Fifty Shades of Grey: E L James

                                                                                     Image Credit; Fashionista.com

Reading this book reminded me of one of those deep conversations one has had with one’s most favorite teacher/lecturer. The crux of the discussion was basically this – in Literature, What constitutes as highbrow/Bourgeois literature and what constitutes pulp/popular? Just because Person A has read/studied Shakespeare and Person B has read only an M&B novel – can we effectively conclude that Person A is more accomplished than person B? What if a crappy second rate novel has had the same effect on person B that Shakespeare has had on Person A? Then what happens to our theories of what constitutes “real literature” and what doesn’t? What if this second rate novel has been able to force this person B to think about profound things such as Life, Death, relationships etc? What happens then?

These are some deep thought-provoking questions at one level. Keep these in mind before you decide to read Fifty Shaded of Grey. I had been hearing about this book and chancing upon references to this on some popular blogs, literary sites etc. So when a dear friend also mentioned it to me characterizing it as something on the lines of overblown M&B book, I decided to read and find out for myself what the fuss was all about...

So, the titular characters – a-small-town-pretty-as-hell-but-also-smart for-a-change-brunette Anastasia Steele is forced to conduct an interview of this super-rich-super-handsome CEO of Grey Holdings, Christian Grey (because her roommate who was supposed to interview Grey in the first place is sick and trying to reschedule an interview with a CEO is just unthinkable!). As is inevitable in a typical romance (read M&B) novel, they both erm .. get into bed out of sheer attraction and... of course for all the wrong reasons.

However, since this is a grade above M&B, they are also falling in love with each other – except they don’t know it themselves yet; BUT everyone else around them seems to notice it. Let me assure you that ever cliché in every M&B book is used in this book to make sure that the lead characters are “together”. If you are a hopeless romantic then you’ll enjoy these parts of the book. However, if you are a high-culture-read-only-high-literature type of person, then stay away from this book – else, you’ll slit your throat 20 pages into the book! (private LOL!).

Ok, so now you are asking me “what is the catch?” Okay, okay, I’ll give it to you – whatever happened to delayed gratification? Duh! – Our Super-sexy Grey if fighting his own inner demons and apparently the only way he finds his “release” is by indulging in BDSM activities to cute-n-hot girls. Though what these inner demons are – is probably revealed in the next two books – yes, trilogy seems to be the flavour of the season.

We know that every M&B hero is flawed and that he is “whole again” only when he is with his lady love – but this! Sheesh! Ah! Before you go all judgemental about this book and the book’s hero – think back to the questions my lecturer posed to me which I have noted at the start of this blog.

How do (in our judgemental terms) “normal” people find release from demons or whatever it is they are facing? Some people go for a long run; some people kick and scream in the privacy of their homes etc. Similarly what if one such individual’s coping mechanism is to indulge in kinky sex as long as its consensual and neither party is hurt? Some might be okay with this and some might not.  Now to spice things up – let’s say one such person who you know has these sort of preferences asks you to be a partner in these BDSM activities – what would you do? Yes or no?

What does Ana steele say? I’ll let you read the book and find out. Considering its a trilogy I am already guess what your answer is – but don’t be so sure, it’s not what you think it is and it is not as simple as I am making it out to be.

Finally – personally, do I like this book? I don’t know. I have no clue. There are parts of this book that I totally loved – like how Grey and Ana  slowly fall in love; then again the tedious explicitly detailed sex scenes kinda made me go red in the face and put me off at the same time (kudos E L James – wonder how you pulled that off!).

And then there are parts where I both love and hate in equal measure – I mean C’mon – a CEO has enough time to drop everything and go chasing the girl of his dreams? In my opinion this definitely possible only in novels, and then I hate this because the sensible side of me knows its impossible in reality. Maybe I should just say something cheesy like – read this book to lose yourself in this world of charming white prince, impossible wealth etc etc - because you know, you’ll never really find them in real life... That’s when this book starts sounding silly and naive.

So, there it is – confused me writing this book off as confusing!

Verdict: Read only if in the mood for some steamy sex and romance-fiction

Rating: Undecided