Those of you have read my last couple of blogs may recall that reading has again become a lovely bit of me time. I am having so much fun at the moment, going back in forth between reading for knowledge and growth or reading for escapism. After finishing that wonderful but distressing biography of Henrietta Lacks and the HeLa cells I had decided to see what was popular on the fiction list.
There was much written in media about the 50 Shades of Grey books. Erotica is not a genre I have spent considerable time in. I have not shied away, there have been a few books that have made their way into my reading pile. To some degree erotica can be light as fluff. The conscience mind expects titillation, perhaps increasing the vividness of ones imagination during sex. I am pretty sure that a majority of people do not read erotica to learn empathy. (There are studies being done to determine if reading fiction is purely an escape or if we can learn something. Some of the findings theorize that when we are young and get to read fiction it helps to shape our empathy and may play a part in the development of our emotional intelligence. So far, however, as we get older it seems to be more geared to escapism. That is not to say that does not have it share of benefits, stress relief being a very important one.) I am quite sure that most of us who indulge in these steamy tales are taking a peek at our more awakened and adventurous self and taking a little ride, create a little balance.
Creating a balance. How you may ask? These books are aimed at middle age white women. There are many of us. Are we all secretly harboring fantasies of being submissive? Restrained? Humiliated? Or are we working through how we feel in our everyday lives by a fantasy that offers an ultimate release, where our real lives might not? Are there that many of us that are feeling the need to spice up the bedroom play and need some inspiration? (Apparently the sale of gray ties has gone up considerably since the release of the book) Am I spending too much time contemplating? Perhaps.
Before I bought it. I asked around to find friends who had read it. A few ponied up and said they had. Then it divided into two very distinct camps. Those who loved it for the slippery piece of pulp that it is and others who thought the sex and, if you will, the erotic scenes in the book were fine but the rest of it was distracting in it's poor writing. Again here let me tell you, kind reader, that I went ahead and bought it anyway as I am apparently the target audience. (Ouch! that middle age thing hurt. But who am I kidding I am hurtling towards forty as you read this.)
In my estimation it is not literary genius by any stretch. The language feels very juvenile. The descriptions seem limited. There has to be more than three ways to describe an orgasm. The submission and sexual parts- I shall leave that up to you to decide. Ones taste for what goes on behind the bedroom door (or even just in your fantasy life) are highly personal and revealing. Some of you may find the book highly charged, others will me mortified.
Alas I am now on the hunt for the next book to conquer. Perhaps something to make me look a little farther inward. She says with a smile.........
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