Book report

When I joined a book club about 10 years ago I had an agenda. My goal was to step out of my usual reading genre and expand my reading horizons. Ditch the “bodice rippers” and move on to something worthy of my time. In those 10 years I’ve read a lot of wonderful fiction and compelling non-fiction. Books I never would have sought out on my own, introduced to me by this great group of women. I missed the last group discussion, so I’m not sure what inspired the next choice, but I’m now 289 pages into Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James. 

Before I even cracked the cover my interest was peaked by a question on Facebook posted by friend and columnist Jim Stingl, “I'm writing about "50 Shades of Grey" for tomorrow's column. Any of my female Facebook friends want to help me explain the appeal of this steamy, domination-theme book everyone's talking about?” Whoa, what? Not yet having read the book, I didn’t feel I could respond, but I haven’t stopped thinking about the question. So here it is, (a little late for Jim’s column) my answer…

Pick up any steamy romance, written by a woman, for women and the formula is always the same. She’s beautiful (but doesn’t know it), willful, smart, young and a virgin. He’s an older, drop dead gorgeous, perfect male (as described by the cut of his clothing), incredibly rich and inscrutable. She has a trendy name – Ashley, Serene, Elenora; he’s got a manly name – Roque, Gavin, Crawford. The story begins with the meet cute; pages of literary foreplay; the coming together in a blaze of sexual glory and multiple orgasms; more hot sex and always orgasms; betrayal and misunderstanding; deep regret and longing; clarity; a return to each other; more hot sex and happily ever after.

It’s that simple, and it’s that complex. Now, if you’re a man reading this, you read hot sex and orgasms, and bam, that was all you needed. Think about it, for a man, every issue of a Playboy is a brand new visual – so many variations on the theme. If a woman even has a Playgirl, she probably has just the one and it’s not the current issue. Why? Because there are so few variations on the theme, it’s all just junk. But a well written romance novel will transport you to emotional heights and visceral responses. It will leave you unable to set the book down as the end of each page has the promise of more tension and deliciousness on the next page. It’s pure escape; it’s inspiring and it's fun.

Fifty Shades of Grey takes this theme to a whole new level, but it’s the same story. She’s a beautiful, young, willful virgin; he’s a handsome, rich and inscrutable man. Pages of relationship foreplay, a cautious introduction of the domination theme with the heightened tension of fear. The story hits it’s first peak around page 120 and it’s a roller coaster ride from there. So there it is, it’s about the escapism, the quality of the build-up, the tension, the response and the . . . education.

It’s that simple and it’s that complex. Now, excuse me, I’ve got 200+ pages of fantasy land left to read.


Songs that resonate:
Jar of Hearts - Christina Perri
Ooh La La - Goldfrapp