Fifty Shades of Truth, Shade 1

Alright, let us begin this blog by breaking down some prejudices. Literature has no true audience. There is an ideal audience, but literature has no barriers. Anybody can pick up any book, story, poem, really anything that is written in print and relate to it in some way. How do I know this? Because I can do it. I have never read something and been like, "welp, this means nothing to me." It just doesn't happen. Over the course of our time together, we will dissect the readings of countless people. Everyone from Charles Bukowski to Phillis Wheatley. Don't know who Phillis Wheatley is? Don't worry you will soon. For now, let us begin with a book most of us are already familiar with, Fifty Shades of Grey. I first picked up this book when I was a sophomore in high school. A naive, virgin sophomore in high school with only the basic general idea of what this book entailed, When I first picked this book up at my local Barnes & Noble, I cut right to the middle of the book where I was greeted with a steamy sex scene between Ana and Christian. Boy, let me tell ya, I was taken aback by the language used in the book at the time. I was thrown by the fact that somebody could muster those words into the world. I put the book back and moved on to the other volumes of literature that actually interested me.

It wasn't until about six days ago that I picked the book up again at the same store. This time, though, I bought the book. That's right. I actually bought Fifty Shades of Grey. Am I ashamed to admit that? Hell no. I am proud of my reading choices. Anyways, after I bought the book, I sat in my therapist's waiting room waiting for my turn to spill my guts, and started reading. I was immediately in love with the book. Hell, the first sentence got me.

"I scowl with frustration at myself in the mirror."

Gold. Pure gold. Why? Perhaps this stems from my prior research on author E. L. James. James. James had never published a book before this so the fact that she starts her first book with a sentence that simple yet attention grabbing is genius. Why is "I" scowling with frustration? Why are we introduced to "I" in this manner? SO many questions come from this sentence. I sat in the waiting room of the clinic for, oh, about ten minutes. For the first time in my almost two years going to this therapist, I was disappointed to hear her door open and welcome me in. I didn't want to put this book down. It was too good. The book reads quickly so I was able to get midway through Ana's and Christian's initial interview. Oh, by the way, some spoiler alerts may be in place in these blogs. Back to the point, I was antsy as hell to get through my 45 minute session. I just wanted to read. When the appointment ended, I raced home so I could read more. I didn't end up reading more that day because I was tied up doing other things, but yesterday I did get the chance to read. I am now to the point where Christian kisses Ana in the hotel elevator. Man, was that intense. Although short, it was perhaps one of the hottest things I've ever read. James paints this beautiful, passionate picture that makes the reader just wish they were in that elevator in either Christian's or Ana's shoes. The forcefulness of Christian and submissiveness of Ana is what every romantic relationship just begs to me. If you're reading this and saying to yourself, "No, Nic, you're wrong. I don't want either of those things," then shut up because you're wrong. Every guy dreams of the day they can pin a beautiful girl against the elevator wall and kiss her and have her moan in passion in his mouth and every girl dreams of having a smoking hot billionaire kiss her passionately in a closed elevator. Search your feelings, you know it to be true. Perhaps one day, we will have this dream come true. If it's already happened to you, congratulations, you've done something that the rest of us can only dream of.

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Listen people, whether you want to admit it or not, we all have sexual fantasies that we want to have play out and maybe they will, maybe they won't, but the bottom line is that E. L. James exposes all of us on this fact and we have to give her credit for that. Let me be candid, every guy has a sadistic side. Obviously, Christian Grey has it a little worse than your typical man, but James shows that there is no typical man. The typical man only exists within our own head. For Ana, we can assume that Christian Grey is her ideal man. Is it right? Maybe it is and maybe it is not. Only you can make that judgement, but I warn you that your idea is probably biased based on how you place yourself in Ana's shoes.

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Now it's time to get down to why we are really here. It's time to discuss the content of Fifty Shades and the writing of it. While reading this book, I have become interested in the figurative language. It is worth noting that James had never written a book before this. Sure, she had just started writing after basically speed reading the Twilight novels. Knowing this, I was not surprised to see that the use of figurative language at times in this novel is somewhat generic. Now, I am by no means a renowned literary critic, but I do know good figurative language when I see it. I'm not saying that the language is bad, but it is clear that James is a beginning writer. Despite this, we can see throughout most of the book that her writing evolves and becomes more refined. I imagine that she was uncomfortable with her writing in the beginning, but by the time the book began to take shape, I predict she became much more comfortable with her language. Let me reiterate, I think James is a great author and that is reflective by the fact that I am sitting in my college math class typing this and I am literally itching to get back to my room so I can dive into Ana and Christian's love drama. I just think it is interesting to note that sometimes the best literature is that that is easy to understand and that is why it is loved.

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Let us acknowledge the fact that Fifty Shades of Grey has become an international best-seller. This knowledge alone should be enough to make anybody want to read, but people are too worried being bogged down by the stigma of erotic fiction. The trick to composing yourself while you read? Remind yourself that it's just words. There is no Christian Grey and Ana Steele acting out these sadistic fantasies. Let me rephrase that, there are no real people named that and acting out those fantasies. If there are, I apologize for my ignorance and recognize my ill-knowledge. However, I'm pretty sure I'm spot on. Fifty Shades is bold, unforgiving, new, creative, and a litany of other adjectives that I can't force myself to think of. This book comes highly recommended and I will keep you all abreast with my progress through the book as it becomes available.

For now,

Nic