Plot Synopsis: When Anastasia Steele interviews wealthy, young entrepreneur Christian Grey for the college newspaper, she thinks that this is all that will come of them. But Christian keeps appearing in her life - from a visit to the hardware store where she works to a drunken night at the bar. Ana is intrigued by this powerful man, but she got more than she bargained for when she discovers Christian wants her to be his submissive for their sexual pleasure. Yet Ana is so caught up in the mystery and intrigue of Christian Grey, she follows through with his proposal and so begins their mercurial relationship. Can Ana, a regular shy bookworm, really handle being dominated and pleasured by famous, super-rich, super-refined CEO Christian Grey? Is this really what she wants in a relationship?
Literary Analysis: It's hard to say why Fifty Shades of Grey became a bestseller. Erotica has been around for ages, so why does this piece get picked out of thousands to be graciously published as "romantic fiction"? Well, Fifty Shades started out as a Twilight fanfiction story called Master of the Universe. Cheesy, right? After being flagged as sexually explicit and removed from fanfiction.net, James put it up on her own website. The viewership kept growing and finally, a publisher picked it up. The story got a new title and character names were changed. Bella became Anastasia and Edward became Christian. So, Fifty Shades of Grey is the adult version of Twilight and putting sex in with a best-selling series simply draws a crowd! The crowd hypes the story and suddenly, you have a massive bestseller on your hands.
Understanding the story's history and evolution makes it easier to understand why this book is awful from a literary standpoint. For a girl who is supposed to be an English major, Ana has a limited vocabulary to describe everything she is feeling. Yet, even though attention to word choice is sadly lacking, the characters are well developed through their thoughts and minute actions. That is to be expected if the author is simply borrowing already developed characters from another set of novels (very convenient). The plot is loose since the conflict lacks real depth. At any time, Ana can walk away and the problem is solved. Or Christian will open his eyes and see that they're not compatible and never will be (or that he's screwed up and needs a better therapist). But Ana is a terribly self-deprecating woman who enjoys making things more complicated than they should be. That, and the mystery of Christian's background continue to propel the reader forward, always wondering what new factoid will be revealed.
Personal Reaction: Ugh, I hate this book. I hate it so much I love it. Does that make sense? Unlike Hopeless' cheese factor, this book has an unnerving weird factor to it. I think it has something to do with the vocabulary used to describe everything. When Anastasia is amazed or entranced by Christian, she says, "Oh my..." Oh my? Really? What woman looks at a good-looking man and says, "Oh my!" Maybe southern belles in the 1850s, definintely NOT in modern times, and definitely NOT in Seattle (where the story is set). Next, Ana describes everything Christian does to her as making her feel "delicious." Ugh. Cheesecake is delicious. Fettuccine alfredo is delicious. Someone kissing your neck is NOT delicious.
In fact, let's discuss the sex scenes. So many sex scenes... that are so random, so cringe-worthy, whether or not they involve the Red Room of Pain. Most of what Christian says during these moments is downright unrealistic. No man would ever utter these words. "I'm in awe of you, Miss Steele." UGH! And Ana at these moments is just as intolerable. She keeps describing what her Inner Goddess is doing - hiding behind the couch, doing summersaults - it's WEIRD. She needs therapy or some drugs to keep her schizophrenia in check. On top of all this is the sexual tension between the characters constantly being described as a "heady cocktail" or "heady mix..." Heady, heady, heady...I have learned to despise this word and I feel sick every time my eyes see it on the page. And finally on the topic of sex, why is biting one's lower lip a turn on? Sure, Bella does it in Twilight, but seriously - who bites their lower lip? I've never seen anyone do it...ever. It's an uncommon action and referenced far too much in this novel.
There is too much space used in Fifty Shades of Grey to describe what Christian is wearing. He pretty much always wears the same thing, so why is it so crucial to continue to tell the reader that he's (once again) wearing a white linen shirt, black jeans, and a gray/black jacket? Oh, I'm sorry - sometimes he's wearing gray sweatpants that hang "deliciously loose" on his hips. Oh my... I wish the editor of this book would have given E.L. James a heads up and eliminated these repetitive clothing descriptions.
My last real problem is Ana's issue with food. Christian is big on making sure Ana eats, but she's never hungry (unless she's hungry for sex) and when she eats, she barely eats anything. There are no explanations as to why Ana is never hungry, but this anorexic undertone is almost more disturbing than the sex descriptions! Even I'm cheering for Christian, hoping he'll tie her to the rack and force feed her. Eat something, damn it! A little more than 3 oysters!
Okay, now that I got that off my chest, I still (embarrassingly) enjoyed this book. There is something captivating about it. I want to know what Christian is hiding - why he doesn't like being touched, what his issue with food is, why Elena did what she did with him... I don't like not knowing something and I'm driven to continue reading because of it. Secondly, some things remind me of my own relationship with my husband and as I read in bed, I looked over at him and realized how happy I was that he likes holding me close and how much I enjoy the way he smiles when he looks at me. Even the back and forth e-mails made me remember how we used to do that when we first started dating. Perhaps it's that feeling that makes me love this book. If a book can intrigue you AND remind you of how good you have it, wouldn't you label that as a success?
Final Rating: 8/10. I must deduct points for poor, embarrassing descriptions and annoying characters, but damned if I didn't enjoy reading this book to the point that I immediately dived into Fifty Shades Darker.
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