F#@! The Paperwork: Why I Loved The "Fifty Shades" Trilogy

Picture previously posted: My Acer Iconia with the third book of the “Fifty Shades” trilogy, Wendy Brandes swear rings & Dominatrix nail polish

I was home for the past two weeks, caring for my mom post-op (a simple gall bladder procedure).  In addition to doing all of the things I needed to for my mom like driving her to follow-up appointments, cooking and cleaning, taking my son out so my mom could get some sleep, I did quite a bit of reading.

I’m a fairly avid reader.  My books of choice lately are purely for escapism:  The Bridget Jones’ series by Helen Fielding; the “Shopaholic” series by Sophie Kinsella; the “Sookie Stackhouse” series by Charlaine Harris and Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell (sometimes I get in the occasional biography).  I know they are not Pulitzer Prize winners, but they provide me with great sources of enjoyment.  These books are meant to be fun and one would have to just dive into each of the fictitious worlds and allow the waves of your imagination take you where you want it to go under the guidance of the author’s words.

I apply this same thought process to the uber-popular “Fifty Shades” trilogy by EL James.  I nearly passed up reading Fifty Shades of Grey, the first book of the series, because I had read that the author originally wrote it as fan fiction based on the “Twilight” books, which I cannot bring myself to read, although I watched the first movie twice because I needed to give it a chance (I just can’t get past the shimmering vampires who are saccharine versions of the day-walkers from “Blade”).   What piqued my curiosity of the “Fifty Shades” trilogy is that it is a love story laced with BDSM (bondage, domination, sadism, masochism).  Called “Mommy Porn”, the trilogy has been dismissed as poorly written & repetitive, and more importantly, unbelievable.   Some libraries have banned it due to the erotic nature of the books.

If you haven’t started reading the books yet, they center around the love affair between Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey.  Anastasia is a painfully innocent & beautiful 22 year-old recent college graduate (and virgin), who “accidentally” falls into the charms of 27 year-old Mr. Grey, a stunningly handsome yet psychologically damaged self-made billionaire.  I’m no book critic, so I’m not sure what I can offer in terms of style, dialogue, or literary reference, but I can say that these books kept me wanting more.  It appeals to everything that I love in any kind of romantic book: a woman who is determined to stay true to herself and is loved and cherished for all that she is by a man who would move heaven and earth to prove it to her.  I also feel a kinship with Anastasia, who, like me, loves Twinings English Breakfast Tea and who’s favorite city is London.

As expected from the reviews I’ve read, there are some very descriptive sexual situations all throughout the books, chronicling Anastasia’s sexual discovery through the guidance of Christian, but the BDSM scenes are far from graphic, and I’m sure most would say they are tame.  Many phrases used to describe certain sexual acts tend to be a bit repetitive, but the romantic tensions that lead up to them are sweet and funny (“Oh, f@#! the paperwork…” is one that comes to mind and you have to read the first book to get the reference).  There are some action scenes that had me anxiously turning the pages, eager to find out what happens next to this alluring couple, and the first two books have cliff hangers that cause you to hold your breath.  In the words of Christian Grey “don’t overthink” and just suspend your belief for a few moments to live in this crazy-sexy world.  Laters, baby!

(Note:  I’m re-reading the books because I’ve heard that Alexander Skarsgard is interested in the part of Christian Grey.  Oh would that it were true!)