Announced this morning, woman of fetish fame, E L James, will be releasing a new Fifty Shades novel from Christian’s POV, and I really don’t think you should care.
In the Vintage/Anchor Books press release, James makes it clear that fans have apparently been begging for this. The opening page of Grey reads, “This book is dedicated to those readers who asked … and asked … and asked … and asked for this.”
She is proud to finally unravel some of Christian’s mystique, calling him “a complex character.” She says, in the press release, “readers have always been fascinated by his desires and motivations, and his troubled past.” She also reminds us: “There are two sides to every story.”
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OK, fine, but see, I read Fifty Shades, and I didn’t feel a need to hear from Christian. I read Fifty Shades, and sure, he’s a complex character, and yeah, there are two sides to every story. But, for me, Fifty Shades was Ana’s story, and I see no need for her to share the spotlight with Christian. The journey is hers, made evident from page one.
For me, this is a ploy to make more money and very little else. It’s a cheat. James already has the plot lined up (since she’s already written it once); now, she just needs to change the point of view and add some crap about guilty consciences and maybe a flashback or two.
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Oh, and female nudity. I wonder how her readers will respond when we’re no longer looking at Christian’s chiseled abs but Ana’s little bod, tied up on a table. I don’t care to hear about Christian’s sexual response; do you?
I’m so thankful to James for opening the door she did with Fifty Shades. I’m pleased that her work shed light on other kink queens, like Anaïs Nin and Anne Rice. But I need to face facts: James isn’t an interesting writer, and her sex scenes got so repetitive, I skipped a lot of them.
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I’m happy she opened the door, but now, she’s closing it again by distracting women from the good stuff by feeding them more unbelievable multiple orgasms, shivers, spasms and yearning (oh, the endless yearning).
Maybe if she’d written the whole thing from Christian’s perspective, day one, Fifty Shades would have been a more interesting series because he is interesting. (The villains always are.) But now, it’s just too late. This is a publicity stunt, no matter how nicely the publishing house tries to dress it up.
Grey will be released on June 18, 2015, and it’ll sell millions of copies, and maybe James will dance around naked in dollar bills. Yay for her pocketbook, but boo for good literature.
More reading
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