(Possibly NSFW) Has anyone read 'Fifty Shades of Grey'?

I haven’t read it but all the women at work are talking about it and I’m intrigued. Personally I’d be more interested if it was about a couple of gay men.

I haven’t, but I know a certain celebrity has (link NSFW).

Honestly? I’ve been avoiding it because of the hoopla. It seems like every time I buy a book to see what the hell everyone’s talking about, I’m still left puzzling when I’m done. (Bridges of Madison County was just a boring romance novel. Life of Pi was superbly written but then pissed me off with it’s ending. The Twilight Series – omg, that was painful!)

I’ve heard it is really poorly written and am avoiding it like the plague.

@syz Same here!

Oh, and I’m guessing that most people are reading it strictly for titillation, but if anyone is reading it to learn about BDSM, there are much, much better books out there.

From wikipedia
“The Fifty Shades trilogy was developed from a Twilight fan fiction [...]”

Yeah…no.

I’m told it makes porn acceptable for women—the kind of women who never look at porn. I’m guessing it is just racy enough to titillate a certain kind of woman, who would never read it except that the publicity gives her cover for her erotic feelings. I seem to know a number of women who are actually interested in reading it, strangely enough. That scares me.

@janbb: I’d probably choose the plague.

Remember The Story of O? That was boring also but published in a time where it was new news to many.

I’ve read excerpts, from various reviews that trash it. I tried reading it (you know, so I could hateship it more), and couldn’t really get past the first seven pages, because it was such bad writing.

I read some of the sex scene dialogue and was not impressed, and the only erotic literature I’ve actually read completely was Anne Rice’s Sleeping Beauty series.

@gailcalled I just finished Story of O. It was a lot of things but I don’t think boring was one of them.

It (as well as the sequels) is available as one of the ten novels at the campus bookstore. Personally, I found it online and was so terribly bored by the first chapter that I did not continue.

My friend, however, found the whole thing very intriguing and is currently trying to get everyone in the world to read it.

I do like that it has provoked socially acceptable dialogue even in my slightly conservative area.

“The Fifty Shades trilogy was developed from a Twilight fan fiction [...]”

Well, I’ve read the Twilight novels, so I almost feel like I’ve read FSOG. And my fannish friends are talking about it a lot. They’re mad that 1) it sucks 2) it’s wildly popular, and 3) they didn’t think of it doing this first.

The other day a woman came into the wine shop and said, “I have a weird question. Do you have anything with the words “fifty,” “Christian,” or “grey?” I burst out laughing and then apologized profusely. Turns out her book club were all reading it together. I sold her a bottle called “Temptation.”

You kind of have to hand it to the author. It takes a lot of chutzpah to turn fan fiction into an x-rated published novel.

@syz: Bridges of Madison County’s writing sucked! I remember reading it when it was popular and being surprised at how awful the writing was.

I heard that FSOG is awful, also, and that it’s “BDSM light.” No thank you, life is too short for reading crap! The author is lucky, however, to be rich now from having a novel idea to titilate readers.

I have no interest in reading this book because I’m not a fan of romance novels or erotica (I also don’t like to jump on the bandwagon just because Matt Lauer tells us every woman is reading this! ugh). My interests include science fiction, fantasy, horror and humor. You’ll never catch me with FSOG in my hand.

I know people who have read it; some hated it and others needed a cigarette when they finished.

I, personally, cannot ever read it. My mom’s book club chose it and all I can think about when I think of is my mother asking me if I now what anal fisting is, what butt plugs are for and something about torturing your clitoris. I am working through the trauma. joking, but only kind of

@Supacase Your post just made me barf a little. joking, but only kind of. (hope I’m not offending anyone here who likes their clit tortured).

A dramatic reading from FSOG by hungover Batman. Extremely NSFW http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zD8X2q0LQE

I have started to read it, and reckon the trilogy could easily fit in one volume! So repetitive. I might well not carry on to the raunchiness . .
Thank you for all the posts here – @Supacase I hope you are getting back to normal as regards your mother and her book club!

I haven’t read it, but I just heard they are going to make a movie of it, and they are talking about getting Angelina Jolie and Emma Watson (Harry Potter’s Hermione) to star in it.
I wonder if I can buy tickets now?

You can get better erotica from fetish sites than from some lame-o, tame book!

I read the entire trilogy (I hate being a quitter) and was very disappointed. I didn’t even like the main characters. By the end of the third book, I was yawning because they were having sex AGAIN. If you want a thrill, then just read some erotica.

I agree with you @Juels not good writing and boring.