50 Shades Darker
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| Now available in a not-quite-as-pornographic-version! |
I’m not saying I enjoyed it, but I’d rather have a frame of
reference about something before passing judgment on it. After reading the
series in it’s entirety, I can easily say that I absolutely hated it. The
character development was non-existent, the situation absolutely unrealistic
(even without the sparkling vampires,) the story not engaging in the least, and
the writing style was absolutely atrocious.
And now, I find myself doing something rather similar almost
four years later with the series of 50 Shades of Grey, which I recently learned
was originally a fanfiction of this series.
I have to admit, however, that as far as mindless romance
novels go, this one is actually superior to Twilight. I’m going to take some
time to explain the pros of this series.
First of all, the character development is superb. The plain
narrator goes from being an underconfident young English major to an
independent woman with her own needs and wants. She goes from being completely
innocent, to learning about another complete culture and keeping an open mind
for the sake of making her beau happy. She maintains her virtures, while at the
same time giving the other side, the dark side, if you will, a chance.
The same can be said for the main male love interest. He
starts off unrelenting, with an obsession with Anastasia that borders on
unhealthy. Of course, unlike the source material, he doesn’t break into her
house to watch her sleep all night, but his obsession is very obviously lust.
It grows from there. You realize this man is not a perfect
specimen of what a man can be. He has a legitimate reason to be disturbed. He
has a past that leaves him terrified of intimacy. Slowly, these guards come
down and you can feel the character grow from a heartless, dominant sadist, to
a scared little boy who never had the chance to cope with his past.
For the first several hundred pages, I actually found myself
enjoying 50 shades darker. Gone were the cliché scenes of the narrator being
terrified of her admittedly scary love-interest. In the first book, Christian
taught Ana about his lifestyle. In this book, Ana teaches Christian how to be
an emotionally functional human being.
The character development was much better than expected, and
the best part was that, unlike Twilight, you actually had an inkling of why
these two were together. I may need to remind those who did not read Twilight
that three chapters into the book, Bella Swan says “About three things I was
absolutely positive: First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of
him-and I didn't know how dominant that part might be-that thirsted for my
blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.”
Note, this is before she knew anything about him. In the 50 shades trilogy, Anastasia Steele
actually falls in love with her broken beau. You can see the progression from
fear, to interest, to excitement, then infatuation, then anger, love, and
familiarity. There are scenes that have absolutely nothing to do with sex
whatsoever, but you can feel the chemistry between the characters. Half of
their dialog takes place in e-mail format, with flirting and witty dialog.
There’s actually a reason for them to be in love, and the reader can actually
feel that.
That being said, the author admirably skips over many
opportunities to use the L word. For a romance series, the actual word “love”
isn’t said until towards the end of the second book. Even then, it’s more like
a dirty confession than a profession of undying feelings. Of course, from then
on it’s used every other paragraph, but I digress.
I have to say, 50 shades Darker was a much better book all
around than 50 shades of Grey. Of course, if you read it alone, it wouldn’t
make any fucking sense. But the sex scenes were toned down a bit and sometimes
skipped over entirely. The focus of the book was less on the BDSM discovery and
more of the emotional development of the characters.
Of course, it had its ridiculous moments as well. I mean,
just as I was starting to be surprised at how original the plot had been thus
far, they decide to throw in the “Oh no! His helicopter went down in the
mountains!” plot twist. I literally facepalmed.
There’s also the insane ex-submissive who has snapped and
decided to stalk Ana and Christian, lamenting over the fact that Christian
chose Ana instead of her. Another boring plot device, but let’s face it, no one
reads these books for the plot anyway.
And one more thing I forgot to mention in my review of 50
Shades of Grey; I fucking hate the way the author decided to display her main
character’s inner feelings. She has her anthropomorphized “subconscious,” which
is described as always reading some British novel and disapproving of her
actions. She also has an “inner goddess.” Not kidding. She has a little person
inside her head she imagines doing various things to display how turned on or
dominant she’s feeling. Some of the things this goddess has done include:
donning a gladiator outfit and fighting a lion, putting on “fuck-me heels” and
glaring sensually, the dance of the seven veils, passing out on a beanbag chair
from sheer pleasure, and she’s usually described as sitting in the lotus
position serenely when Ana gets her way.
I made it more interesting by personally imagining these two
parts of her subconscious as if they were the angel and devil on her shoulders,
as if she were a cartoon. It gave me a few laughs.
Some of you asked for some passages from the book, since you
have no intention of reading it and just want to live vicariously through my
literary pain. So here’s a few.
“ ‘I don’t’ care if you hit or miss baby. I just want to see
you like this—partially dressed, stretched out on the billiard table.’ I flush,
and my inner goddess grabs a rose between her teeth and starts to tango … He
caresses my behind, over and over again … I bend over the table once more …
‘You missed,’ he says softly in my ear … Gently, he caresses my behind and
curls his other hand around the nape of my neck, his fingers tightening around
my hair at the nape, his elbow at my back, holding me down … ‘Open your legs,’
he murmurs and for a moment, I hesitate. And he smacks me hard—with the ruler!”
(243, 244, 245)
After-hours pool, anyone?
“ ‘I’m a sadist, Ana. I like to whip little brown-haired
girls like you because you all look like the crack whore—my birth mother …” He
runs a hand through his hair and almost smiles but instead sighs ruefully. ‘I’m
talking about the heavy shit, Anastasia. You should see what I can do with a
cane or a cat.’ ”
A…. cat?
“‘These clamps are vicious.’ He prods the nipple clamps.
‘We’ll use these …They’re adjustable.’ Christian, my sexual mentor … My mouth
is already open from panting. I open wider, and he slides a large cool metal
object between my lips. Shaped like an oversized baby’s pacifier, it has small
grooves or carvings … ‘I’m going to put this inside you …’ His fingers trail
between my buttocks spreading oil … Instantly the plug inside me starts to
vibrate—down there! ... It feels alien, full, forbidden … but oh … so … good …
As my body explodes, I’m nothing but sensation—everywhere.” (487, 492, 493)
Yup. Nipple clamps.
These books are entertaining in the fact that they’re
utterly ridiculous. I should probably mention that my favourite author is Chuck
Palahniuk, though, so I’m somewhat used to the ridiculous being used as a plot
point. I think I’ve figured out why they’re popular though.
I bought all of these books for my nook, a device I carry
with me everywhere I go. Rather than having to go into a bookstore, awkwardly
ask for the title of the book, and bare the judgmental looks of those who know
it’s basically porn, all I have to do is press the “download” button. I read
the books discreetly, just about anywhere, without anyone having a clue what I
was reading. I bet for under-stimulated woman all over the world, it’s exhilarating
to be able to read about riding crops, handcuffs, and butt plugs while sitting
at the park and no one is wiser.
I’ve already finished 50 shades freed, and I have quite a
bit to say about that one. I’ll update soon.
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