h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well, the reviews were veering from one extreme to the other, so I thought I'd form my own opinion.

And I was a bit disappointed.

Too much detail, too little atmosphere. And repetitive.

Nah, give me one of Anaïs Nin's short stories any day - much more sensual.

...agreed!...

agree too
usually I can't leave it when I know it's a trilogy, but I gave up after reading the first of these, it was dire.

My take as a man on 50 shades.

Last week I found three middle aged radiographers preparing a poster for a scientific conference with the title '50 Shades of Grey Matter'. I commented that perhaps I will know that true sexual equality has arrived when I can made a reference to 'The Story of O' in a conference presentation.

So it seems that a certain type of woman has suddenly discovered porn, and it's shamelessly everywhere. It's hysterical. The books themselves have bad sex padded out by bad prose.

And the other funny thing? Well people saying that women enjoying that sort of fantasy is anti-feminist. If that's the case then business men who pay domentrixes are the leaders of feminism. I think not.

I've been getting quite a laugh out of some of the spoofs, of various sorts...I even bought one of them: Fifty Shades of Kale. Acookbook, as it turns out. With a lone recipe spoofing the book, "Thai'd Up Roughage", which oddly enough, looks like it might even be a keeper.

"Thai'd Up Roughage" lol

the idea that women have only now discovered pornography (BDSM porn at that) and are now at it like a bunch of teenage boys is hilarious.

I've tried my hand at writing some risqué stuff but I am now firmly of the opinion that very few people can do it properly and a "fade to black" kind of scenario is better most of the time.

In fact, out of the whole 50 shades saga what interests me more is this crossover from fan-fiction to mainstream publishing. And the very very clumsy way this story was converted from an Edward/Bella AU type of fic to a novel without much effort at all. And it shows. The publishing house should be ashamed of themselves.

The thing that bugs ME about 50 Shades of Grey is that the trilogy is practically a handbook for how to get trapped in a relationship with an abusive control-freak. BE clear, I am NOT talking about the BDSM sex - that's usually a consensual practice between consenting adults who have enormous respect for and trust in each other, so, you know, good thing, whether or not it's the sort of thing I'd like. I am talking about the emotional abuse and control-freakery dressed up as 'love', and it peddles the fantasy of how the love of a good woman can change a man. Err, no. The love of a good woman can be twisted into a trap for an abusive bastard to use against her. If your partner is a control-freak who blames YOU for upsetting THEM when they are being jealous/controlling/disrespectful/violent, kick them in the crotch and RUN AWAY. None of this waiting for the light to dawn and their apologetic return as Prince Who Rescues. Prince Who Rescues turns into Monster Who Traps You, and NOT in a happy fun dungeon-of-pain way.

Oh, and the best written 'porny' bits, which showed where the real interest lie, are the bits about clothes and cars and jewellry and, you know, materialistic STUFF. Fine, so put up with an abusive control-freak in exchange for expensive shoes. Just don't peddle it as a triumph of love over adversity, because, really really, it ain't.

I read Sol's review of this and that was enough. Life is too short to read bad books.

sprout

I think I've enjoyed reading the various reviews more than I ever would reading the book itself.

I,m in agreement that if the book is about being trapped in a relationship, why are so many women swooning over it? What does it say about their fantasies? It does worry me a bit. Then again, a lot of the BDSM power exchange relationships are about acting out that kind of fantasy in a safe environment. Perhaps this book is a way of doing the same thing: the readers would never enter that kind of abusive relationship for real, but there is still something submissive in their personalities that this book speaks to.

If I am right, then they really, really need to a) buy some better BDSM fiction or B) buy some rope and have a good chat with their partner...

rape fantasy is surprisingly common, apparently.

At one point, I actually had to double checked that the book was indeed written by a woman because I got a 'technical' impression.

To me, a well written sensual story is like a nude photo. If you reveal all, nothing is left to your imagination. If, however, you tastefully cover up even just a little and you have to imagine the hidden parts, I find it much more sensual.

The thing I like about Anaîs' stories is how she uses things like aromas and sounds to create an atmospheric background. I rememeber a story about a woman who manufactured spices, and how her skin would smell of saffron, vanilla, cinnamon... mmmmm...