Book-Review .... "Fifty Shades of Grey"

Fifty Shades of Grey

Fifty Shades of Grey is a 2011 erotic novel by British author E. L. James. Set largely in Seattle, it is the first instalment in a trilogy that traces the deepening relationship between a college graduate, Anastasia Steele, and a young business magnate, Christian Grey. It is notable for its explicitly erotic scenes featuring elements of sexual practices involving bondage/discipline, dominance/submission, sadism/masochism (BDSM).

The second and third volumes are titled Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed, respectively. Fifty Shades of Grey has topped best-seller lists around the world, including the United Kingdom and the United States. The series has sold 40 million copies worldwide,with book rights having been sold in 37 countries, and set the record as the fastest-selling paperback of all time, surpassing the Harry Potter series. Critical reception of the novel has been mixed.

Plot

Fifty Shades of Grey follows Anastasia "Ana" Steele, a 22-year-old college senior who lives with her best friend Katherine Kavanagh; Katherine writes for their college's student paper. Because of illness, Katherine persuades Ana to take her place and interview 27-year-old Christian Grey, an incredibly successful and wealthy young entrepreneur. Ana is instantly attracted to Grey, but also finds him intimidating. As a result she stumbles through the interview and leaves Grey's office believing that it went badly. Ana tries to console herself with the thought that the two of them will probably not meet each other again. However she is surprised when Grey appears at the hardware store where she works. While he purchases various items including cable ties and rope, Ana informs Grey that Katherine wants photographs to go along with her article about him. Grey leaves Ana with his phone number. Katherine urges Ana to call Grey and arrange a photo shoot with their photographer friend Jose Rodriquez.

The next day Jose, Katherine, and Ana arrive at the hotel Grey is staying at, where the photo shoot takes place and Grey asks Ana out for coffee. The two talk over coffee and Grey asks Ana if she's dating anyone, specifically Jose. When Ana replies that she isn't dating anyone, Grey begins to ask her about her family. During the conversation Ana learns that Grey is also single, but is not "a hearts and flowers kind of guy". This intrigues Ana, especially after he pulls her out of the path of an oncoming cyclist. However, Ana believes that she is not attractive enough for Grey, much to the chagrin of her friend Katherine.

After finishing her exams Ana receives a package from Grey containing first edition copies of Tess of the d'Urbervilles, which stuns her. Later that night Ana goes out drinking with her friends and ends up drunk dialing Grey, who informs her that he will be coming to pick her up because of her inebriated state. Ana goes outside to get some fresh air, and Jose attempts to kiss her but is stopped by Grey's arrival. Ana later leaves with Grey, but not before she discovers that her friend Katherine has been flirting with Grey's brother Elliott. Later Ana wakes to find herself in Grey's hotel room, where he scolds her for not taking proper care of herself. Grey then reveals that he would like to have sex with her. He initially says that Ana will first have to fill out paperwork, but later goes back on this statement after making out with her in the elevator.

Ana later goes on a date with Grey where he takes her in his helicopter to his apartment. Once there, Grey insists that she sign a non-disclosure agreement forbidding her to discuss anything that they do together, which Ana agrees to sign. He also mentions other paperwork, but first takes her to a room full of BDSM toys and gear. There Grey informs her that the second contract will be one of dominance and submission and that there will be no romantic relationship, only a sexual one. The contract even forbids Ana from touching Grey or making eye contact with him. At this point, Grey realizes that Ana is a virgin and agrees to take her virginity without making her sign the contract. The two then have sex.

The following morning Ana and Grey once again have sex, and his mother, who arrives moments after their sexual encounter, is surprised by the meeting, having previously thought Grey was homosexual because she had never seen him with a woman. Grey later takes Ana out to eat, and he reveals to her that he lost his virginity at fifteen to one of his mother's friends and that his previous dominant/submissive relationships failed due to incompatibility. They plan to meet up again and Grey takes Ana home, where she discovers several job offers and admits to Katherine that she and Grey have had sex.

Over the next few days Ana receives several packages from Grey. These include a laptop to enable the two of them to communicate, since she has never previously owned a computer, and a more detailed version of the dominant/submissive contract. She and Grey email each other, with Ana teasing him and refusing to honor parts of the contract, such as only eating foods from a specific list. Ana later meets up with Grey to discuss the contract, only to grow overwhelmed by the potential BDSM arrangement and the potential of having a sexual relationship with Grey that is not romantic in nature. Because of these feelings Ana runs away from Grey and does not see him again until her college graduation, where he is a guest speaker. During this time, Ana agrees to sign the dominant/submissive contract.

Ana and Grey once again meet up together to further discuss the contract, and they go over Ana's hard and soft limits. Ana is spanked for the first time by Grey; the experience leaves her both enticed and slightly confused. This confusion is exacerbated by Grey's lavish gifts, and the fact that he brings her to meet his family. The two continue with the arrangement without Ana having yet signed the contract. After successfully landing a job with Seattle Independent Publishing, Ana further bristles under the restrictions of the non-disclosure agreement and the complex relationship with Grey.

The tension between Ana and Grey eventually comes to a head after Ana asks Grey to punish her in order to show her how extreme a BDSM relationship with him could be. Grey fulfills Ana's request, beating her with a belt, only for Ana to realize that the two of them are incompatible. Devastated, Ana leaves Grey and returns to the apartment she shares with Katherine.

Background

The Fifty Shades trilogy was developed from a Twilight fan fiction originally titled Master of the Universe and published episodically on fan-fiction websites under the pen name "Snowqueen's Icedragon". The piece featured characters named after Stephenie Meyer's characters in Twilight, Edward Cullen and Bella Swan. After comments concerning the sexual nature of the material, James removed the story from the fan-fiction websites and published it on her own website, FiftyShades.com. Later she rewrote Master of the Universe as an original piece, with the principal characters renamed Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele and removed it from her website prior to publication. Meyer commented on the series, saying "that's really not my genre, not my thing ... Good on her—she's doing well. That's great!"

This reworked and extended version of Master of the Universe was split into three parts. The first, titled Fifty Shades of Grey, was released as an e-book and a print-on-demand paperback in May 2011 by The Writers' Coffee Shop, a virtual publisher based in Australia. The second volume, Fifty Shades Darker, was released in September 2011; and, the third, Fifty Shades Freed, followed in January 2012. The Writers' Coffee Shop had a restricted marketing budget and relied largely on book blogs for early publicity, but sales of the novel were boosted by word-of-mouth recommendation.

The book's erotic nature and perceived demographic of its fanbase as being composed largely of married women over thirty led to the book being dubbed "Mommy Porn" by some news agencies. The book has also been reportedly popular among teenage girls and college women.

By the release of the final volume in January 2012, news networks in the United States had begun to report on the Fifty Shades trilogy as an example of viral marketing and of the rise in popularity of female erotica, attributing its success to the discreet nature of e-reading devices. Due to the heightened interest in the series, the license to the Fifty Shades trilogy was picked up by Vintage Books for re-release in a new and revised edition in April 2012.

On 1 August 2012, amazon.co.uk announced that they had sold more copies of Fifty Shades of Grey than they had of the entire Harry Potter series combined, making E. L. James their best-selling author ever, overtaking J. K. Rowling. However it should be noted that Fifty Shades of Grey has sold over 40 million copies worldwide, while the entire Harry Potter series has sold more than 450 million copies worldwide, thus not having sold more copies than the entire Harry Potter series combined.  As of August 23, 2012, it has been number one on USA Today's best-selling books list for sixteen weeks in a row, tying a mark set by In the Kitchen with Rosie: Oprah's Favorite Recipes by Rosie Daley and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifty_Shades_Of_Grey