Fifty Shades of Gray is an erotic romance novel 2011 by the English writer EL James This is the first installment of the Fifty Shades trilogy that traces the deepening relationship between college graduates high, Anastasia Steele, and a young business monarch, Christian Gray. This is important for explicit erotic scenes featuring elements of sexual practices involving slavery/discipline, dominance/surrender, and sadism/masochism (BDSM). Originally published on its own as an ebook and print-on-demand, publishing rights were acquired by Vintage Books in March 2012.
Fifty Shades of Gray tops the list worldwide, selling over 125 million copies worldwide in June 2015. It has been translated into 52 languages, and set the UK record as the fastest. -Selling novels of all time. However, the critical acceptance of the book tends to be negative, with the quality of prose generally regarded as poor. Universal Pictures and Focus Features produced a movie adaptation, which was released on February 13, 2015 and also received generally poor reviews.
The second and third volumes of the trilogy, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed , were published in 2012. Gray: Fifty Shades of Gray as Christian < i>, the Fifty Shades of Gray version from a Christian point of view, published in June 2015.
Video Fifty Shades of Grey
Plot
Anastasia "Ana" Steele is a 21-year-old student who attended Washington State University in Vancouver, Washington. His best friend is Katherine "Kate" Kavanagh, who writes for the college newspaper. Due to an illness, Kate was unable to interview a 27-year-old Christian Gray, a successful and wealthy Seattle businessman, and asked Ana to replace him. Ana finds Christians interesting and intimidating. As a result, he stumbled in the interview and left the Christian office in the belief that it went badly. Ana does not expect to see Christi again, but she shows up at the hardware store where she works. When he purchased items including cable ties, tape, and rope, Ana told Christian that Kate wanted some photos to illustrate her article about her. Christian gave Ana her phone number. Later, Kate urges Ana to call Christians and arrange a photo shoot with their photographer friend, JosÃÆ'Â © Rodriguez.
The next day Josà ©  ©, Kate, and Ana arrived for a photo shoot at the Heathman Hotel, where Christian lived. Christian asks Ana to drink coffee and asks if she's dating anyone, especially José. Ana replies that she is not dating anyone. During the conversation, Ana learns that Christians are single, but she says she is not romantic. Ana is interested but believes she is not attractive enough to Christians. Later, Ana received a package from Christian containing a copy of the first edition of Tess of the d'Urbervilles, which upset her. Later that night, Ana went out drinking with her friends and ended up calling a drunken Christian, who told her that she would come to pick her up because of her drunken state. Ana goes outside to find some fresh air, and José tries to kiss her, but she is stopped by Christian's arrival. Ana goes with a Christian, but not before she finds out that Kate has seduced a Christian brother, Elliot. Later, Ana awakens to find herself in a Christian hotel room, where she scolds her for not taking care of herself. Christian later revealed that he wanted to have sex with her. He initially said that Ana must first fill out the documents, but then returns to this statement after making out with her in the elevator.
Ana went on a date with Christian, where she took him into his helicopter, Charlie Tango, to his apartment. Once there, Christian insisted that he signed a non-disclosure agreement prohibiting him to discuss whatever they did together, which Ana agreed to sign. He also mentioned other documents, but first took him to his playroom full of toys and BDSM equipment. There, Christian told him that the second contract would be one of domination and surrender, and there would be no romantic relationship, just sexual relations. The contract even forbade Ana to touch Christianity or make eye contact with her. At this point, Christian realized that Ana was a virgin and took her virginity without making him sign the contract. Both then have sex. The next morning, Ana and Kristen again have sex. Her mother arrived moments after their sexual encounters and was shocked by the meeting, having previously thought that Christian was homosexual, because she was never seen with a woman. Christian then takes Ana out to eat, and he reveals that he lost his virginity at the age of 15 to one of his mother's friends, Elena Lincoln, and that previous dominant/dull relationships failed due to incompatibility. Christian also revealed that in his first dominant/subordinate relationship he was obedient. Christian and Ana plan to meet again, and she brings Ana home, where she finds some job offers and admits to Kate that she and Christian have sex.
Over the next few days, Ana received some packages from Christian. This includes laptops to enable it to examine the BDSM lifestyle by considering contracts; to communicate with him, because he has never had a computer; and to receive a more detailed version of the dominant/submissive contract. He and Christian email each other, with Ana mocking him and refusing to honor part of the contract, like just eating food from a certain list. Ana then meets with Christian to discuss the contract and becomes overwhelmed by the potential BDSM arrangement and the potential for having sexual relations with Christians who are not romantic in nature. Because of these feelings, Ana escaped from Christianity and did not see her again until she graduated from college, where she was a guest speaker. During this time, Ana agrees to sign a dominant/submissive contract. Ana and Christian once again meet to discuss the contract further, and they surpass Ana's hard and soft limits. Christian hit Ana for the first time, and the experience made him hooked and a little confused. This confusion is exacerbated by the luxurious gift of the Christian and the fact that he brought him to meet his family. Both proceed with arrangements without Ana having not yet signed a contract. After successfully getting a job with Seattle Independent Publishing (SIP), Ana further with the restriction of the non-disclosure agreement and its complex relationship with Christian. The tension between Ana and Christian finally emerged after Ana asked Christian to punish him to show him how extreme the relationship BDSM with him. Christians fulfill Ana's request, beat her with a belt, and Ana realizes that they do not fit. Feeling ruined, he broke up with Christian and returned to the apartment he shared with Kate.
Maps Fifty Shades of Grey
Background and publication
The Fifty Shades trilogy is developed from the fan fiction series Twilight originally titled Master of the Universe and is published episodically on the fan fiction website under pen name "Snowqueen Icedragon". This snippet displays a character named after the character Stephenie Meyer in Twilight , Edward Cullen and Bella Swan. After comments about the sexual nature of the material, James removed the story from the fan-fiction website and published it on his own website, FiftyShades.com. Then he rewrote the Master of the Universe as the original, with the main character renamed Christian Gray and Anastasia Steele and deleted it from its website before it was published. Meyer commented on the series, saying "it's really not my genre, not my thing... Good to him - he's fine. That's great!"
The reworked and expanded version of the Master of the Universe is divided into three parts. The first, titled Fifty Shades of Gray , was released as an e-book and printed on paperback requests in May 2011 by The Writers' Coffee Shop, a virtual publisher based in Australia. The second volume, Fifty Shades Darker , was released in September 2011; and the third, Fifty Shades Freed , followed in January 2012. The Author's Coffee Shop has a limited marketing budget and relies heavily on book blogs for initial publicity, but novel sales are driven by word-of-mouth recommendations. The erotic nature of this book and the perceived demographics of its fan base as comprised mostly of married women over thirty leads to a book dubbed "Mommy Porn" by several news agencies. The book is also reported to have been popular among teenage girls and college women. With the release of the last volume in January 2012, the news network in the United States began reporting the Fifty trilogy as an example of viral marketing and increased female erotica popularity, linking its success to the nature of e-reading devices. Due to the increased interest in the series, the license for the Fifty Shades trilogy was taken by Vintage Books for re-release in a new and revised edition in April 2012. The attention that this series has gathered has also helped spark new interest in literature erotic. Many other erotic works quickly became best-sellers after the success of Fifty Shade , while other popular works, such as Anne Rice's The Sleeping Beauty trilogy , have been re-published (this time) without pseudonyms) to meet the higher demands.
On August 1, 2012, Amazon UK announced that it has sold more copies of the Fifty Shades of Gray than the combined Harry Potter series, making EL James the best-seller. author, replaces JK Rowling, though the worldwide series of Harry Potter sold more than 450 million copies compared to the sale of Fifty Gray Colors which reached 60 million copies.
Reception
Fifty Shades of Gray has topped the list worldwide, including from Britain and the United States. The series has sold over 125 million copies worldwide in June 2015 and has been translated into 52 languages, and set a record in the UK as a paperback with the fastest sales of all time.
Critical response
It has received mixed and negative reviews, with most critics noting the poor literary quality of the work. Salman Rushdie said of the book: "I've never read such a badly published article that makes Twilight look like War and Peace." Maureen Dowd described the book on The New York Times written as "Bronte without talent," and said it was "boring and poorly written." Jesse Kornbluth of The Huffington Post says: "As a reading experience, Fifty Shades ... is a sad joke, a weak plot".
Professor Princeton April Alliston writes, "Although there is no literary work, Fifty Shades is more than fictional parasitic fans based on the recent vampire series Twilight ." Entertainment Weekly author Lisa Schwarzbaum gave the book a "B" rating and praised it for being "in class by itself." The English writer Jenny Colgan in The Guardian wrote, "It is very pleasant, readable and sweet and safe as BDSM (slavery, discipline, sadism and masochism) erotica can be without violating the act of trade description" and also praises the book because "more fun" than "other literary erotic books". The Daily Telegraph notes that the book is "the definition of page-turner", noting that the book is "annoying and interesting". The reviewer for Ledger-Enquirer describes the book as a fun and enjoyable escape, and that it "also touches on one aspect of women's existence [female surrender]." And acknowledging that fact - perhaps even appreciating it - should not became the cause of guilt. "
This book garnered several awards. In December 2012, she won the category of "Popular Fiction" and "Book of the Year" at the UK National Book Awards. In the same month, Publishers Weekly was named EL James 'Publisher of the Year,' a decision whose criticisms on the LA Times and New York Daily News were referred by and summarized in Christian Science Monitor . Earlier, in April 2012, when EL James was listed as one of the "100 Most Influential People of the World" magazine's "Time," Richard Lawson of The Atlantic Wire criticized its inclusion due to the early fictional trilogy fans.
Controversy
Fifty Shades of Gray has drawn criticism for the depiction of BDSM, with some BDSM participants claiming that the book confuses BDSM with abuse and presents it as a pathology to be overcome, as well as showing wrong and possibly dangerous BDSM techniques.
Coinciding with the release of the book and its surprising popularity, BDSM-related injuries and the use of sex toys have soared dramatically. In 2012, the year after the book was published, injuries requiring emergency room visits increased by more than 50% from 2010 (the year before the book was published). It is speculated because people are unfamiliar with the proper use of these toys and the safe practices of slavery and other "curly" sexual fetishes who try what they have read in books.
There is also a criticism of the fact that BDSM is part of this book. Archbishop Dennis Schnurr of Cincinnati said in a letter beginning in February 2015, "The plot is presented as a romance, but the underlying theme is that slavery, domination, and sadomasochism are normal and fun." The women's anti-pornography organization, Stop Porn Culture, has called for a boycott of the film based on the book because of its sex scenes involving slavery and violence. In contrast, Timothy Laurie and Jessica Kean argue that "films produce legalistic concepts such as" consent "into a living, breathing, and sometimes, experience of unpleasant interpersonal experiences," and "castrate the danger of unequal negotiations and the practical complexities of identifying people's limits and getting them respected. "
Several critics and scientists have expressed concern that the nature of the main pairing relationship is not BDSM at all, but rather a characteristic of rough relationships. In 2013, social scientist Professor Amy E. Bonomi published a study in which the books were read by many professionals and assessed for the characteristics of intimate partner violence, or IPV, using the CDC standard for emotional and sexual violence. The study found that almost every interaction between Ana and Christian is emotionally rough in nature, including stalking, intimidating, and isolating. The study group also observed sexual violence that permeated the CDC definition, including the use of alcohol by Christians to avoid Ana's ability to agree, and that Ana showed the classic signs of an abused woman, including persistent threats, stress management, and changed identity.
A second study in 2014 was conducted to examine the health of women who had read the series, compared to a control group who had never read a part of the novel. The results show a correlation between having read at least the first book and showing signs of eating disorders, having romantic couples who are emotionally abusive and/or involved in stalking behavior, engaging in binge drinking in the past month, and having 5 or more sexual partners before the age 24. The authors can not conclude whether this "problem" woman is interested in the series, or if the circuit affects this behavior occurs after reading by creating the underlying context. The lead researcher of the study argues that the books are romanticizing dangerous behavior and "perpetuating dangerous standards of abuse." The study was limited because only women until the age of 24 were studied, and no differences were made between the sample readers between women who enjoyed the series and those with strong negative opinions, only reading it out of curiosity because of media hype or other obligations.
At the beginning of the media hype, Dr. Drew and sexologist Logan Levkoff talked about The Today Show whether the book perpetuates violence against women; Levkoff said that while it is an important subject, this trilogy has nothing to do with it - it is a book on consensual relationships. Dr Drew commented that the book was "very badly written" other than "annoying" but stated that "if the book improves the sexual life and intimacy of real-life women, let it be."
Sensor
In March 2012, the public library branch in Brevard County, Florida, issued a copy of the Fifty Shades of Gray from their shelves, with an official stating that it did not meet the selection criteria for the library and that the reviews for the book were bad. A representative for the library stated that it was because of the sexual content of his book and that other libraries have refused to purchase copies for their branch. Deborah Caldwell-Stone of the American Library Association commented that "If the only reason you did not choose a book is that you do not approve of the content, but there is a demand for it, there is a question of whether you are fair.In the public library there is usually very little that will prevent a books are on shelves when there is demand for information. "The Brevard County public library then makes copies available to their customers due to public demand.
In Macaà © à ©, Brazil, Judge Raphael Queiroz Campos decided in January 2013 that bookshops throughout the city had to remove the entire series from their shelves or ensure that the books were wrapped and placed away from the reach of minors. The judge declared that he was asked to make such an order after seeing the children read it, based his decision on a law stating that "magazines and publications whose contents are inappropriate or inadequate for children and teenagers can only be sold if sealed and with warning about the content them ".
In February 2015, the Malaysian Ministry of the Interior banned Fifty Shades of Gray shortly after banning the film's adaptation after allowing them three years in local bookstores for reasons of morality.
Media
Movie adaptation
The film adaptation of the book is produced by Focus Features, Michael De Luca Productions, and Trigger Street Productions, with Universal Pictures and Focus Features securing rights to trilogy by March 2012. Universal is also a film distributor. Charlie Hunnam was originally cast in the role of Christian Gray along with Dakota Johnson in the role of Anastasia Steele, but Hunnam handed over the part in October 2013, with Jamie Dornan announcing for the role on 23 October.
The film was released on February 13, 2015, and although popular at the box office, critical reactions are mixed into the negative.
Movie soundtrack
EL James announced the movie soundtrack to be released on February 10, 2015. Prior to the soundtrack release, the first single, "Earned It", by The Weeknd, was released on December 24, 2014. On January 7, 2015, the second single, "Love Me Like You Do" by Ellie Goulding has been released. Australian singer Sia released their third single soundtrack, "Salted Wound", on January 27, 2015.
Classic album
Album of the song selected by EL James was released on September 11, 2012 by EMI Classics with the title Fifty Shades of Gray: Classic Album , and reached number four on the US Billboard classical music album chart in October 2012. A reviewer Seattle PI very well wrote that this album will appeal to both fans of the series and to "those who have no intention to read any of the Gray Shade".
Parody
The Fifty Shades of Gray trilogy has inspired many parodies in print, film, online, and on stage. In November 2012, Universal Studios tries to prevent the release of the Fifty Shades of Gray: A XXX Adaptation, a porn-based novel, citing copyright and trademark infringement. Smash Pictures, a porn producer, then responds to a lawsuit with back-claims that "all or all" Fifty Shades material is placed in the public domain in its original Twilight-based form, but then gives up and stop their film production.
In print
Amazon.com lists over 50 book parodies, for example:
- Fifty Shades of Oy Vey (2013) by E. L. Jamesbergstein
- Fifty Shames of Earl Gray (2012) by Fanny Merkin (a.k.a. Andrew Shaffer)
In the movie
- Fifty Shades of Black (2016)
Online
- For the fictional fan fiction Fifty Shades of Gray , Ivy's league MBA students have created Erotic FinFiction , a blog containing steamy entries written in business jargon.
On stage
The production stage includes:
- 50 Shades! Musical Parody
- Cuff Me: Fifty Fifth Music Music Parade
- Spank! The Fifty Shades Parody
See also
- Maestra , a 2016 novel that is often compared to Fifty Shades of Gray
- BDSM in culture and media
- Sadism and masochism in fiction
References
External links
- Official author page
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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