart from the part about written contracts in the book, I found the sex rather ordinary and commonplace. I thought, " Wait, this happens in my bedroom most of the time "...and I started to think, " If this book was HAILED as being uniquely racy....what has happened to the world? Are women THAT deprived of good sex that the sex in the book was considered as unique and sexy? ".

2) THE HEROINE, ANASTASIA STEELE, IS HIGHLY ANNOYING

Everytime I would read a sentence ( her inner monologue ), I got cringes down my neck. It was very hard to relate to a highly naive, babbling, RIDICULOUS, immature heroine. The emotional outbursts, the chattering, babbling and teasing that goes on between her and Christian Grey made me skip pages and pages.

3) CHEESY LINES ALL THROUGHOUT THE BOOK

Most of them would come from Christian Grey. I also got neck cringes everytime he would say something " sexy " before sex and while he's cumming. I thought, " WHO SAYS THIS STUFF before and after sex? "

4) BORING

Yes, the book is BORING. BORING. No real plot. The sex is rather ordinary ( I got off on MY OWN fantasies of things that actually happened to me, rather than the sex that was described on the book ). I found myself skipping pages and stopped reading altogether when I got to pg. 300 something and read the ending, chucked the book on the couch and continued on with my business.

Nope you are not the only one. I read it on the wikipedia.

I just found out really dumb. LOL Despite the fact my co-workers are like "oh my god the sex is hot."

Nope you are not the only one. I read it on the wikipedia.

 

I just found out really dumb. LOL Despite the fact my co-workers are like "oh my god the sex is hot."

The sex was ordinary. As I read it, I thought to myself, " But isn't this what happens all the time in the bedroom? The closeness...the roughness and tenderness all mixed into one?

Haha I don't know what people are talking about either when they said it was racy.. I was like... Am I really that freaky? Hahahaha

Sadly though I think it's more along the lines of people don't know how good a well-written book can be. Just look at the NYT Bestseller List... Twilight's been on it, for god's sake.

Twilight is HORRENDOUS. I tried to read the book ages ago. Dropped it within a few pages. I tried to give the movie a chance. Couldn't watch 15 mins of it. Somehow, the girl who plays Bella is too emo for my liking. It's like she's reciting lines badly through a Novocaine-induced mouth.

Never read it. I considered picking it up when I heard that it was about BDSM, but then I read a couple of reviews and decided that I would hate it.

I still am curious (kind of like being curious about a car accident), but I refuse to pay money for it, so unless someone lends me their copy, I won't be reading it.

I didn't really like 50 shades of Grey either. I've read several trashy romance novels years ago so I guess I don't care as much? I dunno. Just wasn't my thing at all.

Let's not even talk about twilight. Those books are unreadable and I couldn't watch the movies either.

What I am more curious about is WHY this awful back has become such a phenomenal hit? I'm curious as to the market it catered to...and why these women were " stirred " by it.

I think many who enjoyed it and felt it was invigorating have not read romance fiction. If they did, they'd see that 50 shades was not anything special.

I read the review by Katrina Lumsden (which are hilarious, btw), and in it she quotes this from the book:

"I'm a sadist, Ana. I like to whip little brown-haired girls like you because you all look like the crack ***** - my birth mother."

Please tell me she was making that up. That is sick.

^ see, I read stuff like that and I almost laughed. It just feels forced and stupid.

To me this sounds a bit like watching a hardcore porn film and complaining the lighting is bad and the story is hokey. The book sucks but I don't think anyone read it for the gripping prose and well defined characters. Maybe there is one kinda positive thing I might take away from it and that is the sort of mainstreaming of BDSM relationships... maybe. The problem is the characters are such horrible role models I hope nobody thinks this is a normal way to behave.

BDSM relationships have always existed in the bedroom. I don't know what is " mainstreaming " about it. Go to all the clubs in NYC or major European cities and the BDSM are in the clubs, lounges etc. But the sex parts in the book are NOT just about BDSM....there are parts in the book where the sex is considered " hot " and my point is that the sex is rather ordinary. With that being said, the question has to be posed....are women who find this novel " hot " deprived of good sex in their everyday, real lives...bc they must be....which is very sad

I would never consider reading it. Sounds trashy.

"Fifty Shades of zzzzzzzzz"

BDSM relationships have always existed in the bedroom. I don't know what is " mainstreaming " about it. Go to all the clubs in NYC or major European cities and the BDSM are in the clubs, lounges etc. But the sex parts in the book are NOT just about BDSM....there are parts in the book where the sex is considered " hot " and my point is that the sex is rather ordinary. With that being said, the question has to be posed....are women who find this novel " hot " deprived of good sex in their everyday, real lives...bc they must be....which is very sad

 

Just because it has always existed doesn't mean it has always been mainstream. Books of this topic are never this popular, and the fact that a lot of people still do find it salacious even though you find it ho hum means it is finding a whole different audience.

I tried reading the first chapter and could barely get through it. If I want to read erotic literature I'll get something else. It's so terribly written and I hate the dialogue. The hype around it also makes me dislike it because everywhere you go there they are; all three books, it's quite irritating. That being said, I enjoyed the Twilight Saga, no idea why, I wasn't terribly into the characters or anything, just liked the storyline and when I read the books I as going through a tough time so it was a welcome distraction.

Awful crap. I'm on the second book, mainly reading out of peer pressure. But it's just awful. It's actually twilight fan fiction which explains why it is so awful.

I haven't read any of them. I bought all 3 of them months ago but I've not gotten round to reading them yet. I have heard mixed reviews, some of my friends say they're good, whilst others have said it put them to sleep

Read enough to know that they are not for me. Makes me sad though, I know some women who write the most amazing erotica but just can't seem to sell it, while tripe like this makes millions.

I thought it was about black and white photography. Imagine my surprise......

I thought it was about black and white photography. Imagine my surprise......

You must be thinking of 99 Shades of Grey.

image removed

You must be thinking of 99 Shades of Grey.

 

DOH !!!!!!!!