Not a Book Review: comparing sample chapters

[walkitout]

Recently, R. (not my husband or my sister) said she had downloaded the sample chapter for 50 Shades, after hearing from someone involving in running the CSPC that a lot of the new people finding the center were coming in after reading the series -- and unlike people who came in in earlier years after reading Gor books or Marketplace books, this crowd need a lot less de/re programming to participate in safe/sane/consensual play.

So while I had previously understood 50 Shades to be not-a-positive example of a kink relationship, I, like R., felt compelled to reconsider my position.

In any event, she was feeling like she should at least read the sample and I volunteered to do the same so we could compare notes. Because I understand it to be Twi-fan fiction, I also downloaded the sample chapter from the first in that series, for comparison purposes.

I have this to say: I'm not impressed by the writing style of either. I'm not impressed with viewpoint character of either. Nothing about the incipient relationship in either sample chapter in any way appeals to me.

That said, I sure liked Ana better than Bella, and Christian better than Edward. I liked that Ana had a friend (did Bella?). I thought the idea of Ana's mother being on her fourth husband was funny. And I infinitely prefer relationships that start with politely expressed interest to ones that start with overt, unjustified unpleasantness.

Thus: no way in hell am I going to continue with Twilight. However, there's at least a 50/50 chance I'll decide to read more of 50 Shades.

What I almost certainly will do, however, is start downloading a whole lot more sample chapters, which I have historically tended not to do. Because honestly? This was kind of fun, knowing there was zero money on the line, and the time commitment was approximately 10-12 minutes, max.

Comments

[ethelmay.livejournal.com]

Of course 50SOG is better than the Gor books. Everything is better than the Gor books. (I am an English major and a poetess, and I know.) But I still hear pretty terrible things about it (see, e.g., http://anyankaleigh.tumblr.com/post/26044950711/fifty-things-wrong-with-fifty-shades-of-grey). I will be very interested to hear your take.

One thing I'm wondering is whether people are going from 50SOG to realizing "hey, I'm interested in this," proceeding to geek out about it, and THEN going to CSPC. In which case it's not exactly 50SOG that's responsible for their not needing as much explanation, it's The Pervocracy or something. Whereas someone who goes straight from reading 50SOG to the local toy store might give a very different impression.