Why I regretted buying Fifty Shades of Grey

We negate the idea of porn on TV, but porn in a book was given so much importance that it made it to the bestsellers?

Neha Arif August 09, 2012
Never trust a newspaper completely.

I'm not exactly a die-hard book reader, but there are always a few books which, when I begin reading, I inevitably get hooked on to. Skimming through the New York Times best-seller list and observing ardent adoration levelled at a particular book, I decided to go to Liberty and see for myself what the hype was about.

I went to every single branch, from Defence, to Clifton, to Tariq road, but not a single copy was available. Curiosity got the best of me and I ordered a copy of this famous Fifty Shades of Grey by British author E L James from Aghas Superstore.

Possessed by an irrational mind I ordered the entire trio; Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades Freed. Finally, with overwhelming excitement when my book arrived and I began to read it, that familiar feeling of addiction got me through the first 6-7 chapters. Reading almost three fourths of the book, I was convinced about one thing; this book is crazy. We all negate the idea of porn on television, but porn in a book was actually given so much importance that it made it to the best-sellers?

Disgusting double standards, no?

Fifty Shades of Grey is about the relationship between a young university graduate, Anastasia Steele, and a business tycoon -extremely handsome and young - Christian Grey. Moving on from their romance and love story, the glamour of Christian's business world and lifestyle, his cars and his beauty, the author focuses on the darker side of Grey who is a fetishist ─ a victim of BDSM. He enjoys being a part of sexual role play.

Anastasia, in her sane mind, realises that by agreeing to become his victim in this torturous sexual role play, she is making the worst decision of her life. On the other hand, there is a side of her who can't get enough of Christian. She is in complete awe of him and hypnotically agrees to whatever he commands her to do as her master. It describes all forms of role play, including tying up the victim and all sorts of things that would make your hair curl. Grey, unfailingly begins to realise that he starts falling in love with Anastasia, and its more than just sexual role play for him. It's a feeling he has never felt before with any of his victims.

One actually tends to feel disgusted coming across every single detail about their physical relationship. It leaves you with a confused, bitter feeling that people like Grey actually exist in the world. I regretted buying the second and third book and wasting money that could have been used on a worthwhile book of fiction. It's pretty surprising actually, how Pakistan bans Indian television channels and tends to overlook such repulsive books which, by the way, I have seen in the hands of almost every girl, between the ages of 11-18; an age where mothers are meant to keep a strict eye on their children.

At the end, of course, it's a matter of preference. Adults tend to look at matters differently. However, the entire hype about this book was definitely an overstatement and nothing else. Take my advice and spend your money on something more worthwhile.

Read more by Neha here or follow her on Twitter @ArifNeha
WRITTEN BY:
Neha Arif An Economics major at Queen's University in Kingston, Canada.
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (73)

veronica | 11 years ago | Reply spoiler video of fourth book http://youtu.be/k1z_S6evh8c
Al | 11 years ago | Reply If you observed the ardent adoration levelled at this book, how did you fail to notice it was about BDSM? And you got obsessed to the point you visited all the major bookstores without knowing the theme of the book! And you read 6-7 chapters and now you are preaching against reading this book! And do you know Saadat Hassan Manto faced trials for adult themes in his books?
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