I LOVE to read! From my childhood, I have always loved to curl up with a good book and get lost. Meema and I read the entire Little House on the Prarie series (including the cookbook) and a good number of the Nancy Drew books together. Recently, there has been a lot of hype and discussion regarding the "50 Shade" trio of books. To this point in my life, I have not followed the mainstream and read a book for that reason...I am probably one of a small group who has not read any of the "Twilight" or "Hunger Games" books. However, recently, I needed some new reading material. I had seen 50 Shades of Grey at Target, so I decided to download it onto my iPad. And, let me tell you, I read and read!
The Amazon description of the book is: 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. Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.
I started Book 1 (50 Shades of Grey) on Friday evening and read late into the night. Anytime, I had a chance to read, I did. When talking to D about it, I mentioned that I would read Book 1 and then read something else before moving on to Book 2. Wrong! As soon as I read the last sentence of Book 1 on Sunday afternoon, I opened Book 2 because I needed to know what happened. Sunday night, D was working and I read, and read, and read. I finished Book 2, Monday at lunchtime. Monday night, I started reading again...I was halfway through Book 3 (the final in the series) by the time I went to bed.
For some reason, this trilogy has captivated me (and not for the reasons you think). It's been a while since a book took hold of me and made me want to keep reading. Now, don't get me wrong...this is not the great American novel or something that will go down as a classic, but for me, it's been a great, entertaining read. I know that I am in the minority...the reviews on Amazon are horrible. It is not for the faint of heart...it is graphic and detailed with its themes, scenes and stories. It's been a real education for my "vanilla" mind!
I identify with some of the concepts in the book...Christian Grey doesn't want to get involved (seriously) with someone because he is 50 shades of messed (he uses another word) up. Deep down though, through those 50 shades, he finds a way to let in someone. I think we all have some level of dysfunction in our lives...we just have to step over it and let people close. It's also given me a new appreciation of my relationship...through all our baggage, insecurities, stress, we've managed to step over it and be a team. It's still there and we deal with that stuff every day, while remembering that life happens.
Whatever it is/was about this book...call me 50 shades of embarassed (that I enjoyed it so much), and in my own way, 50 shades of messed up!
