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Fifty Shades Of Grey: Book One of the Fifty Shades Trilogy (Fifty Shades of Grey Series, 1) Paperback – April 3, 2012
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"And in this quiet moment as I close my eyes, spent and sated, I think I'm in the eye of the storm. And in spite of all he's said, and what he hasn't said, I don't think I have ever been so happy."
When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana's quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.
Shocked yet thrilled by Grey's singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey's secrets and explores her own dark desires.
- An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller
- More than 165 Million Copies Sold Worldwide
- One of 100 Great Reads in the Great American Read
- 133 Weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List
This book is intended for mature audiences.
- Print length514 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherBloom Books
- Publication dateApril 3, 2012
- Dimensions5.19 x 1.44 x 8 inches
- ISBN-100345803485
- ISBN-13978-0345803481
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Editorial Reviews
Review
A GoodReads Choice Awards Finalist for Best Romance
"In a class by itself." - Entertainment Weekly
About the Author
E L James is an incurable romantic and a self-confessed fangirl. After twenty-five years of working in television, she decided to pursue a childhood dream and write stories that readers could take to their hearts. The result was the controversial and sensuous romance Fifty Shades of Grey and its two sequels, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed. In 2015, she published the #1 bestseller Grey, the story of Fifty Shades of Grey from the perspective of Christian Grey, and in 2017, the chart-topping Darker, the second part of the Fifty Shades story from Christian’s point of view. She followed with the #1 New York Times bestseller The Mister in 2019. In 2021, she released the #1 New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and international bestseller Freed, the third novel in the As Told by Christian trilogy. Her books have been published in fifty languages and have sold more than 165 million copies worldwide.
E L James has been recognized as one of Time Magazine’s Most Influential People in the World and Publishers Weekly’s Person of the Year. Fifty Shades of Grey stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for 133 consecutive weeks. Fifty Shades Freed won the Goodreads Choice Award (2012), and Fifty Shades of Grey was selected as one of the 100 Great Reads, as voted by readers, in PBS’s The Great American Read (2018). Darker was longlisted for the 2019 International DUBLIN Literary Award.
She was a producer on each of the three Fifty Shades movies, which made more than a billion dollars at the box office. The third installment, Fifty Shades Freed, won the People’s Choice Award for Drama in 2018.
E L James is blessed with two wonderful sons and lives with her husband, the novelist and screenwriter Niall Leonard, and their beloved dogs in the leafy suburbs of West London.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
I scowl with frustration at myself in the mirror. Damn my hair―it just won't behave, and damn Katherine Kavanagh for being ill and subjecting me to this ordeal. I should be studying for my final exams, which are next week, yet here I am trying to brush my hair into submission. I must not sleep with it wet. I must not sleep with it wet. Reciting this mantra several times, I attempt, once more, to bring it under control with the brush. I roll my eyes in exasperation and gaze at the pale, brown-haired girl with blue eyes too big for her face staring back at me, and give up. My only option is to restrain my wayward hair in a ponytail and hope that I look semi-presentable.
Kate is my roommate, and she has chosen today of all days to succumb to the flu. Therefore, she cannot attend the interview she'd arranged to do, with some mega-industrialist tycoon I've never heard of, for the student newspaper. So I have been volunteered. I have final exams to cram for and one essay to finish, and I'm supposed to be working this afternoon, but no―today I have to drive 165 miles to downtown Seattle in order to meet the enigmatic CEO of Grey Enterprises Holdings, Inc. As an exceptional entrepreneur and major benefactor of our university, his time is extraordinarily precious―much more precious than mine―but he has granted Kate an interview. A real coup, she tells me. Damn her extracurricular activities.
Kate is huddled on the couch in the living room.
"Ana, I'm sorry. It took me nine months to get this interview. It will take another six to reschedule, and we'll both have graduated by then. As the editor, I can't blow this off. Please," Kate begs me in her rasping, sore throat voice. How does she do it? Even ill she looks gamine and gorgeous, strawberry blond hair in place and green eyes bright, although now red rimmed and runny. I ignore my pang of unwelcome sympathy.
"Of course I'll go, Kate. You should get back to bed. Would you like some NyQuil or Tylenol?"
"NyQuil, please. Here are the questions and my digital recorder. Just press record here. Make notes, I'll transcribe it all."
"I know nothing about him," I murmur, trying and failing to suppress my rising panic.
"The questions will see you through. Go. It's a long drive. I don't want you to be late."
"Okay, I'm going. Get back to bed. I made you some soup to heat up later." I stare at her fondly. Only for you, Kate, would I do this.
"I will. Good luck. And thanks, Ana―as usual, you're my lifesaver."
Gathering my backpack, I smile wryly at her, then head out the door to the car. I cannot believe I have let Kate talk me into this. But then Kate can talk anyone into anything. She'll make an exceptional journalist. She's articulate, strong, persuasive, argumentative, beautiful―and she's my dearest, dearest friend.
The roads are clear as I set off from Vancouver, Washington, toward Interstate 5. It's early, and I don't have to be in Seattle until two this afternoon. Fortunately, Kate has lent me her sporty Mercedes CLK. I'm not sure Wanda, my old VW Beetle, would make the journey in time. Oh, the Merc is a fun drive, and the miles slip away as I hit the pedal to the metal.
My destination is the headquarters of Mr. Grey's global enterprise. It's a huge twenty-story office building, all curved glass and steel, an architect's utilitarian fantasy, with GREY HOUSE written discreetly in steel over the glass front doors. It's a quarter to two when I arrive, greatly relieved that I'm not late as I walk into the enormous―and frankly intimidating―glass, steel, and white sandstone lobby.
Behind the solid sandstone desk, a very attractive, groomed, blonde young woman smiles pleasantly at me. She's wearing the sharpest charcoal suit jacket and white shirt I have ever seen. She looks immaculate.
"I'm here to see Mr. Grey. Anastasia Steele for Katherine Kavanagh."
"Excuse me one moment, Miss Steele." She arches her eyebrow as I stand self-consciously before her. I'm beginning to wish I'd borrowed one of Kate's formal blazers rather than worn my navy-blue jacket. I have made an effort and worn my one and only skirt, my sensible brown knee-length boots, and a blue sweater. For me, this is smart. I tuck one of the escaped tendrils of my hair behind my ear as I pretend she doesn't intimidate me.
"Miss Kavanagh is expected. Please sign in here, Miss Steele. You'll want the last elevator on the right, press for the twentieth floor." She smiles kindly at me, amused no doubt, as I sign in.
She hands me a security pass that has "visitor" very firmly stamped on the front. I can't help my smirk. Surely it's obvious that I'm just visiting. I don't fit in here at all. Nothing changes. I inwardly sigh. Thanking her, I walk over to the bank of elevators and past the two security men who are both far more smartly dressed than I am in their well-cut black suits.
The elevator whisks me at terminal velocity to the twentieth floor. The doors slide open, and I'm in another large lobby―again all glass, steel, and white sandstone. I'm confronted by another desk of sandstone and another young blonde woman, this time dressed impeccably in black and white, who rises to greet me.
"Miss Steele, could you wait here, please?" She points to a seated area of white leather chairs.
Behind the leather chairs is a spacious glass-walled meeting room with an equally spacious dark wood table and at least twenty matching chairs around it. Beyond that, there is a floor-to-ceiling window with a view of the Seattle skyline that looks out through the city toward the Sound. It's a stunning vista, and I'm momentarily paralyzed by the view. Wow.
I sit down, fish the questions from my backpack, and go through them, inwardly cursing Kate for not providing me with a brief biography. I know nothing about this man I'm about to interview. He could be ninety or he could be thirty. The uncertainty is galling, and my nerves resurface, making me fidget. I've never been comfortable with one-on-one interviews, preferring the anonymity of a group discussion where I can sit inconspicuously at the back of the room. To be honest, I prefer my own company, reading a classic British novel, curled up in a chair in the campus library. Not sitting twitching nervously in a colossal glass-and-stone edifice.
I roll my eyes at myself. Get a grip, Steele. Judging from the building, which is too clinical and modern, I guess Grey is in his forties: fit, tanned, and fair-haired to match the rest of the personnel.
Another elegant, flawlessly dressed blonde comes out of a large door to the right. What is it with all the immaculate blondes? It's like Stepford here. Taking a deep breath, I stand up.
"Miss Steele?" the latest blonde asks.
"Yes," I croak, and clear my throat. "Yes." There, that sounded more confident.
"Mr. Grey will see you in a moment. May I take your jacket?"
"Oh, please." I struggle out of the jacket.
"Have you been offered any refreshment?"
"Um―no." Oh dear, is Blonde Number One in trouble?
Blonde Number Two frowns and eyes the young woman at the desk.
"Would you like tea, coffee, water?" she asks, turning her attention back to me.
"A glass of water. Thank you," I murmur.
"Olivia, please fetch Miss Steele a glass of water." Her voice is stern. Olivia scoots up and scurries to a door on the other side of the foyer.
"My apologies, Miss Steele, Olivia is our new intern. Please be seated. Mr. Grey will be another five minutes."
Olivia returns with a glass of iced water.
"Here you go, Miss Steele."
"Thank you."
Blonde Number Two marches over to the large desk, her heels clicking and echoing on the sandstone floor. She sits down, and they both continue their work.
Perhaps Mr. Grey insists on all his employees being blonde. I'm wondering idly if that's legal, when the office door opens and a tall, elegantly dressed, attractive African American man with short dreads exits. I have definitely worn the wrong clothes.
He turns and says through the door, "Golf this week, Grey?"
I don't hear the reply. He turns, sees me, and smiles, his dark eyes crinkling at the corners. Olivia has jumped up and called the elevator. She seems to excel at jumping from her seat. She's more nervous than me!
"Good afternoon, ladies," he says as he departs through the sliding door.
"Mr. Grey will see you now, Miss Steele. Do go through," Blonde Number Two says. I stand rather shakily, trying to suppress my nerves. Gathering up my backpack, I abandon my glass of water and make my way to the partially open door.
"You don't need to knock―just go in." She smiles kindly.
I push open the door and stumble through, tripping over my own feet and falling headfirst into the office.
Double crap―me and my two left feet! I am on my hands and knees in the doorway to Mr. Grey's office, and gentle hands are around me, helping me to stand. I am so embarrassed, damn my clumsiness. I have to steel myself to glance up. Holy cow―he's so young.
"Miss Kavanagh." He extends a long-fingered hand to me once I'm upright. "I'm Christian Grey. Are you all right? Would you like to sit?"
So young―and attractive, very attractive. He's tall, dressed in a fine gray suit, white shirt, and black tie with unruly dark copper-colored hair and intense, bright gray eyes that regard me shrewdly. It takes a moment for me to find my voice.
"Um. Actually―" I mutter. If this guy is over thirty, then I'm a monkey's uncle. In a daze, I place my hand in his and we shake. As our fingers touch, I feel an odd exhilarating shiver run through me. I withdraw my hand hastily, embarrassed. Must be static. I blink rapidly, my eyelids matching my heart rate.
"Miss Kavanagh is indisposed, so she sent me. I hope you don't mind, Mr. Grey."
"And you are?" His voice is warm, possibly amused, but it's difficult to tell from his impassive expression. He looks mildly interested but, above all, polite.
"Anastasia Steele. I'm studying English literature with Kate, um . . . Katherine . . . um . . . Miss Kavanagh, at WSU Vancouver."
"I see," he says simply. I think I see the ghost of a smile in his expression, but I'm not sure.
"Would you like to sit?" He waves me toward an L-shaped white leather couch.
His office is way too big for just one man. In front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, there's a modern dark wood desk that six people could comfortably eat around. It matches the coffee table by the couch. Everything else is white―ceiling, floors, and walls, except for the wall by the door, where a mosaic of small paintings hang, thirty-six of them arranged in a square. They are exquisite―a series of mundane, forgotten objects painted in such precise detail they look like photographs. Displayed together, they are breathtaking.
"A local artist. Trouton," says Grey when he catches my gaze.
"They're lovely. Raising the ordinary to extraordinary," I murmur, distracted both by him and the paintings. He cocks his head to one side and regards me intently.
"I couldn't agree more, Miss Steele," he replies, his voice soft, and for some inexplicable reason I find myself blushing.
Apart from the paintings, the rest of the office is cold, clean, and clinical. I wonder if it reflects the personality of the Adonis who sinks gracefully into one of the white leather chairs opposite me. I shake my head, disturbed at the direction of my thoughts, and retrieve Kate's questions from my backpack. Next, I set up the digital recorder and am all fingers and thumbs, dropping it twice on the coffee table in front of me. Mr. Grey says nothing, waiting patiently―I hope―as I become increasingly embarrassed and flustered. When I pluck up the courage to look at him, he's watching me, one hand relaxed in his lap and the other cupping his chin and trailing his long index finger across his lips. I think he's trying to suppress a smile.
"S-sorry," I stutter. "I'm not used to this."
"Take all the time you need, Miss Steele," he says.
"Do you mind if I record your answers?"
"After you've taken so much trouble to set up the recorder, you ask me now?"
I flush. He's teasing me? I hope. I blink at him, unsure what to say, and I think he takes pity on me because he relents. "No, I don't mind."
"Did Kate, I mean, Miss Kavanagh, explain what the interview was for?"
"Yes. To appear in the graduation issue of the student newspaper as I shall be conferring the degrees at this year's graduation ceremony."
Oh! This is news to me, and I'm temporarily preoccupied by the thought that someone not much older than me―okay, maybe six years or so, and okay, mega-successful, but still―is going to present me with my degree. I frown, dragging my wayward attention back to the task at hand.
"Good." I swallow nervously. "I have some questions, Mr. Grey." I smooth a stray lock of hair behind my ear.
"I thought you might," he says, deadpan. He's laughing at me. My cheeks heat at the realization, and I sit up and square my shoulders in an attempt to look taller and more intimidating. Pressing the start button on the recorder, I try to look professional.
"You're very young to have amassed such an empire. To what do you owe your success?" I glance up at him. His smile is rueful, but he looks vaguely disappointed.
"Business is all about people, Miss Steele, and I'm very good at judging people. I know how they tick, what makes them flourish, what doesn't, what inspires them, and how to incentivize them. I employ an exceptional team, and I reward them well." He pauses and fixes me with his gray stare. "My belief is to achieve success in any scheme one has to make oneself master of that scheme, know it inside and out, know every detail. I work hard, very hard to do that. I make decisions based on logic and facts. I have a natural gut instinct that can spot and nurture a good solid idea and good people. The bottom line is it's always down to good people."
"Maybe you're just lucky." This isn't on Kate's list―but he's so arrogant. His eyes flare momentarily in surprise.
"I don't subscribe to luck or chance, Miss Steele. The harder I work the more luck I seem to have. It really is all about having the right people on your team and directing their energies accordingly. I think it was Harvey Firestone who said, 'The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership.' "
"You sound like a control freak." The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them.
"Oh, I exercise control in all things, Miss Steele," he says without a trace of humor in his smile. I look at him, and he holds my gaze steadily, impassive. My heartbeat quickens, and my face flushes again.
Why does he have such an unnerving effect on me? His overwhelming good looks maybe? The way his eyes blaze at me? The way he strokes his index finger against his lower lip? I wish he'd stop doing that.
"Besides, immense power is acquired by assuring yourself in your secret reveries that you were born to control things," he continues, his voice soft.
"Do you feel that you have immense power?" Control freak.
"I employ over forty thousand people, Miss Steele. That gives me a certain sense of responsibility―power, if you will. If I were to decide I was no longer interested in the telecommunications business and sell, twenty thousand people would struggle to make their mortgage payments after a month or so."
My mouth drops open. I am staggered by his lack of humility.
"Don't you have a board to answer to?" I ask, disgusted.
"I own my company. I don't have to answer to a board." He raises an eyebrow at me. Of course, I would know this if I had done some research. But holy crap, he's arrogant. I change tack.
"And do you have any interests outside your work?"
"I have varied interests, Miss Steele." A ghost of a smile touches his lips. "Very varied." And for some reason, I'm confounded and heated by his steady gaze. His eyes are alight with some wicked thought.
"But if you work so hard, what do you do to chill out?"
"Chill out?" He smiles, revealing perfect white teeth. I stop breathing. He really is beautiful. No one should be this good-looking.
"Well, to 'chill out,' as you put it―I sail, I fly, I indulge in various physical pursuits." He shifts in his chair. "I'm a very wealthy man, Miss Steele, and I have expensive and absorbing hobbies."
I glance quickly at Kate's questions, wanting to get off this subject.
"You invest in manufacturing. Why, specifically?" I ask. Why does he make me so uncomfortable?
"I like to build things. I like to know how things work: what makes things tick, how to construct and deconstruct. And I have a love of ships. What can I say?"
"That sounds like your heart talking rather than logic and facts."
His mouth quirks up, and he stares appraisingly at me.
"Possibly. Though there are people who'd say I don't have a heart."
"Why would they say that?"
"Because they know me well." His lip curls in a wry smile.
"Would your friends say you're easy to get to know?" And I regret the question as soon as I say it. It's not on Kate's list.
"I'm a very private person, Miss Steele. I go a long way to protect my privacy. I don't often give interviews . . ."
"Why did you agree to do this one?"
"Because I'm a benefactor of the university, and for all intents and purposes, I couldn't get Miss Kavanagh off my back. She badgered and badgered my PR people, and I admire that kind of tenacity."
I know how tenacious Kate can be. That's why I'm sitting here squirming uncomfortably under his penetrating gaze, when I should be studying for my exams.
"You also invest in farming technologies. Why are you interested in that area?"
"We can't eat money, Miss Steele, and there are too many people on this planet who don't have enough to eat."
"That sounds very philanthropic. Is it something you feel passionately about? Feeding the world's poor?"
He shrugs noncommittally.
"It's shrewd business," he murmurs, though I think he's being disingenuous. It doesn't make sense―feeding the world's poor? I can't see the financial benefit of this, only the virtue of the ideal. I glance at the next question, confused by his attitude.
"Do you have a philosophy? If so, what is it?"
"I don't have a philosophy as such. Maybe a guiding principle―Carnegie's: 'A man who acquires the ability to take full possession of his own mind may take possession of anything else to which he is justly entitled.' I'm very singular, driven. I like control―of myself and those around me."
"So you want to possess things?" You are a control freak.
"I want to deserve to possess them, but yes, bottom line, I do."
"You sound like the ultimate consumer."
"I am." He smiles, but the smile doesn't touch his eyes. Again, this is at odds with someone who wants to feed the world, so I can't help thinking that we're talking about something else, but I'm mystified as to what it is. I swallow hard. The temperature in the room is rising, or maybe it's just me. I just want this interview to be over. Surely Kate has enough material now. I glance at the next question.
"You were adopted. How much do you think that's shaped the way you are?" Oh, this is personal. I stare at him, hoping he's not offended. His brow furrows.
"I have no way of knowing."
My interest is piqued. "How old were you when you were adopted?"
"That's a matter of public record, Miss Steele." His tone is stern. Crap. Yes, of course―if I'd known I was doing this interview, I would have done some research. Flustered, I move on quickly.
"You've had to sacrifice family life for your work."
"That's not a question." He's terse.
"Sorry." I squirm; he's made me feel like an errant child. I try again. "Have you had to sacrifice family life for your work?"
"I have a family. I have a brother and a sister and two loving parents. I'm not interested in extending my family beyond that."
"Are you gay, Mr. Grey?"
He inhales sharply, and I cringe, mortified. Crap. Why didn't I employ some kind of filter before I read this straight out? How can I tell him I'm just reading the questions? Damn Kate and her curiosity!
"No, Anastasia, I'm not." He raises his eyebrows, a cool gleam in his eyes. He does not look pleased.
"I apologize. It's, um . . . written here." It's the first time he's said my name. My heartbeat has accelerated, and my cheeks are heating up again. Nervously, I tuck my loosened hair behind my ear.
He cocks his head to one side.
"These aren't your own questions?"
The blood drains from my head.
"Er . . . no. Kate―Miss Kavanagh―she compiled the questions."
"Are you colleagues on the student paper?" Oh no. I have nothing to do with the student paper. It's her extracurricular activity, not mine. My face is aflame.
"No. She's my roommate."
He rubs his chin in quiet deliberation, his gray eyes appraising me.
"Did you volunteer to do this interview?" he asks, his voice deadly quiet.
Hang on, who's supposed to be interviewing whom? His eyes burn into me, and I'm compelled to answer with the truth.
"I was drafted. She's not well." My voice is weak and apologetic.
"That explains a great deal."
There's a knock at the door, and Blonde Number Two enters.
"Mr. Grey, forgive me for interrupting, but your next meeting is in two minutes."
"We're not finished here, Andrea. Please cancel my next meeting."
Andrea hesitates, gaping at him. She appears lost. He turns his
head slowly to face her and raises his eyebrows. She flushes bright
pink. Oh, good. It's not just me.
"Very well, Mr. Grey," she mutters, then exits. He frowns, and turns his attention back to me.
"Where were we, Miss Steele?"
Oh, we're back to "Miss Steele" now.
"Please, don't let me keep you from anything."
"I want to know about you. I think that's only fair." His eyes are alight with curiosity. Double crap. Where's he going with this? He places his elbows on the arms of the chair and steeples his fingers in front of his mouth. His mouth is very . . . distracting. I swallow.
"There's not much to know."
"What are your plans after you graduate?"
I shrug, thrown by his interest. Move to Seattle with Kate, find a job. I haven't really thought beyond my finals.
"I haven't made any plans, Mr. Grey. I just need to get through my final exams." Which I should be studying for right now, rather than sitting in your palatial, swanky, sterile office, feeling uncomfortable under your penetrating gaze.
"We run an excellent internship program here," he says quietly. I raise my eyebrows in surprise. Is he offering me a job?
"Oh. I'll bear that in mind," I murmur, confounded. "Though I'm not sure I'd fit in here." Oh no. I'm musing out loud again.
"Why do you say that?" He tilts his head to one side, intrigued, a hint of a smile playing on his lips.
"It's obvious, isn't it?" I'm uncoordinated, scruffy, and I'm not blonde.
"Not to me." His gaze is intense, all humor gone, and strange muscles deep in my belly clench suddenly. I tear my eyes away from his scrutiny and stare blindly down at my knotted fingers. What's going on? I have to go―now. I lean forward to retrieve the recorder.
"Would you like me to show you around?" he asks.
"I'm sure you're far too busy, Mr. Grey, and I do have a long drive."
"You're driving back to Vancouver?" He sounds surprised, anxious even. He glances out of the window. It's begun to rain. "Well, you'd better drive carefully." His tone is stern, authoritative. Why should he care? "Did you get everything you need?" he adds.
"Yes, sir," I reply, packing the recorder into my backpack. His eyes narrow, speculatively.
"Thank you for the interview, Mr. Grey."
"The pleasure's been all mine," he says, polite as ever.
As I rise, he stands and holds out his hand.
"Until we meet again, Miss Steele." And it sounds like a challenge, or a threat, I'm not sure which. I frown. When will we ever meet again? I shake his hand once more, astounded that that odd current between us is still there. It must be my nerves.
"Mr. Grey." I nod at him. Moving with lithe athletic grace to the door, he opens it wide.
"Just ensuring you make it through the door, Miss Steele." He gives me a small smile. Obviously, he's referring to my earlier less-than-elegant entry into his office. I blush.
"That's very considerate, Mr. Grey," I snap, and his smile widens. I'm glad you find me entertaining, I glower inwardly, walking into the foyer. I'm surprised when he follows me out. Andrea and Olivia both look up, equally surprised.
"Did you have a coat?" Grey asks.
"A jacket."
Olivia leaps up and retrieves my jacket, which Grey takes from her before she can hand it to me. He holds it up and, feeling ridiculously self-conscious, I shrug it on. Grey places his hands for a moment on my shoulders. I gasp at the contact. If he notices my reaction, he gives nothing away. His long index finger presses the button summoning the elevator, and we stand waiting―awkwardly on my part, coolly self-possessed on his. The doors open, and I hurry in, desperate to escape. I really need to get out of here. When I turn to look at him, he's gazing at me and leaning against the doorway beside the elevator with one hand on the wall. He really is very, very good-looking. It's unnerving.
"Anastasia," he says as a farewell.
"Christian," I reply. And mercifully, the doors close.
Product details
- Publisher : Bloom Books; 1st edition (April 3, 2012)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 514 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0345803485
- ISBN-13 : 978-0345803481
- Item Weight : 0.03 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.19 x 1.44 x 8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #25,519 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,109 in Contemporary Women Fiction
- #6,594 in Contemporary Romance (Books)
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About the author

E L James is an incurable romantic and a self-confessed fangirl. After twenty-five years of working in television, she decided to pursue a childhood dream and write stories that readers could take to their hearts. The result was the controversial and sensuous romance Fifty Shades of Grey and its two sequels, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed. In 2015, she published the #1 bestseller Grey, the story of Fifty Shades of Grey from the perspective of Christian Grey, and in 2017, the chart-topping Darker, the second part of the Fifty Shades story from Christian’s point of view. Her books have been published in fifty languages and have sold more than 165 million copies worldwide.
E L James has been recognised as one of Time magazine's ‘Most Influential People in the World’ and Publishers Weekly’s ‘Person of the Year’. Fifty Shades of Grey stayed on The New York Times Best Seller List for 133 consecutive weeks. Fifty Shades Freed won the Goodreads Choice Award (2012), and Fifty Shades of Grey was selected as one of the 100 Great Reads, as voted by readers, in PBS’s The Great American Read (2018). Darker has been long-listed for the 2019 International DUBLIN Literary Award.
She co-produced for Universal Studios the Fifty Shades movies, which made more than a billion dollars at the box office. The third instalment, Fifty Shades Freed, won the People’s Choice Award for Drama in 2018.
E L James is blessed with two wonderful sons and lives with her husband, the novelist and screenwriter Niall Leonard, and their West Highland terriers in the leafy suburbs of West London.
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So, given this limitation of the human being, individually and collectively, it is no wonder that so many have tried to shoot down this bold and brave expression, and baby-steps introduction, of this alternative way of life that so MANY people around the world, 99.9% of the time EXTREMELY SECRETIVELY, LIVE OUT EVERY DAY, IN UNLIMITED WAYS, every moment they possibly can to be who they truly are in the HEALTHIEST AND SAFEST WAYS POSSIBLE!!
At the core of this alternate lifestyle is a FIRM BELIEF AND "CODE", if you will. Simply said, "Safe, Sane, and always CONSENSUAL!!" Basically, it means that there must ALWAYS be safety measures involved to protect EVERYONE from PERMANENT, IRREVERSIBLE HARM, both physically and psychologically, and EVERY INDIVIDUAL TAKING PART MUST be of sound mind in making the deliberate CHOICE to be a part of any relationship in this realm, meaning they are ABLE, LEGALLY AND OTHERWISE, to GIVE CONSENT, without being given undue pressure, coersion, and/or trickery, to being involved in any aspect of this lifestyle. If you are not certain you WANT to give permission, because of alarming behavior, improper PRESSURE to ignore something you see or hear that is a warning, or just an unknown but strong gut feeling, GET AWAY AND DO NOT RETURN until you are clear and confident that in giving consent to ANYTHING, whether in THIS lifestyle or any other area of your life, you are certain that you are safe, being watched over properly and sanely, and that you ALWAYS have an option to LEAVE ANY SITUATION, willingly & without reprisal, AT ANY TIME!! This goes for EVERY SINGLE ASPECT OF ANY PERSON'S LIFE ~ Business, Personal, Family, Friends, etc. ~ so that ALL have the freedom to be who they are without fear of being persecuted, or WORSE, for determining the course of their OWN LIFE JOURNEYS!!
This novel, the 1st in the "Fifty Shades" trilogy, is a first step inside this "alternate life path" that has been in the dark for far too long!! IF a reader, with no previous FACTUAL knowledge about this way of life, makes a judgement against this book and what it is trying to help people understand better, BEFORE getting additional, alternative sourced FACTS and background, then it is the READER who is in error, NOT E.L. JAMES!! There is so much complexity and HEALTHY psychology involved that to pass it off as "CRAZY, UNHEALTHY, AND JUST PLAIN TOO DANGEROUS FOR ANYONE" does a criminal injustice to the multitude and variety of healthy, QUITE SANE, and simply ordinary looking people who find happiness, joy, and completeness of self in living this path. In fact, I would be willing to bet, if you were able to get EVERY SINGLE PERSON involved in this "lifestyle" to abruptly, and all at the same second in time, publicly declare their involvement in, and satisfaction from, this unique way of existing that goes WAY, WAY, WAY BEYOND JUST SEXUAL CONNOTATION AND ACTIVITY, ALONE, every one of us would be completely STUNNED & INCREDULOUS when we learn that the quiet church-going, community service volunteer we sat next to at church services last Sunday, is, in reality, the Dominant female in a D/s and/or BDSM relationship with the President of some Fortune 500 company!! We probably ALL interact with AT LEAST ONE PERSON, every day, that is keeping that part of themselves EXTREMELY PRIVATE & WELL HIDDEN from 98% of the people in their lives.
So, if you looked into the true realistic potential of the HUNDREDS of allegedly "impossible and/or outlandish" aspects of each character in this book, I suspect you would ALL be shocked at how POSSIBLE they really could be, in REAL LIFE!! And to those naysayers who refuse to believe that ANY woman could orgasm THAT EASILY, think about this next bit of info I learned from a friend in the lifestyle. She had been trained, over a series of months, maybe even a year or more (I can't recall the exact time it took), how to make herself orgasm ON HER MASTER'S IMMEDIATE COMMAND, within LESS THAN A MINUTE OF THE DEMAND!! If the right circumstances were in play, it could happen in LESS than 10 SECONDS after to demand was made!! Now, it took time to learn this skill, and not everyone is capable of doing it, no matter how long they attempt training to do it. BUT, it IS possible for some, and I would NOT have believed her if I had not witnessed a display, PERSONALLY!!!
As for the other supposed flaws in the main and background persons in this story, SERIOUSLY?! is it so DIFFICULT to imagine that these flawed characters could actually exist in any real life place in reality? After all of the odd, deranged, and previously believed to be nonexistent personalities that have been brought to life in the form of politicians, business men/women, celebrities, and even men of religious power and prestige, that have been shown to have very different sides to them, and very hidden aspects of their character which VERY FEW, if any, truly had knowledge of, is it REALLY THAT IMPOSSIBILY DIFFICULT to believe that THESE UNIQUE, AND AT TIMES UNBELIEVABLY PERFECT, PEOPLE could EVER exist in ANY REALITY, WHATSOEVER, and could ONLY EXIST AS SOME WEIRDLY SUCCESSFUL (YET so unique, they could NEVER be a real person) AND EXTREMELY DEPRAVED character is some fictional novel?! Seriously folks? Given the facts in life that have turned out to truly be "stranger than fiction," I must say that I am disappointed in the reader of this, or any other seemingly "impossible to ever in exist in any realistic place and/or time" character or even setting in ANY fictional novel or storyline, for being so small-minded and extremely limited in imagination and/or intellectual flexibility so as to accept that while we might WANT everything & everyone to be neat, tidy, easy to understand, and of good "moral fiber," like we feel WE are (most of maybe), VERY FEW, IF ANY, OF US EVER FIT THOSE UNREALISTIC & FANTASY-BASED IDEALS, EVER!!!
So, in closing, I strongly urge anyone passing unfair, and/or downright mean/cruel, judgement on this novel, its characters, the storyline, the author, or any other connected aspect, to take some extra time out of your "busy" lives and learn the FACTS in psychology, medicine, and alternative lifestyles of ANY kind. Once you know the WHOLE story and the supporting FACTS, THEN come back and reexamine this book along with any others you may have misjudged far too quickly in the past. Once you know more, you will most likely find that your negative perceptions of any reality-based potential characters, settings, events, etc., are probably incorrect and quite possibly INAPPROPRIATELY HARSH AND/OR MEAN!! As a society, we have ALL been guilty of taking the "shortcut" and not looking more deeply into something we are not realistically familiar with, personally. In doing so, we do ourselves an injustice, as well as society and the author or presenter of the original story, plot, and related characters/participants. Once you know the REAL story, and not just what the media, your church, or any other major influences over what you think, feel, and how you react to ANYTHING in your daily lives, you are now armed with the proper knowledge to have a better understanding of what you were initially introduced to. In being armed this way, YOU now can make up YOUR mind with better support to your deductions and overall perceptions. THAT is what I strive to do, at every possible opportunity, so I do NOT improperly but intentionally make a bad decision and/or judgment based on limited or potentially FALSE and/or MISLEADING information I received from past "reliable" sources in my life. I'm not perfect, so I don't always achieve what I strive to do, but at least I am trying to learn from my errors and personal character flaws. If you can say the same, BRAVO!! If not, go back and start this novel trilogy over again, once you have taken the time to learn as much TRUTH as you can about whatever topic, etc., that you originally judged as implausible or too "perfect" to ever be real!! As I alluded to earlier, "Fact is sometimes stranger than fiction!" Remember this and it will help you keep an open mind until you have received as much information as you can, from more than one or two sources you've checked in the past, which will allow you to see not just what other believe you SHOULD see and feel, but what YOU know, see, and now feel is a more proper perception of ANY topic!!
As for my opinion on this first of three books, I enjoyed them immensely, and especially appreciated the way E.L. James ended the first novel on such a cliffhanger type situation!! I won't spoil it for those who have not yet read it, but it set the stage perfectly for the second book to pick up from and RUN WITH!!
No, her writing would most likely not please a high school English/Writing teacher in that she is not always terribly creative as she might have been and may need a little assistance with certain syntax, etc. Overall, though, I found it to be a story that could happen at any given moment across the globe, but most likely in the USA, and the characters were, to me, believable, imperfect despite an expression of "alleged perfection," and a story I STILL enjoy reading again now and again, even though I could almost recite the story line by heart by now!! Step outside of the "normal, average, and at times, BORING" routine we expect from the average American every day. Only then can you truly follow and enjoy the nature and spirit of this incredible adventure surrounding Christian & Anastasia "Ana" and their path through life, separately and together!!
I succumbed to the hype, the word of mouth raving (mostly from girls), and the various bestseller lists around the world and I read Fifty Shades of Grey. This is like back in 8th grade, when I just took the leap and read The Twilight Saga Complete Collection , of which this has roots in (but I won't go into the whole fan fiction debate). I am not the target demographic for either of these books (I'm a 17 year old guy who likes mainstream and literary fiction), but when I read Twilight I at least appreciated what it was worth, and I know a lot of what people say about it isn't true.
What a lot of the reviews say about Fifty Shades of Grey, however, is true. Too true, almost.
But why, you ask, am I writing a review when I agree with what a lot of the reviews on here already say? Well, it's simply because I would like to go into extreme detail of why this book is so terrible to me, what very small value it *does* have, and hopefully elicit some conversation and discussion in the comments section from some of those people who gave it 5 star reviews.
The book starts off simple enough: Anastasia Steele (not the pornstar! I know, the name throws you off) must fill in for her best friend Kate in an interview with Christian Grey, a billionaire who also wants to cure world hunger. From their first interview, an electric tension is present that eventually culminates itself in what this book is famous for: BDSM. The first fifty or so pages of this novel were very compelling and had me hooked. I think I read about 1/3 of this novel in one sitting. I was finally starting to understand why this book had sold so much. I was so excited that it was going to keep up the pace and that I was going to have a whole new, exciting trilogy to read.
Excuse me for a second while my age shows through. LOL. I had a rude awakening to that feeling right when their "relationship" begins.
The problem with this book is that the first few sex scenes are hot or whatever, but essentially they all develop into a "Oh, and then he's gonna do her *here* in *this way*" and other forms of wish fulfillment. One of the scenes literally had me gagging. I mean, okay, I understand Piano Sex, Bondage Sex, Boathouse Sex, and the thought of IHOP Sex, but Sex while Ana is on her period? I mean, COME ON. That's horribly disgusting. Are women into that? The most offensive exchange of dialogue in literature occurs when Ana goes " I'm bleeding." and Christian replies " I don't care."
*shudder* uggh.
And that's probably my main problem with this novel. Is that after that first third of the book, it becomes just mindless sex. And the sad realization that all the good things going for the novel up to that point (Christian's mysterious past, Ana's bright curiosity, the circle of friends who are nice characters) are just to provide sexual tension. They are all written for the single payoff of cheap mom-porn sex.
And the writing is, in the wise words of our trust narrator, double crap.At times, the simple prose manages to get the job done and move the story along, others, it drags it down and drives us slo-mo through not-so-hot sex scenes. Often times, Ana interjects with a quick "Jeez" or "Crap" or an italicized expletive, which aren't believable or even relevant half the time. Throughout the entire book Ana keeps discussing how she is "not the kind of girl" who would be into BDSM. Well, Ana, honey, I hate to break it to you, but if you sign a contract to be in a relationship with chains, whips, and bondage, well, that kind of makes you *that* kind of girl.
Anastasia Steele is an annoying narrator, and quite inconsistent. For example, she compares herself to her beautiful roommate, and talks about how ugly she is. She keeps going on and on about how beautiful she wishes she was. But then, she gets asked out by three different guys in the first fifty pages, one of which has asked her out before, many times, and his asking her out is a tradition of theirs. Trust me, these men are not asking Ana out for her personality. She comes across as cardboard and tacky as a MacDonald's happy people, and looks as convincing when she smiles. She plays similar tactics when it comes to her job (If her resume is so awful, how does she get it?), her GPA (which Kate says is High, but Ana still feels inferior to Kate), and her broken-but-okay family (She loves her mom, but lived with one of her mother's husbands who is not her dad).
Alright, one could argue, many people want to read this book for the sex, and don't care about the rest. Well, let me tell you, my ventures into romance and erotic literature are few and far between, but I have read many a scene more sexy and erotic than even the best sex scene in this novel.
For starters, I know there is nothing erotic about the words "penis" and "vagina", but Anastasia (and through her E.L. James) use ridiculous euphemisms that make me laugh more than get hot. For example, Ana only uses the v-word once the entire novel. Every other time she says " down *there*" or "my sex". I mean, I wasn't aware that, caught up in the moment, people think things like " Oh he's going to kiss my sex." Like, what? Do people even talk like that?!
Oh. And there's the other thing. The very, terrible Ohs. There's the "Oh please" when Ana wants to have an orgasm, there's the "Oh yes sir" when Christian has a new move, and then there's the internal narration, italicized "Oh" that just happens all the time. Using my neat Kindle feature, I can inform you that there are 444 uses of the word "Oh" in this novel. My guess is about 350 of those are sexual. All in all, its a tad redundant.
This book, however, in its sex scenes, contains the most annoying thing I have ever read in a novel. Ever. Like, this made me laugh out loud, because it was so stupid. So, one could categorize Fifty Shades as an "Erotic" novel, right? Well, throughout the sex scenes, Ana likes to say things like "He kissed my belly button, it was so erotic" or " He tied me up, it was so erotic" (neither of those are exact quotes). I'm sorry, but when you are shooting for something being erotic, a good writer should just *make* it erotic and just let the reader think to themselves "this is so erotic."
I mean, literally, that is the most obnoxious thing ever. It's like if Jay Gatsby stood and the end of his dock, with the flashing green light from across the bay, and then whispered to Nick Carraway, "This is so literary." Or Harry Potter riding a hippogriff for the first time, exclaiming to his friends "This is fantastic!"
Like, could she be any more blunt?
This is how the entire book boils down: E.L. James pulling out all stops to do something to impress the reader. From wish fulfillment fantasies to some handsome men, everything in this book is trying too hard. And in the process, the few good things that could make this book outstanding are lost in the process.
The relationship between Ana and Christian, for example, is fascinating. If E.L. James had gone more in depth into the psychology of said relationship, this book could have been the next Lolita, 50th Anniversary Edition or Venus in Furs . Instead, all that amazing sexual tension is used to make the sex "hotter", which it doesn't. The reader is left wanting and wondering more of how Christian was formed.
Christian, by the way, has a very interesting past. Abusive mothers, neighbors with secrets, some interesting scars. But how much of this does the reader find out? None. Or, well, close to none. You find out its existence and some minor details, but there is no closure to it and there is no explanation for why its there and how exactly it has shaped him.
I'm telling you: all this crap is there so that Christian can be a "hunk with a troubled past" for Ana "the innocent healer" to make love to, blah blah blah. It all comes down to making Christian hotter, instead of making him an interesting character. This is immensely frustrating as a reader because naturally, being trained by reading quality books, I wanted to know more about Christian and his past and his mindset. But nope. Just some more sex.
Throughout this novel, I just had to keep asking myself, "Wait, what?"
I cannot imagine what was sneaking through James' mind when she wrote this novel other than "let's make some hot sex." But the sex is terrible, the story is worse, and the only interesting character has traits that literally come down to sex and sex alone, which, if you haven't heard, is terrible. It's a vicious cycle, and it makes me wonder how this story is continued into two more books, because there wasn't enough plot to make it through this book without being immensely bored.
Before I leave you, I would like to touch on the ending. It is not a payoff like readers have come to expect. It is a drop-of-the-pin moodswing that just *happens* and causes other stuff to just *occur* and then there is room for a sequel. HELLO. Hollywood tries this all the time. And it is stupid. It is a sellout way to create room for more.
E.L. James, where is your integrity as a writer? An author? A storyteller?
Books were meant to tell stories. I don't care if you would like to include pornographic themes as well, go ahead, its your book, not mine. But make the time spent in the land of your novel worthwhile for the reader, and make the entry price of your book value the experience your reader will have.
If I wanted cheap, terrible porn, I wouldn't have to spend 9.99. I could just search the internet. And all that porn comes with free bonus viruses, too, which, to be honest, might be more interesting than the characters in this novel.
Amidst all of this crap, there is one good thing about this book. Well, actually, its better, than good, it's pretty great, I'd say. Say what you want about the book itself, but it *is* getting people reading. I know a lot of people who don't normally read that are picking this up. And you know what? It doesn't matter what they are reading, but it does matter *that* they are reading. So, keep this in libraries. Keep it on the bestseller list. I don't care.
But I hope that this novel at least opens new horizons for those who read it. It is absolute crap. One of the worst books I have read in a long time. But its getting people to read, which is excellent. So, to anyone out there who has just finished the Fifty Shades trilogy and wants more, quality stuff? I recommend you check out Sookie Stackhouse 8-copy Boxed Set (Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood) , which has vampires, but is outstanding and has some great mystery elemts, or maybe even something like Betrayal: A Novel or anything else by Danielle Steel. And maybe, then, you can start moving toward some modern literary hits like 1Q84: 3 Volume Boxed Set (Vintage International) or Super Sad True Love Story: A Novel , which both have deep themes of love in them.
****
I would also like to ask, as a courtesy, that if you are a super huge lover of this book and series, that you please comment down below and talk to me. Really. I'd like to have an intelligent discussion with someone who likes this book, because I cannot wrap my head around it. Please and Thank You.
Top reviews from other countries
This book is definitely for the over 18's, I certainly wouldn't want a tweenage Twilight fan reading it. I knew this was originally written as Twillight fan fiction and was called Master of the Universe, thank God the name was changed. There are no vampires in this book however. I haven't read the original, but I'm guessing that was removed. I didn't compare it to Twilight so I think I enjoyed it more. Even though I loved Twilight I didn't want the two getting blurred.
The story contains a lot of sex along with BDSM elements so isn't going to be to everyone's taste, I found Christian's room of pain somewhat scary and if I had been Ana, I think I'd have legged but she stuck it out and actually seemed to enjoy bits of it.
Ana and Christian meet after Ana interviews him at his office, where he is a rich and successful businessman, for her college newspaper. There is something between them and Christian thinks she would make a good submissive for his sex games. Ana is only 21 and quite immature. I thought she was going to be a doormat, but I was wrong she held her ground against what she believed in.
Christian hasn't had the best upbringing, he was abused by his parents, then he was adopted in the perfect family where he's never felt good enough. Only to be abused by a family friend. So you can begin to understand why he feels the need to feel in control. However the stalker tendencies are a bit scary.
Just over half way through Christian broke through my barrier of I'm going to hate this book and won, now he's forever etched in my brain and I could not put it down. Ana annoyed the life out of me with her talking to her inner goddess, constantly biting her lip and the fact she went from being a virgin who hadn't even kissed a boy to being a sex goddess who gave up her virinity without a second thought for Christian. Their love blossomed, they changed each other and I routed for them. They brought out the best in each other.
I love the email exchanges they have between them, they talk more openly throughout them and it's very sweet and flirty. There was a lot of tenderness between Ana and Christian and I loved watchiing their relationship grow and blossom. The latter part of the book I was hooked and couldn't put it down. Plus, I heard they are considering Ian Somerhalder to play Christian in the film version, my guilt pleasure.
I would recommend Fifty Shades of Grey as a light and easy read, yes there are bits when you will blush, but it's not too bad and the love story in there is a very sweet one. I can guarantee you will be routing for them just like I am right until the end. If you can oversee the bad writing and repeated phrases, the book really is so compelling I couldn't put it down. And on to the second book which I'm told is a lot better.
I had a pre-conceived idea what I would think of this book and was almost agreeing with it around 3% into it. Banal came to mind and I thought "this is not going to work for me".
I love strong alpha males and I love strong books with BDSM themes especially books written by Kitty Thomas and Michelle Zurlo - so I knew what I wanted and what I was hoping to expect from this story. This is not what I got.
So was it pornographic? - nope it definitely was not pornographic.
Erotic - yes it was a piece of fiction intended to arouse the reader. The sex scenes were explicit, frequent and intense.
BDSM - yes to a degree but a more "vanilla" version of a BDSM theme.
E L James tells this story in the first person perspective. It is about a naive (sexually inexperienced) 21 year old college student who is thrown into the presence of Christian Gray, a very experienced and sexually active (dominant) 27 year old. He makes it clear what he wants - her sexual submission and what he will do to Anastasia to obtain this.
Despite my first negative thoughts I began to warm to this story and I did end up liking it. You have to bear in mind that this is a story about a young woman's journey into her fist sexual experience. Yes the number of times the protagonist said "Holy Crap" was noted but is this not what a young girl would subconsciously say? - remember she wasn't wordly experienced AND Christian Gray was only 27 so I don't think the book would have worked if they sounded like "grown-ups".
What did appeal to me was the way EL James brought into their relationship Anastasia's eventual rejection of submiting to Christian, her lack of understanding of the role. i.e the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation and the power play expected in this type of relationship. She just loved Christian and wanted to be loved by him in return.
Some critics have described the world of Anastasia Steele and Christian Gray as "believable as a fairy tale" and "has been selling faster than condoms on a spring break"! Harsh- but everyone is entitled to their opinion. It has also been said that there is better written and less ridiculous erotica or even "mommy porn" out there - well maybe there is but I dont think this story falls into any of these categories and I certainly would not compare it to the Twilight story - they are very different genre's.
So I would not let negativity surrounding 50 shades of Gray put you off reading it - try it for yourself and form your own opinion and I think you will be pleasantly surprised. I was and I look forward to finding out how the "romance" between Anastasia and Christian finally concludes.
Having glanced at the sample book, I felt I would be likely to agree with the scathing reviews. A few weeks later however, when I was in a different frame of mind, I decided to at least give the first one a shot. At least then I would know if it really was as bad as it was being made out to be. I should point out that beyond knowing that it's about sparkly vampires, I have no prior knowledge of the Twilight books, so I was reading from the perspective of someone taking the book on its own merits. I think because of this, it felt very much more fresh to me than it might someone who already "knew" the characters In their former incarnations.
So, I gave it a shot. And lost the following two days of my life because I found it entirely unputdownable and had to know how the story played out. I think labelling it as "mommy porn" was a little unreasonable. It has many layers, it is a love story, it is a psychological and dark thriller, yes, it has far more than its fair share of explicit sex, but I felt that the tone was appropriate for the intensity of the relationship between the characters. The first book takes a little while to get going, the scene setting is quite prolonged, but I think that very much helps to contribute to the build up of the intensity in the relationship. I enjoyed Ana's internal monologues and arguments between the different facets of her personality. Yes, there was a slightly excessive overuse of certain words but I did not feel that it particularly detracted from the story in any way. Read in the wrong frame of mind it could come across as cheesy and repetitive, I have no doubt, but in the right frame of mind and enough time to thoroughly immerse yourself into the story those things cease to matter.
I really loved this and by the third book, was beginning to dread it coming to an end. I know this is a trilogy that I will return to time and again and find different things that I love about it every time. The story is well woven, tied up nicely (pardon the pun) by the end, and the characters are believable and multi-faceted. It is about time that erotic literature made its way into the adult mainstream fiction market. I have often thought that I would like to write this sort of material myself, but knew I would find it hard to take seriously. This is the book(s) I would like to have written.
By E.L James own admission, Fifty Shades began life as a piece of Twilight fanfiction entitled Master Of The Universe in which the Bella character met Edward at a later date before engaging in a BDSM relationship with him.
Master Of The Universe can no longer be found on the Internet or at least I couldn't locate it. It has been deleted pretty much everywhere, presumably either by James herself or by the publisher who took this hugely popular Internet story and revamped it into something new, or, newish.
The Bella character becomes Ana Steele, a virginal English graduate who encounters multimillionaire businessman Christian Grey, a successful yet damaged man who enjoys being dominant and targets Ana as his next submissive.
Shades of the original Twilight novels are fairly evident in the first book Fifty Shades Of Grey, from watching her eat, to replacing her clapped out car, and the infuriating lip biting.
I say infuriating lip biting because of just how often the fact that Ana bites her lip and Christian tells her not to is repeated throughout the novels narrative not sure of the precise number of times, but it is a good Fifty times too often. The same for rolling her eyes, the fact that Ana thinks Christian is "mercurial" etc.
In addition references to Ana's "inner goddess" are frankly vomit inducing, and punchworthy. Her subconscious is also massively over used. The book is highly repetitive in the terminology it uses, and therefore ultimately poorly written.
The sex too is massively repetitive and often incongruous, they have sex more often than is physically possible for anyone and often in bizarre circumstances after one or each of the characters has had a truly awful day, and shagging to the point of exhaustion wouldn't realistically occur. I understand that these books are erotica and therefore are about having sexual content but like others who have read it, I soon found myself skipping some sex scenes to get on with the plot.
There is a patronising element to Fifty Shades trying to feed into the fantasies of women who think they are "the one" to change an errant or damaged mans ways, when a sensible woman should know this can't be done and this effects the believability of certain developments. Despite the fact that Ana calls Christian mercurial, her constant changes of heart and moving of goalposts make you understand the guys confusion and feel for him.
Despite this the books like the Twilight novels are utterly bizarrely compelling, and I read them all very quickly. Christian is actually a really enthralling character, and his back story is touching. As certain events occur in Grey, Darker, and Freed it really does become like a crazy American soap opera and is quite addictive in that respect. Ana is frequently irritating though.
So yes, characters and plot do make you continue reading these stories but the quality of the prose is frankly godawful. Newsnight among other media outlets have referred to the saga as "Mummy Porn" and somehow there is I feel something inherently condescending towards "silly women who don't want to read serious books" in this. I guess that you could call this the modern revamped Mills and Boon. There is absolutely "something there" in these books, and had she reduced the level of repetitiveness in her prose and kept the sex scenes in but removed the ones that are silly in the context and surplus to requirements, there might be a decent novel but it lacks any kind of erudition or sophistication.
It's good for a laugh, and light titillation, and as I say bizarrely compulsive so there is some kind of magic in there. I also found the Twilight novels compulsive despite the fact that they too are quite poorly written. Ultimately I'd call it a guilty pleasure because I enjoyed it even though it was utter tosh!!!!
The book tells the story of literature student Anastasia Steele as she interviews young entrepreneur and millionaire Christian Grey and the attraction that is clear between them from the very start. Being rather innocent Ana doesn't believe that this gorgeous, sexy and somewhat intimidating man could be interested in her at all but it turns out that she has got very much under the skin of Christian. Christian has some demons which pretty much seem to consume him and he has a deep need to control and this spills over very much in to his sex life to which he introduces Ana.
From the onset with this book I have to say that I was completely hooked and I actually read the 514 pages in less than a week in total as I just wanted to get to bed each night and have my fix of fifty shades. The book is very easy to read and so it doesn't becoming a chore to read or anything and it is so very detailed that you can almost feel like a character yourself or imagine yourself as one of them at the very least. There are twenty six chapters in the book and these vary in length really but each one had me gripped for the most part. There was one chapter which focuses on a contract with rules in which Christian would like Anastasia to sign and follow as she becomes his submissive and this was all a little bit much for me to read as it was a bit boring for me if I am honest but this was just one small part of the book. The text flows easily and I would find myself thinking just one more chapter each night and would end up reading on and on until I literally needed to shut my eyes and sleep.
Whilst the book is centred around a deal in which Christian would like to make with Ana about him becoming her dominant and her his submissive there is a whole lot more to the story than just sex and this is why it gripped me I think. As we go through the book we see Ana's hope that Christian may just want a "normal" relationship, we see how confused she gets by his ever changing moods and her struggle to understand him. I would like to see things from Christian's point of view too I think and how he feels at certain times but I suppose this just adds to the attraction to the mysterious Mr Grey.
Anastasia Steele is a likeable character and I am sure most women could see part of themselves in her as she is completely in awe of this man whom she is clearly smitten by but whom she also thinks she isn't good enough for. I am sure all women have felt that at some point in their lives and so it immediately allows you to understand and go through the emotions that Ana goes through in the book. As Ana is inexperienced sexually we get to see her learn with Christian and it is not all about the S&M with him, in fact the bulk of the sexual activity in the book isn't actually centred around that at all.
Christian Grey is a hard character to explain I have found simply because I want a man like Christian in my life! Despite all of his issues which are touched upon briefly in this book and I believe will be developed more in the following two books we learn that Christian has had a troubled past and finds it hard to be loved himself. Even though he has very specific sexual desires we see real touches of a gentle and soft Christian and it makes you really warm to this man. Having spoken to my friend, looked on twitter and such like there is a resounding "yes please" when people are asked would they like to sleep with Christian despite knowing all his issues and I have to say I tend to agree!
I love reading the little emails which are sent between Ana and Christian as they add some small bits of humour in to the story line which can often be serious and dark. Ana finds it easier to talk to Christian openly via email and again I think this is something I kind of empathised with as a woman who has perhaps been so scared to lose someone that you don't want to always say what you think on the spot. The way in which Ana and Christian often refer to each other as Miss Steele or Mr Grey almost makes me long for a boyfriend who would do the same in all honesty! It is weird how this book has really got under my skin but it is a good thing as well I think as I prefer to really experience a book than just read one and not be blown away. This kept my interest and left me wanting more.
As my friend had told me that the book did contain some S&M and such like I was a bit unsure as to whether it would be my kind of thing at all and I have since tried to explain it to other people who look at me as though I am mad when I say that I want a Christian Grey in my life but there is so much more to Christian than the need to dominate a woman and to be honest even in the scenes in which he is being dominant and Ana is being submissive it is done in a way which isn't over the top at all and still seems to come across as being incredibly sexy. The sex scenes in the book are very detailed and so you would need to be aware of this before you read I think and I have to say I couldn't sit at work or on a train or something and read this book because in parts I was visibly squirming because the author has done an excellent job of making you believe that you have once been in Ana's situation I suppose. I liked reading about how Christian showed Ana how things were done and how he referred to this as "vanilla sex" which is just your bog standard, basic stuff I suppose! The term has certainly stuck with me and I know it has with my friend too and there is another term "laters baby" which I will now always associate with this book too.
I ordered books two and three of this trilogy when I was half way through fifty shades of grey and I have to say I am so glad that I did this because as soon as I finished book one I needed to read book two. Whilst I was aware that there had to be some form of resolution following Ana and Christian going their separate ways I have to say I genuinely felt Ana's pain in that moment and credit to the author for having the power to make her audience feel that way. From what I have read online there is talk of making the book in to a film and I only hope that if they do they manage to do the book justice.





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