Photo by Robert Huskey
Unless you have been hiding under a rock for the last year, you have most likely heard about Fifty Shades of Grey.
If you are a woman, you have likely read or are thinking about reading the series.
If you are a man, you have probably heard your girlfriend, or possibly even your mom, talking about them.
The series was written by British author E.L. James and published in May 2011.
James originally wrote the first novel as a fan fiction piece after being inspired by the highly successful vampire series Twilight, according to The Telegraph.
Fan fiction is any type of story that uses plot, characters, or a storyline from another work to create derivative works. It is usually geared toward fellow fans to read and doesn’t often receive mainstream attention.
However, it seems that the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy may actually overshadow its original inspiration.
James was included in Time magazine’s 2012 list of “The 100 Most Influential People in the World,” and the books have held the top three positions on the #1 New York Times Best Sellers list.
With 40 million copies sold worldwide, it’s no wonder that Fifty Shades of Grey is currently being adapted into a screenplay.
James confirmed on her blog in July that Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti, the same team behind the award-winning films Moneyball and The Social Network, are going to be producing the film adaptation of the first installment of the trilogy.
Even without a release date or confirmed list of the cast for the film, fans seem to be buzzing over this movie for bringing a thrilling new type of love story to life.
The story itself starts off innocently enough. It almost feels predictable.
A young woman, Anastasia Steele, who is about to graduate college, meets a millionaire bachelor, Christian Grey. As should be expected with any type of love story, Grey is closed off, mysterious, and thus very alluring.
But don’t start rolling those eyes yet! The story veers directly away from anything that is boring or predictable.
With an offer that she never expected, and a romance that couldn’t be avoided, Miss Steele will too quickly find out exactly what her limits with this new man are.
What awaits her is a world with rules and punishments that she never knew existed. Well, to be honest it is probably a world that most people never knew existed. It’s no wonder that people have a hard time putting this book down.
Even people who have never read fan fiction or anything from the erotica genre before express their surprise in how much they enjoyed the read.
Heather Lea, a 23-year-old student said, “I was much more satisfied with the actual story of the book than I expected to be.”
Not wanting to spoil anything for those of you who haven’t read it yet, it will only be said that this is a page-turner that will make you laugh, cry but mostly blush.
Fifty Shades of Grey has created a new direction for literature to take, and this frenzy for romance mixed with erotica will likely only grow. Will the acceptance and huge success of this erotica romance novel be the turning point in literary preferences?
The genre itself has been around for years, as has fanfiction, but Fifty Shades of Grey is undoubtedly the first of its kind with such mainstream success.
The book’s love story with its twists, turns and shocking discoveries will keep everyone’s attention until the very last page.