Fifty Shades trilogy by E.L. James

Started by Damnedangel, April 22, 2012, 09:55:58 AM

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Shjade

#75
Quote from: Star Safyre on July 11, 2012, 01:18:03 PM
Have they seriously never read erotica before or do they just not care about characterization?

Yes.

Edit: Fuck!

I looked at the sporking link to see how bad it was and only made it to the second sentence before I laughed.

QuoteChristian is running both his hands through his hair and pacing up and down his study. Two hands – that’s double exasperation.
Me: PFFHAHAHA aw goddammit.
Theme: Make Me Feel - Janelle Monáe
◕/◕'s
Conversation is more useful than conversion.

Oniya

We describe that action as 'Clutching his head like a stunned monkey' - but my group is weird.  ;D

I got in a 50 Shades dig earlier today:  Someone was complaining about parents actually teaching their kids the proper names for body parts, and I responded with why it's a good idea, closing with 'And for gods sake, don't pull a 50 Shades of Grey and teach her to call it "down there"!'
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

Zandra

Find the love/hate takes on these books interesting. I read enough reviews to figure it was probably pretty bad...  turned down a friend who offered to give me her copies. Thanks for re-inforcing my decision!  ;D

Isobel

OK so it's badly written, not especially original, and wasn't heavily marketed but grew by word of mouth over 4 years.


What is it that's made it so successful, do you think?
Girls R Sexy!

Silverfyre

It's a "mainstream" erotic book.  The curiosity factor in that alone is what is driving sales up, along with the usual bullshit, jumble-fest of celebrity endorsements and media hype.  Most people who read it and find it to be "hot" and it fuels their fantasies.  Does it deserve to be this popular?  Hell no.  It's terrible.  There is much better work out there than this dredge. 


Shjade

Theme: Make Me Feel - Janelle Monáe
◕/◕'s
Conversation is more useful than conversion.

Star Safyre

Success is subjective.  It's monetarily successful, and it's also succeeded in granting Ms. James a level of fame.  I contribute these to marketing and the power of a stubborn motivated self-publisher who can market her product well.  Is it, by my own understanding, a literary success?  Not in the least.
My heaven is to be with him always.
|/| O/O's / Plots / tumblr / A/A's |/|
And I am a writer, writer of fictions
I am the heart that you call home
And I've written pages upon pages
Trying to rid you from my bones

Torch

Quote from: Isobel on July 11, 2012, 02:44:14 PM
OK so it's badly written, not especially original, and wasn't heavily marketed but grew by word of mouth over 4 years.


What is it that's made it so successful, do you think?

Milli Vanilli were successful, too.

Just sayin'....  ::)
"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle, when the sun comes up, you'd better be running."  Sir Roger Bannister


Erotic is using a feather. Kinky is using the whole chicken.

On's and Off's

Isobel

Quote from: Silverfyre on July 11, 2012, 02:56:16 PM
It's a "mainstream" erotic book.  The curiosity factor in that alone is what is driving sales up, along with the usual bullshit, jumble-fest of celebrity endorsements and media hype.  Most people who read it and find it to be "hot" and it fuels their fantasies.  Does it deserve to be this popular?  Hell no.  It's terrible.  There is much better work out there than this dredge.
Well I can see that NOW it's big time, mainstream, hyped and so on, but how did it get there? 


I mean, there's so much erotic fiction out there, and yet somehow with all its faults it seems people (women apparently) kept recommending THIS one.


Somewhere there has to be some killer redeeming feature???
Girls R Sexy!

Silverfyre

Well, if you do find it, let me know because it eludes me why people who think this deserves to be popular on any level.


Isobel

Quote from: Star Safyre on July 11, 2012, 03:01:39 PM
Success is subjective.  It's monetarily successful, and it's also succeeded in granting Ms. James a level of fame.  I contribute these to marketing and the power of a stubborn motivated self-publisher who can market her product well.  Is it, by my own understanding, a literary success?  Not in the least.


Is it all marketing?  Some of what I've been reading about it says that it grew initially from recommendations.  And you'd think there have to be thousands of self-published books being promoted to the max by their authors, yet somehow this one has risen above them all.


I did read that not labelling it erotic and having a safe-for-work cover were factors, but it's hard to believe they made a huge difference.


It's almost as if being bad as literature resonated with people somehow.
Girls R Sexy!

Isobel

Quote from: Silverfyre on July 11, 2012, 03:08:58 PM
Well, if you do find it, let me know because it eludes me why people who think this deserves to be popular on any level.
Lol, well likewise!  It's intriguing.
Girls R Sexy!

Star Safyre

Quote from: Isobel on July 11, 2012, 03:17:07 PM

Is it all marketing?  Some of what I've been reading about it says that it grew initially from recommendations.  And you'd think there have to be thousands of self-published books being promoted to the max by their authors, yet somehow this one has risen above them all.


I did read that not labelling it erotic and having a safe-for-work cover were factors, but it's hard to believe they made a huge difference.


It's almost as if being bad as literature resonated with people somehow.

Mass markets do love bad literature.  Just look at the series' origins: Twilight.

Perhaps it could be said that this is a perfect storm of aggressive self-publishing and marketing, discrete packaging, and an a mass audience of people hungry for poorly characterized vanilla erotica with BDsM undertones that fail to actually deliver any true, realistic kink but instead contort the lifestyle into Psychology 101 Oedipal complex manifestations.
My heaven is to be with him always.
|/| O/O's / Plots / tumblr / A/A's |/|
And I am a writer, writer of fictions
I am the heart that you call home
And I've written pages upon pages
Trying to rid you from my bones

Zandra

Quoteinstead contort the lifestyle into Psychology 101 Oedipal complex manifestations.

Well put Star!  XD

Not too much doubt the 'association' to Twilight had a lot to do with this ones popularity too. I was at a birthday party not too long ago and there was a group of women in their 70s that were chattering all kinds of guilty pleasure reading these books. I was at a loss for words... stopped short of recommending some decent erotica!  ::)

Oniya

Quote from: Zandra on July 11, 2012, 03:46:09 PM
Well put Star!  XD

Not too much doubt the 'association' to Twilight had a lot to do with this ones popularity too. I was at a birthday party not too long ago and there was a group of women in their 70s that were chattering all kinds of guilty pleasure reading these books. I was at a loss for words... stopped short of recommending some decent erotica!  ::)

Anais Nin would be a good start.  'Delta of Venus' was the first 'erotica' book I ever found in a public library.  I won't say it's the greatest, but it's better than this.
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

Jude

Quote from: Star Safyre on July 11, 2012, 03:32:01 PM
Perhaps it could be said that this is a perfect storm of aggressive self-publishing and marketing, discrete packaging, and an a mass audience of people hungry for poorly characterized vanilla erotica with BDsM undertones that fail to actually deliver any true, realistic kink but instead contort the lifestyle into Psychology 101 Oedipal complex manifestations.
So true.

The book tosses safe, sane, and consensual out the window from the get go and makes a mockery of BDSM relationships.  It's absolute shit.

Iniquitous

And now the books are being credited with creating a baby boom! Oh joy... just as we start seeing an end to the horrible writing that is Twilight we get this crap to deal with.

Speculation that the books have created a baby boom
Bow to the Queen; I'm the Alpha, the Omega, everything in between.


Miss Lilly

Okay, I haven't read 50 Shades (yet...I plan to, just so I can bag it knowledgeably!), but some of the quotes I've been seeing just do my head in!  Like this:

"His pointer finger circled my puckered love cave.  "Are you ready for this?" he mewled, smirking at me like a mother hamster about to eat her three-legged young."

Mewled?  Seriously?  If someone was 'mewling' at me during sex, I'd slap him silly!  And what exactly is sexy about a mother hamster eathing her three-legged young?  WORST. ANALOGY. EVER!!

A woman I know is reading it, and not overly impressed.  I showed her some of my erotic writing, and she was fanning herself and telling me she could market that in a second.  Seriously...if this trash can get published, I'm in like Flynn!
Want to get wild in the west?
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Oniya

Puckered?  *checks self*  I'm beginning to doubt that E.L. James is female.  Seriously.  Because that was written by someone who's never seen a vagina.
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

Miss Lilly

I was assuming she was talking about the back door, Oniya...unless there's no anal in 50 Shades?  O.o
Want to get wild in the west?
Visit Lola's!

Oniya

I've got no clue - I'd think anal would have taken it beyond 'scandalously hot' and into 'perverse' for most of mainstream America, but who knows?  Hard to tell from the name 'love-cave', unfortunately.  (And I thought the cliche' on Y!Gallery of 'his tight rosebud' was bad!)
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

Oneiros

Fairly sure that quote is fake.

Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely, definitely not defending this trilogy.

I sunk into a DEEP, deep depression for weeks after reading a bit of it. I'm not even kidding. The fact that something so unbelievably bad is being hailed as a masterpiece made me want to hang myself. Being reminded of its existence makes me tense up so much it's physically painful, though I at least don't want to die over it anymore.

Shjade

Quote from: Water Lilly on July 11, 2012, 08:24:05 PM
"...like a mother hamster about to eat her three-legged young."

Okay, you know what? No. I'm calling bullshit. This book was clearly intended to be trollfiction and someone freakishly wrongheaded got it published on a fluke. There is no way in hell anyone who has previously either a) read a book or b) been aroused would overlook this in editing.

No.
Theme: Make Me Feel - Janelle Monáe
◕/◕'s
Conversation is more useful than conversion.

Miss Lilly

Quote from: Fedora on July 11, 2012, 09:42:38 PM
Fairly sure that quote is fake.

Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely, definitely not defending this trilogy.


I haven't read it, but it came from a fairly reliable source.
Want to get wild in the west?
Visit Lola's!

Iniquitous

Quote from: Fedora on July 11, 2012, 09:42:38 PM
Fairly sure that quote is fake.

Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely, definitely not defending this trilogy.

I sunk into a DEEP, deep depression for weeks after reading a bit of it. I'm not even kidding. The fact that something so unbelievably bad is being hailed as a masterpiece made me want to hang myself. Being reminded of its existence makes me tense up so much it's physically painful, though I at least don't want to die over it anymore.

Google the quote - it is a real snippet from the book. The woman (?) should never have been published and I cringe every time someone says these books are the most erotic thing they have ever read.

And yes Water Lily - we are in like Flynn since this shit is considered print worthy.
Bow to the Queen; I'm the Alpha, the Omega, everything in between.