Revival Book Review: Fifty Shades Series

It has been a while since I posted here, and I've missed my little sounding board.  Most who know me are aware that little intrigues me as much as literature, pop culture, and human sexuality, so the popularity of the Fifty Shades of Grey series by E. L. James seems like the perfect opportunity for a blog revival.  Spoiler alert:  This post contains spoilers from Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades Freed.


Back in January of February when I heard about how library patrons were clamoring to get this unavailable novel, Fifty Shades of Grey, I bought it for my Kobo reader without even reading reviews or a summary.  Needless to say, I was surprised that fanfiction erotica was what mainstream America was buzzing about.  I'll be honest--knowing that probably wouldn't have stopped me from buying the book, but I worked my way through my to be read pile before I finally read Fifty Shades.


Fifty Shades of Grey reads like fan fiction--simple, cliche, saturated with sweeping yet not engaging descriptive language, and predictable.  The sexy scenes are just that--sexy.  Not mindblowing and a little too full of spontaneous orgasms for my taste (seriously, I would like to meet a woman who orgasms that quickly that soon after losing her virginity.  If she exists she should submit to some sort of scientific study!), but just enough to pique one's interest.  Sure, this whole novel could have benefited from (a lot) more editing, but so would have its inspiration, the Twilight series.  What really bothered me was how the story line and characters were so exactly cast in the image of Twilight and its ilk.  I found Bella and Edward to be annoying at best and unhealthy role models at worst, and Ana Steele and Christian Grey aren't very different.  I would have thought that building upon Meyer's childish love story would have left James no where to go but up.  I was wrong.  Nevertheless, I slogged through the whole series.  It wasn't the writing, characters, or plot line that kept me going.  It was the sex.  I don't mean that in a salacious way.  As someone trying to promote a healthy sex-positive attitude in a culture that sometimes does exactly the opposite, I wanted to see what got so many normal American women reading a novel with more than a few elements of BDSM. 


After reading all three books, I realized that it was not the sex or  "forbidden" ideas of bondage and domination that kept these other women reading.  It was the fact that this innocent, "smart" girl manages to change a "damaged" man.  She takes him from only being capable of having relationships with women as his submissives to being a gentle, loving, vulnerable, albeit controlling boyfriend and eventually husband.  I have heard women who loved the Fifty Shades series say that it's about compromise, choosing your battles, and finding a middle ground.  This is partially true, but the changed habits and personalities in the book come about so quickly it's just not a healthy or realistic model.  Whether it was on the playground or just last week, every woman as at one point thought that she could change or heal a desirable yet flawed partner with her love.  In the vast majority, if not all cases, this simply does not happen, yet many delusional women continue to live the dream and end up hurt, under appreciated, and without her needs being met.  I have been one of those delusional women, so I'm not passing judgement, but I don't think we need any more sources of pop culture encouraging us to try and change our lovers.  It's not fair to either party.


Now onto the kink element of the series.  James presents male lead Christian Grey's propensities towards beating little brown-haired girls as a way to work out his anger over the neglect he suffered from his drug-addicted mother.  While I'm sure some people come into the BDSM lifestyle for reasons like those, that is just not a true or healthy representation of the BDSM or kink community.  I believe that any sexual act between two consenting adults not closely related by blood is good and healthy.  There are some (many) things I could never ever imagine myself doing, but that doesn't mean that it's wrong for others to have those experiences.  If you and your partner truly want to experience something, and you both feel better after that experience, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.  I am pretty sure that those are the philosophies held by those in the kink community.  Presenting a BDSM lifestyle as a symptom of or result of childhood abuse or trama is a gross and unfair misrepresentation.  Still, the love-everyone, sex-positive, education-promoting part of me wants to believe that any work that gets people reading and revitalizing their sex lives is a good thing.  Perhaps the kink lifestyle will never gain widestream acceptance or understanding, at least not in our culture.  And even if it did, it would be a pretty tall order to expect that kind of revelation from a fan fic inspired tome of weak erotica for the masses.

Book Review: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

As much as I enjoyed this book, I just did not understand it.  I am slightly embarassed to admit this.  I'm an intelligent young woman.  I majored in English, and it was always my best subject.  There is very little that has left me scratching my head.

This book started off intriguing and wonderful.  People often say that food is "made with love," but what if you could really taste the emotions that were coursing through the chef's psyche as he or she prepared your food?  Nine year old Rose develops this mystical skill on her birthday.  Instead of tasting fresh lemon and chocolate in the birthday cake her mother bakes her, she tastes insecurity and desperation.  

As teenagers or adults we realize that our parents are flawed.  Imagine discovering their true feelings, imperfections, and secret affairs when you are an innocent child.  These complex plot points are augmented by author Aimee Bender's lyrical prose.  I could actually taste the foods and emotions along with young Rose.  However, the plot veered more from magical realism to weirdness, for lack of a more technical term.  Rose's older brother has mystical secrets of his own, which completely tear the already detached family apart.  I trusted the trajectory of the story and expected some sort of explanation or insight to wash over me, but I just did not understand the ending.  Bender obviously tried to compare Rose's extraordinary taste to her brother's strange detachment, but I just couldn't wrap my brain around the analogy.  If you've read this book and you have a more salient idea about the meaning of this, can you clue me in?

Book Review: One Day

Even at quite a young age, I loved When Harry Met Sally.  I loved the idea that two people can dance in and out of each others' lives as acquaintances, friends, lovers, and enemies, and maybe, just maybe, end up together.  The easiest way to describe One Day by David Nicholls is to say that it's  a British version of the Nora Ephron modern classic that spans 20 years yet only looks at one day per year of these two star-crossed friends' lives.  But that would be doing this novel a disservice.  One Day is not only a story of two friends, but also the story of how each individual overcomes personal demons and comes into his or her own.  Sometimes the arc of their lives intersect, sometimes they do not.

Emma and Dexter meet on the day of the college graduation in 1988.  They both feel an attraction towards each other, but their lives are quickly moving in two very different directions, so they choose to remain friends instead of embarking on a surely doomed relationship.  Emma, a distinguished scholar, ends up working in a tacky Mexican restaurant for years instead of unleashing the political literary guru inside her.  Is she stuck in this dead-end job because of the recession as she proclaims, or is Emma herself lacking in talent or determination?  Dexter, a mediocre student, launches on a world tour only to fall into a lucrative yet short lived career as a television personality upon his return to England.  Will he remain an overnight sensation or will his hardpartying and womanizing ways be his downfall?  This is only the beginning of each of their lives.  Peppered with nostalgic pop culture references, Emma and Dexter experience 20 years of personal growth, failure, career changes, and life changing events, all while remaining a part of each others' lives.  While a bit archetypal and predictable at times, I found both Em and Dex's journeys to be entertaining, and their interactions so very real. 

Verdict:  One might think that 20 years of will-they or won't-they would get boring, but Nicholls' storytelling device of revealing only the events of July 15 of each year kept me turning pages, often in frustration over a missed encounter or the rabid desire to read more about Em and Dex's sexually frustrating trip to Greece.  Don't expect a stuffy literary masterpiece when you pick up this novel, but do expect to be completely absorbed and invested in the events and outcome of this lifelong friendship.  And if that's not enough to convince you to read, a film version starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess is slated to be released in 2011.

Book Review: The Irresistible Henry House

Every now and then I encounter a book that makes me long for discussion.  The Irresistible Henry House by Lisa Grunwald is one of those books.  I am always intrigued by social and cultural history and the science of attatchment and relationships, which are some of the themes of this novel. 

Henry House begins his life in 1946 as a "practice baby" in the "practice house," the central element in fictional Wilton College's home economics program.  A group of students, young women of course, actually take turns mothering him under the strict watch of home economics expert Martha Gaines, who subscribes to the pre-Spock philosophy that babies need to be trained, not cuddled and loved.  Nevertheless, Martha's empty life is inexplicably brightened by the charming Henry and soap-opera worthy circumstances help her convince the college president to allow her to adopt him instead of returning him to the orphanage at age 2 to be adopted by a young couple.

The constant doting of so many young women and the smothering love of Martha shape Henry into a boy and young man who knows his power over women and uses it to his advantage.  Due to the unusual circumstances of his adoption, Martha doesn't tell him the whole truth.  When Henry's biological mother shows up and spills the beans to the once-happy 9 year old, he quickly spirals into a place of isolation, mistrust, and self-unawareness.  Henry trusts neither the adults in his life nor the girls so desparate to be his partner in crime.  He grows into a "disturbed" teenager and eventually runs away from his boarding school to become an animator for Disney in California and later for the Beatles Yellow Submarine movie in London.  His playboy life comes full circle when he meets and falls in love with another grown "practice baby" during the turbulent 1960s.  This relationship, however, is not what it seems.  I know it seems that I may have given away a lot of spoilers in the past two paragraphs, but trust me, this novel is so rich with characters and detail, the bare bones I revealed here are nothing compared to what you'll find between the covers.

Verdict:  I think the author's assertion that lack of loving attachment in baby and childhood leads to a maladjusted adult incapable of forming loving attachments may be a bit too extreme and elementary, but I was still entralled by the way these tragic characters' lives played out.  Anyone who is interested in family and romantic relationships, the social history of the mid-20th century, or bildungsroman will enjoy this book.  The theme and tone also reminded me of John Irving at his best.  Henry is somewhat of an anti-Garp (of The World According to Garp).  Now that I think about it, I think these two novels would spurn a fascinating compare/contrast analysis!  Something to think about...

Book Review: The 13th Hour

I've been on a bit of a thriller kick lately, so when I read a review of The 13th Hour by Richard Doetsch that mentioned TIME TRAVEL in addition to suspense, I knew it was a good choice for my next read. 

Although it is a little known fact about me, I have a recent obsession with time travel.  Maybe it was Lost that piqued my interest, but either way I've totally geeked out for the past year or so by reading and watching all alternate reality/time travel paraphenalia that has crossed my path.

This thriller is basically told in reverse.  Main character Nick Quinn is accused of murdering his beloved wife, Julia.  A strange man gives him a mysterious watch that enables him to travel back in time, two hours at a time, to try and not only clear his name, but save his wife's life.  Of course, there was also a catastrophic plane crash in this sleepy New York state town on this fateful day.  As Nick travels back through time he begins to see how his actions can change the future for the better and for the worse.  Will he be able to save his wife and maybe even stop the plane crash?  Or will he cause Julia to die an even more terrifying, grusome death?

Watch out for some cheesy descriptive prose, obvious foreshadowing, and don't expect any elaborate character development.  Do pick up this book if you want to get lost in a world of time travel, betrayal, grand theft, and of course murder.  Overall, a fun read.  I found it fun to predict Nick's next move.  I would recommend it for a rainy day mental escape or a trip to the beach. 

This story has been optioned by New Line Cinema, so look for a movie version in 2011!  I'm seeing Nick's character as Will Smith.  I wonder if he or someone similar will be cast!

Book Review: Shutter Island

I had been counting down til this movie's release, as I love Martin Scorcese and Leonardo DiCaprio.  Like many other things in my life, seeing this movie fell by the wayside as I got busy with work and other pursuits coughMalabrigoMarchcoughcough.  I was pretty excited when one of my book clubs choose Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane as April's book.  I didn't even realize it had been a book originally.  I've heard that the book and movie are very similar, but if you've only seen the movie you should still definitely pick up the book. One of my friends who had enjoyed both said that there is one scene in particular in the book that is more vivid and creepier and worth reading all 300+ pages to experience it.

The library's copies were all out and reserved, so I wasn't sure if I would get the book in time.  I intended to buy my own copy, but I got busy and didn't get a chance.  My library copy arrived the day before book club, which left me 26 hours to read the book while still working all day and doing all other little pesky daily life tasks like sleeping and eating.  Well, I tore through this book in 3 hours, despite knitting while I read!  Like Lehane's other bestsellers turned blockbusters (he wrote Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone, and the recently optioned The Given Day), Shutter Island kept me frantically turning pages and left me surprised at the end. 
 
The story begins in Cold War era America as U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels arrives at Ashecliff, a mental institution for the criminally insane secluded on a Boston Harbor Island, Shutter Island to investigate a mysterious missing patient.  A hurricane keeps him and his partner, Marshal Chuck Aule detained on the island and puts their lives at risk when the electricy goes out and the institution's electic locks fail.  The two Marshals explore the island and begin to uncover a Nazi-esque human experimentation conspiracy--or do they?  Daniels is running for his life in his pursuit to leave the island lest his brain become fodder for LSD and lobotomy experimentation.
 
I predicted a twist at the end, but my pieced together clues weren't even close to the "truth."  I loved that the ending was a little open to interpretation, because I don't want to let go of my theory!  Either way, I think there is an underlying, subtle commentary on the standard procedure and overmedication rampant in American mental healthcare today.  If you've read the book, I'd love to hear what you thought.

Book Review: The Magicians by Lev Grossman

When I saw The Magicians on the shelf at Borders a few months ago, I was drawn to the mysterious gray, gold, and green tones on the cover. We've all heard about judging books by their covers, but after reading the reviews on the back cover that indicated that this story pays homage to the works of J.K. Rowling, and C.S. Lewis my initial attraction was justified. Imagine Harry Potter's mental state in book 5, lost, alone, and persecuted. Imagine that that Harry goes to a magical university in upstate New York, meets equally misguided young magicians, and grapples with his place in the world, both magical and not. Harry Potter this book is not--the tone is much darker and the author's voice mirrors that of the young pro(ant?)agonists.

Grossman explores the value of relationships, growth, and forgiveness by following the development of Quentin, our main character, and his fellow magical prodigy Eve. However, Quentin's personal quest for happiness and self-fulfillment overcomes their relationship. I could see the archetypal highly intelligent yet selfish 20-something who doesn't know what he wants in Quentin.

In a nutshell, this story is Harry Potter meets the Chronicles of Narnia meets Reality Bites. Although my omnipresent desire for a picture perfect ending wasn't fulfilled, I would still highly recommend The Magicians to anyone who has ever gotten lost in a fantasy story or felt lost in the real world.

Book Review: The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken by Laura Schenone

I have had the luxury of knowing my family history on my mother's side back to 1621 or so when, ten generations ago, Thomas Jenkins and his family arrived in Baltimore from Wales. One of my great uncles, among his many accomplishments, traced our family geneology back to his parent's native Wales and Ireland. I haven't had that good fortune on my father's side of the family. I know my great-grandparents' entrance papers from Ellis Island are somewhere in my aunt's house, so I could embark on that quest for family answers if I want to. That bug still hasn't bitten, but after reading about Laura Schenone's own personal quest for family history, I have definitely thought about it more. Overall, I enjoyed Schenone's memoir, Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken. At times I found her pretentious and ungrateful for the living family members she had, but her acknowledgement of these weaknesses tempered my annoyance.

The book began with Laura making Christmas ravioli alone in her kitchen. She and her husband had chosen to forgo the big family Christmas that year. At first I found this bold decision refreshing, but the more I thought about it, the more I wondered how you can justify cutting your living family out of Christmas while you are grasping at ways to be closer to the great-great-greats that you never met and a land you've never seen. This sense of dissatisfaction with her "family of today" was even further illustrated when she scoffed at her Great Aunt Tessie's ravioli recipe because it contained cream cheese, not a traditional Italian soft cheese. However, her dissatisfaction did launch the quest for her own personal grail, without which we would not have this book.

I was intrigued by Schenone's questions about the origins of a person's predisposition towards a particular cuisine or natural setting. For example, she has a strong affinity for chestnuts and the seaside. Her Italian ancestors hail from Genoa, a coastal community rich in chestnut trees--so much that many residents make their own chestnut flour instead of spending hard-earned money on typical wheat or grain flour. Can culinary preferences or tolerance for a certain climate be programmed into your genes? These questions yield inconclusive findings, but it's great food for thought, especailly for this evolution-loving girl.

At times the book was saved by the majestic, delicious descriptions of Northern Italy and its generous, hospitable people. More redeeming qualities include further explanations of Schenone's relations with her immediate family and eventual reconcilliations. The narrative's flaws were not enough to keep this reader away, and they even taught me a lesson. If you feel like you are missing something in your life or your family, you are probably not going to find it halfway around the world with people you've never met.