Fifty Shades of Grey (2011)

 

Author: Erika Leonard James

Two years. Two years I had stood firm against the world sensation called "Fifty Shades of Grey", I had not read the Twilight sage, nor been the participant of Hunger Games or Games of Thrones. I've always been quite skeptical of works which are their author's first attempt in writing and have received incredible popularity among readers within a short period of time. This time it was different. I saw the trailer of the upcoming film, and I simply had to read the book.

 The story as such is quite predictable though rather unrealistic. How often do you see situations in real life where handsome, sexy millionaire goes crazy for innocent, middle-class girl with no sex appeal and previous experience whatsoever? It's like the modern version of the classic love stories, a mix of Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella, just with more sex, pain and less love and modesty. Without doubt, James has created an interesting story that makes you want to read the next chapter and the one after that as fast as possible, but that's it. From the point of view of emotions and thoughts triggered by the story, most of the things are spread out before you and there's not much to think and left for imagination. Though the author tries to evoke sympathy in the reader by the mysterious and seemingly painful past/ childhood of Grey, it lacks deeper emotions. In places where additional details and a more thorough explanation would be necessary, James crosses them very fast, but then again the bedroom scenes are sometimes more explicit than preferable. Some traits of the other main character, Anastasia Steele, are quite annoying too, for instance, the constant complaining (girl, you chose your fate yourself, nobody forced you, so stop groaning). Her ability to master the art of sex so fast given she had no previous experience is quite unbelievable as well.

Overall, I believe that this book might seem quite fun for young girls who dream of meeting the Prince Charming one day and do not know much about life or, on the other hand, women who have never felt real passion and lust might find this story just what they need to live the life they've never had. I must agree that I was attracted to this book because of it's openness and honesty, and now I'm too involved to stop (yes, I will read the whole trilogy). Being a person who treasures classic books with deep stories and subtext that teaches about the past and helps to understand how to live your own life, I can surely say that "50 Shades of Grey" is a great holiday reading, but it will definitely not have a lasting impact on me that would change my life in any way, but it did give me few valuable lessons. I did relax and spend less time in front of the computer while reading this book though, and I actually enjoyed it which is not the case of many classic books which are too "heavy" and complicated. Every cloud has a silver lining, and I would not say that "50 Shades of Grey" is a waste of time and should be destroyed. Every book is both loved and hated, there's no 100% in either direction. In some particular way, "50 Shades of Grey" will be remembered for a long time, and it has made imprint on the world literature.

 From the point of view of raised interest, the book deserved 5 stars, but from the point of view of it's quality and the story as such, it's worth 3 stars, so all in all - 4 stars (this might seem quite high, but I want to stay true to myself, and if a book has attracted my interest in such a way that I can't stop reading it until I get to the end, then it is something special).