MovieChat Forums > Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) Discussion > Do you wonder if E.L. James meant these ...

Do you wonder if E.L. James meant these books to be a joke?

posted 8 years ago by !!!deleted!!! (738999)
14 replies | jump to latest

I know the answer to the question...she certainly is just a bad author and was doing her best. But since the books are so god-awful, so poorly written, so pathetic on just about every level (characters, concepts, grammar, etc.), that it almost seems like these books were never even meant to be popular in the first place and put very little effort into it. In fact, I'd bet that she was probably shocked at how popular the books/movies have become. I could imagine her saying to friends, "I wrote this moronic book about some douchebag guy who just happens to be a billionaire and sexual pervert and I didn't even bother to spellcheck or get an editor, because I knew that the book was so idiotic and that no one would buy it. But guess what? These dumb imbeciles did and it's selling like crazy! In fact, let me write some sequels!"

When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading!

[–] isundling 8 years ago

Brian..Brian..Brian..you are really beating a dead horse here..if it was that easy to write 4 books,the first 3 selling over 125 million copies in 52 languages, even I would have tried, as well as a million others....in 2012 she was named one of Barbara Walters "Ten Most Fascinating People"..one of Time Magazines "Most Influential People in the World"...and Publishers Weekly's "Person of the Year"..50 Shades if Grey stayed on the New York Times Best Seller List for 133 consecutive weeks... we would all do it...right?

[–] !!!deleted!!! (738999) 8 years ago

Isundling, that's MY WHOLE POINT!!! The books are so pathetically atrocious on every single level and so poorly written, that she was probably floored when they actually became hits. Credit to her for now being a billionaire, no doubt, but it doesn't change the fact that the books and movies are laughably bad and certainly had no idea that people would actually go crazy over them.

A book that has critics laughing out loud at how bad it is and how incompetently written it is, and a movie that has a 4.1 rating on imdb, and there are still millions of fans!

Isundling, if I wrote a book tonight about a billionaire with no background info who is basically a sexual predator and who should be in jail, and then threw in an innocent ingenue who gets suckered in to his world (and probably criminally, in an unclean sense), and wrote it in a British style with British sayings (despite the fact that the story takes place in the Pacific Northwest), and didn't give a flying f* about quality, characters, common sense, grammar errors, stupid plot developments, ridiculous and absurd dialogue, unbelievably awful and nonsensical actions that would can be parodied a million times in The Onion, etc., would you buy it and then read it and my sequels over and over again? Screw Dickens, Mark Twain, Orwell, Austen, and other "classics"...we instead have E.L. James, so we should only read her "books" over and over again, one after another!

Isundling, I'll send you an autographed copy!

When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading!

[–] Goodbye_from_Fox_In_A_Box 8 years ago

I happen to adore the movie, so I read the trilogy afterwards.

I have to say that the movie was so much better. They took out the laughably horrendous "dirty talk" during the sex scenes that were in the book. There's only so many ways a lover can say "oh yeah, fck me, right there!" And the constant "oh Ana"'s. Ugh.

And I HATED Ana in the first book. She came off as a whiny brat who couldn't see past her own ego. The movie downplayed that aspect, thank god. I mean, I wanted to throw my iPhone across the room when reading that she was always getting mad at him, not realizing that he was changing for her, and her only.

Spoiler for the 2nd book:

I get that a breakup needed to occur in order for them both to realize how much they truly loved each other and get back together, but even THAT is rushed in the 2nd book. It should have been a mutual breakup; something more than her being a whiny, self-centered pissant. They're apart for about a week. Then it's back to the "oh Ana"'s and the mundane sex talk. I never thought I'd be so bored reading about BDSM.

So yeah, the books are horribly written. ITA. But the stories are good, and that kept me wanting to read more. And the movie cut out some of the worst parts.

I'm looking forward to the 2nd and 3rd movie. I wonder if they'll reunite to make a movie out of "Grey". I started reading it, twice, but got quickly bored with it. I'm grateful there's an app that lets me borrow e-books from my library for free. I wouldn't waste a penny on them.

I don't want the world. I just want your half.

[–] isundling 8 years ago

For me Grey is a much better lead in to Darker and Freed than 50 Shades from Ana's point of view...Ana is fairly normal and being a virgin, doesn't know a whole lot but is a fast learner...Grey really helps us understand Christian...fleshes out his character, and shows us why he falls in love with such a different type of woman, and why it is Ana..
I don't think it could have been a mutual break up...Christian at the moment, didn't realize how angry she was...really angry...she didn't safe word...it took that next 5 days for him to come to terms, and know he wanted her back. Dr.Flynn giving him food for thought.

And I was so happy they did away with Ana's "inner goddess". but unhappy they did so little with their email banter...that was one of the many reasons Christian falls in love with Ana.."her smart mouth"

[–] Goodbye_from_Fox_In_A_Box 8 years ago

I'll borrow Grey again. It's been a year or so since I read the first novel, so maybe it'll be good for me to see it from his perspective. I just don't like these retreads, obvious $$ grabbers by changing POV or switching up genders and such. What a cop out. But I'll give it another chance.

I'm glad the movie did away with the "inner goddess", too. So corny. And yeah, they could've shown more email bantering, but the ones they did show were exactly the ones they should have; showing Ana's wit and refusal to, proverbially, bow down to him. Especially the "it was nice knowing you" one. They'll have to include more in the next movie, since so much of it takes place at her work, which, SPOILERS, is spied upon by Jack.

Regarding their breakup at the end of the first book, I suppose you're right, it wouldn't have worked as well if it was mutual. I was just so pissed off, in the book, with how blind Ana was. I could relate, somewhat, as my first relationship was just as I graduated from college, with an older, successful (albeit not rich) coworker. So I didn't always react the way I would have if it hadn't been my first. (I, too, saved myself for the right guy, although I did have more sexual experience, in other ways, than Ana.) So maybe I saw too much of myself in her (I also majored in English Lit, although you wouldn't know that at all with my posting style here), and when I read how much Christian was changing for her (something I didn't get in the 5 years I was with this guy), and she STILL acted like a brat, I really wanted to slap her. So perhaps my bias is just that, MY bias in reading too much of myself in Ana.

I'm REALLY looking forward to the next movie. I really do love the first one. I finally bought the blu-Ray and watched the movie again yesterday (for the umpteenth time), and all of the extras. I was disappointed that there's no commentary track, tho.

I don't want the world. I just want your half.

[–] isundling 8 years ago

Yes..I would read Grey again...and I would normally agree about the need for another book..but very seldom, if ever do we get both sides...their version of the same happenings..in 50 Shades, book and movie, we see a buttoned up Christian..all business...it would be interesting to me to have seen him with one of his subs...Darker... from his viewpoint will be very revealing on how he interacts with Leila after she confronts Ana..and Christian orders Taylor to take Ana out of the apartment.

[–] april_l 8 years ago

For all of my criticisms of the books and the movie (which are several, however, I can't say that I hate the books or the movie, which bored me more than anything) my biggest issue of the books was Ana.

she STILL acted like a brat, I really wanted to slap her

More than once, that was my initial reaction, through all 3 books. I don't necessarily have any biases that were coloring my reaction toward her, she was just irritating.

[–] movie80 8 years ago

I happen to adore the movie, so I read the trilogy afterwards.

Me too!!!

[–] actionmanrandell 8 years ago

i don't see how you would enjoy the movie or the books. grey is clearly borderline serial killer. and the point isn't that he changed for her. the point is that he should have been put in jail. he is an abusive sociopath, stalker.

[–] EricaRene-Price 8 years ago

I think she's aware people know her writing is atrocious (IT REALLY IS BAD)but people also find it strangely endearing despite that same atrocity.It's A guilty pleasure they can flip open on the train , laugh at the dialogue but still be entranced by the fantasy. But that fascination is short lived when you read the next line that makes you laugh out loud.

Overall it's enjoyable experience for some people who don't inherently need their smut to sound like James Joyce or Cormac McCarthy wrote it .

"Once men have tasted caviar, it baffles me how they settle for catfish."
-Blair Waldorf

[–] isundling 8 years ago

True...and if you have ever read any other "erotic romances"...these are keepers.....so many cowboys...MMA fighters...boxers...motorcycle bad boys..lots of tats...difficult to find many that interest me..I kind of get off on the billionaire thing.

[–] bug76 8 years ago

I agree. They are the worst books ever written. I would never call E.L. James an author. It's not fair and is a slap in the face to real authors who work very hard for years to become great writers.
Unfortunately, when I gave it the lowest rating in my review, obsessed fan girls went on a verbal attack. To them, anyone not liking these 'books' must be a religious nut, cold with no sex life or a poor sex life. I was a 'Negative Nelly'. My opinion about the book on Facebook was deleted because it didn't agree with the crazed fans. They got so offended. Especially when I said that I felt the book glorified abuse.
As an author myself, I was told that I, being a woman and a writer, I should give James a
better score and stand with her. Lol. I don't have
to like it.
I'll stand by my opinion. The 'books' are crap. And, James' fans will just have to get over it.
If you need these books to spice up your sex life or fix your marriage then something is definitely wrong, IMO. How bad is it between the sheets that these books offer any relevant help? These books are about as spicy as white rice.
And, I certainly don't need these books for sexual pointers.
I'm ashamed that I even read 1/2 of the 1st book. I just couldn't get past all the awful writing, one dimensional characters and repetitiveness.

[–] AndrewGS 8 years ago

I know the answer to the question...she certainly is just a bad author and was doing her best. But since the books are so god-awful, so poorly written, so pathetic on just about every level (characters, concepts, grammar, etc.), that it almost seems like these books were never even meant to be popular in the first place and put very little effort into it.

Have you read much online erotic fiction? That's where the books came from and there pretty much the point is that it's very overdone. Heck, James's writing didn't seem worse than a lot of earlier, more traditional erotic fiction.

In fact, I'd bet that she was probably shocked at how popular the books/movies have become.

Most writers should have such humility to not have expected massive success.

I could imagine her saying to friends, "I wrote this moronic book about some douchebag guy who just happens to be a billionaire and sexual pervert and I didn't even bother to spellcheck or get an editor, because I knew that the book was so idiotic and that no one would buy it. But guess what? These dumb imbeciles did and it's selling like crazy! In fact, let me write some sequels!"

I don't see what's dumb about any of it.

[–] Cognoscente (2714) 3 years ago

There is something really strange about her success. Besides representing the nadir of literature, the first book was over 500 pages in length despite it being her first novel in general. There was clearly not much difference in the editing between her novel and the original version (Master of the Universe). Would she have been taken less seriously by the publisher had she not been a TV producer? Also, why would the publisher or even her agent for that matter want to publish something that was fan fiction?

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