<p>Yup, I read…alot…all kinds of things heady mind provoking, business analysis, to Janet Evanovich and John Grisham and I’m a proud survivor of Gravity’s Rainbow and Infinite Jest…generally not bodice rippers, but these are pretty lightweight books and to each his own and they are trashier than the average bodice ripper…my friend is a wine snob and has a wine business…I can drink boxed wine and be perfectly content and I can wend my way through a fairly complex wine list. It’s summer…perfect time for a trashy book and boxed wine with ice cubes. Life’s too short.</p>
<p>If someone had only described it to me earlier as “pure and unabashed escapism” I would have picked it up much sooner. Our refrigerator and air condition died last week, throw in credit card fraud and the hassle to straighten it out. Don’t forget to include down payments on wedding necessities for my eldest daughter. Escapism “a bad thing” … hmm … NO!</p>
<p>Truthfully, I like to read: from the mind-provoking to the trashy. While I’m glad I didn’t buy the 50 Shades trilogy, I’m not sorry I read it. I can happily join in discussions like this one. I don’t agree with my friend (English degree) who loves the book and can say so; still, I’m baffled by negative reviews by so many who haven’t read the book. Just say “not for me” and leave it at that. I have no problem with those who like it or those who hate it after reading it. I can honestly understand both points of view. It’s the virulent reviews by those who have not read the books that bother me.</p>
<p>I agree cheap entertainment can be fun! Not everything has to be highbrow, although if it makes you queasy, that isn’t going to be as enjoyable.</p>
<p>The thread on Tom Cruise & Katie Holmes, inspired me to read another Lee Child mystery ( which isn’t as fun as I thought it would be. I have less patience for gaping plot holes than I used to. Life is too short to eat Velveeta & wonder bread)</p>
<p>But you can be entertained without feeling like your brain is falling out.</p>
<p>I’m want that line next time I go to a movie with a friend of mine. She cannot go to a movie and simply enjoy it…it’s endless analysis about the plot, the directors, the writing and if it’s too trite she’s snobbish. I’m just going to sip my wine and then say “can’t you be entertained without feeling like your brain is falling out?” Do I have your permission to steal the line?</p>
<p>;)
This isn’t really off topic- its an interview with Austin Pendelton ( who I thought I saw at the grocery the other day, even though he was doing shows inboth London & NVC)He talks about filming comedy and how difficult it is to make good comedy.
[url=<a href=“http://www.avclub.com/articles/austin-pendleton,31009/]Austin”>Austin Pendleton]Austin</a> Pendleton | Film | Random Roles | The A.V. Club<a href=“also%20great%20stories%20about%20Paul%20Newman%20and%20Russell%20Crowe”>/url</a>
When I see a comedy ( movies more than television there is much television that tries to pass as comedy which isn’t funny), I am not so picky. All it has to do is make me laugh ( or books- David Sedaris can be pretty tasteless, but he is hilarious)</p>
<p>With a drama, I am ultra critical. The casting has to be believable, the dialogue, and the story. Because I don’t prioritize criteria in my head, this means I might be paying attention to foreshadowing that others miss - but that can also mean I have the story figured out in the first 30 minutes. Heaven knows, I don’t do it on purpose, I can’t help it! But I also appreciate movies that aren’t all about the denouement and the story and the setting are more important.
If I am at the movie with somebody who liked it much more than I did,I just try and find a bit I liked to comment on. My H often likes movies that I would have walked out of, which is a little challenging, but then again, he lets me pick the ones we go see.</p>
<p>Comedies are like ice cream, it doesn’t matter if it isn’t my favorite, I will still eat it.</p>
<p>No, there is no plot and if you’ve been unfortunate enough to have read Twilight then nothing remotely surprising or interesting happens at all. The real problem with this book is that it is just plain wrong, the author clearly did zero research into the subject matter and as a result the book depicts BDSM as something it isn’t and demonises those who practise it. The only reason this book is popular at all is because its so lightweight it appeals to the prudes of middle America who are using it to compensate for their unadventurous and disappointing sex lives.</p>
<p>It is not intellectual but that is NO excuse for being so badly written. There are loads of books which aren’t in anyway intellectual but still manage to be well written and enjoyable… unfortunately this isn’t one of them.</p>
<p>i don’t think escapism is a bad thing! i escape into books all the time. this one, however, just didn’t seem worth the time. i couldn’t get past the simplistic writing. i am in two book clubs and both clubs chose this book–i never finished it for either group. i just couldn’t do it.</p>
<p>i enjoyed the discussion, however.</p>
<p>kudos to the marketing people–they created a firestorm out of nothing!</p>
<p>I finished the trilogy, and I’m not one who thinks these books deserve a 5-star rating nor one who thinks they deserve 1-star ratings … though, after reading the trilogy, I can see both sides.</p>
<p>I stick with I don’t understand why these particular books got to be THE books of the moment. The writing needed some serious editing, and truthfully at times I got bored. When I start glancing to see how many more pages till a chapter ends, well, … not a good sign. I also found it easy to put the books down for a day or two and pick another book up for a bit. However, at other times, I kept reading for exactly the opposite reason: the story engaged me and I needed to find out what happened next. </p>
<p>The books seem less a trilogy and more a long, long book divided into three parts. The first two books definitely stop rather than end. Also the writing bothered me less in books two and three: maybe I got used to it or maybe it got marginally better - probably both. Also the move from romance to romantic suspense added interest for me. Would the evil “Mrs. Robinson” prevail? Would Christian and Ana survive plots of revenge/murder to live happily ever after? (Of course … and that isn’t a spoiler … duh.) I guess that overall I liked the books more than I expected. </p>
<p>Anyway, I’m glad I read the books but equally glad I got them from the library.</p>
<p>Always interesting to see what captures readers’ attention: The Da Vinci Code; The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, … and so on. I’ve liked some, others … not so much.</p>
<p>(I hate to think of how many similar books are going to hit the market with “If you liked FSoG …” as the hook.)</p>
Our refrigerator and air condition died last week, throw in credit card fraud and the hassle to straighten it out. Don’t forget to include down payments on wedding necessities for my eldest daughter. Escapism “a bad thing” … hmm … NO!</p>