About three years ago, now, a series of books emerged written by an unknown author, E.L. James. Readers LOVED these books and hated these books and Tweeted and Facebooked and talked and gushed and ranted about these books. I was told that reading these books drove women into horny madness....that husbands everywhere were thrilled at their wives new reading material. Essentially, porn for women....which is to say, for the mind, not the eyes. Not that we women aren't turned on visually, but it's mostly in our heads.....pretty much the opposite of men. Over the following years most of my friends at some point read these books. Women whose tastes I often shared talked about how excellent these books were. I read reviews, though, that talked about the level of the characterization, the reading level, and other actual literary aspects of the book. Now, please understand that I am NOT a book snob. On a hot summers day I enjoy laying in my hammock and reading some dime store romance about pirates and princesses, the kind of book that you can read in a day, essentially: Fluff. These books, though, weren't being sold as fluff; they weren't being marketed as a cheap supermarket romance. These books were being touted as doing for female literature what the Harry Potter series did for children's lit.
Over the course of the last year I have picked these books up, one at a time, from yard sales. I have less than $5 invested in the three books combined. I knew of nobody nearby who had the series to lend and I didn't want to pay the $15.95 EACH retail that they were marked for. I think I did well.
After reading the first few pages last week, I let the book sit for days. Now, usually no matter what book it is, if I've read the start of it I will read the rest of the book. I do NOT like to leave a book unread once I've started it. There are very, very few books over the course of my life that I did not finish and I can name each of them. So although this book did not entice me to continue reading it, I picked it up last night and opened it once again.
There are less than a hundred pages left to read and I am loathe to pick it up again. It did not disgust me. In fact, if it had been even a tiny bit as shocking as I'd heard it might have been good. I might want to finish reading it. So far all I want to do is track down the mealy mouthed, unrealistic, trite character's inner goddess and pimp slap her. There are two good things that I can say about this book. The first is that it is an excellent example of first person writing, something not often and rarely done well. The second is that this book, the popularity of it's characters, puts some kind of understandable face on BDSM for those people in this world who, through lack of exposure or whatever, still thought it was some rare horror that only sickos and druggies participated in. But folks, I put it down at the end of the chapter involving the much discussed tampon scene. That scene did not disgust me, either, but it was a monumental letdown. I was waiting to be shocked, waiting to be turned on, waiting for something in this book, in these characters to elicit any kind of emotion. You see, whether you love it or hate it, if a work of art elicits an emotion then it's done what it's meant to do: it's made you feel, or think, it's made you react. The only reaction I experienced to this book was that I was tired and it was time for bed. So I closed the book, so close to the end that another 30 minutes of reading would have finished it, and fell fast asleep. I was not bothered that my husband was at work, I did not have any kinky dreams, I had no trouble at all not thinking about this book and going to sleep.
I will not be finishing this book, nor will I be opening the other two. I will pass them on, as I do with all my books, and maybe somebody else will get some enjoyment from them. There's nothing wrong with liking these books.....there are a lot of things in the arts and entertainment world that I like that many consider laughable.....but I absolutely did not like Fifty Shades of Grey. And I have made the executive decision not to subject myself to the Twilight Series, either. Those books I picked up in the same way, with about the same monetary investment. With those, though, I've seen the first few movies and felt brain cells die. I said I'd read the books as they are said to be oh, so much better. Now, though, I think I'll pass those along, too. I've killed enough brain cells already.
Friends.....if I EVER sound like this person who has used my blog to promote his religious beliefs, put me in a 5150!!!
ReplyDeleteHow badly must his "message" be doing that this guy has to spam strangers with this crap. Peter was a misogynistic freak who hated women and feared their power. I wouldn't have believed Peter if he'd told me the sky was blue and water was wet.
Any religion that is not a living thing, that does not allow for the natural growth of the human spirit and allow for it's own mistakes and correct said mistakes is nothing more than a device of control created by man to control man. And Christianity as a whole is so inherently flawed that it's sickening. The only positive light seen in the Christian world in generations is the new Pope who, like the Dahli Llama, is about peace, love and honoring the spirit of all mankind.
So I tried to post this on our spammer's blog, but I doubt that he'll allow it to remain, lol!
ReplyDeleteThe Göbekli Tepe Ruins and the Origins of Neolithic Religion
Is Turkey’s “Stonehenge” evidence of the oldest religion in the world?
Biblical Archaeology Society Staff • 12/26/2012
The massive stone enclosures of the Gobekli Tepe ruins (known to many as Turkey’s “Stonehenge”) may be the earliest examples of Neolithic religion. What do the enclosures and the fascinating reliefs that adorn their pillars reveal about the oldest religion in the world? (Photo: Vincent J. Musi/National Geographic Stock)
On a hill known as Göbekli Tepe (“Potbelly Hill”) in southeastern Turkey, archaeologists have uncovered several large megalithic enclosures that date between 10000 and 8000 B.C.E., the dawn of civilization and the Neolithic age. Each of these circular enclosures, which many have described as Turkey’s “Stonehenge,” consists of ten to twelve massive stone pillars surrounding two larger monoliths positioned in the middle of the structure. There are no village remains at or near the Göbekli Tepe ruins, suggesting that the unique site was a ceremonial center exclusively used for the practice of the Neolithic religion of local hunter-gatherer groups.
Given the early age of the site, equally surprising are the varied and often highly elaborate carvings that adorn the pillars of the Göbekli Tepe ruins. Among the pillars are detailed and often very realistic depictions of animal figures, including vultures and scorpions, lions, bulls, boars, foxes, gazelles, asses, snakes, and other birds and reptiles. In addition, some of the massive monoliths are carved with stylized anthropomorphic details—including arms, legs and clothing—that give the impression of large super-human beings watching over the enclosures.
The Göbekli Tepe ruins and enclosures—the earliest monumental ritual sites of Neolithic religion and possibly the oldest religion in the world—are causing experts to rethink the origins of religion and human civilization. Until recently, scholars agreed that agriculture and human settlement in villages gave rise to religious practices. The discoveries at the Göbekli Tepe ruins, however, indicate that earlier hunter-gatherer groups that had not yet settled down had already developed complex religious ideas, together with monumental ceremonial sites to practice the sacred communal rituals of Neolithic religion.
In his article “In the Beginning: Religion at the Dawn of Civilization,” Biblical scholar Ben Witherington III presents Göbekli Tepe. With his article “The Search for the Holy Grail: Misguided from the Start” in Mysteries of the Bible: From the Garden of Eden to the Shroud of Turin, Witherington joins an international team of experts presenting the Bible’s greatest enigmas.
Indeed, excavations at the Göbekli Tepe ruins have uncovered tens of thousands of animal bones, indicating that many different species—including those depicted on the pillars—were slaughtered, sacrificed and presumably eaten at the site. While it is uncertain to whom these sacrifices were made, it’s possible they were offered to the enclosures’ stylized human pillars that, as some have suggested, may represent priests, deities or revered ancestors in Neolithic religion. Given that human bones have also been found, others believe the Göbekli Tepe ruins may have been a Neolithic burial ground where funerary rituals and perhaps even excarnations were practiced.*
To learn more about the Göbekli Tepe ruins and Neolithic religion, read Ben Witherington III’s article “In the Beginning: Religion at the Dawn of Civilization” as it appears in the January/February 2013 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.