should i read 50 Shades of gray?

I don't think it was ever written to compete with the likes of Annie Proulx or Margaret Atwood absentgrandmaboth whom are wonderfully talented writers. It was meant as a bit of fun.

Gillybob I find bad prose irritating in the extreme I find it hard to define it but I know when I read it .

"The Return" by Victoria Hislop is an example. I found it "clumsy" to read and it seemed to be in an Enid Blyton style.

I have heard that some writers are asked to dumb down their writing style to suit a particular market.

Oh I so agree about Victoria Hislop. She judt avbout got away with it with The Island because the background was potentially so interesting, but The Return - oh dear!

"just about" FFS and tired eyes!

Some people are saying the story is nasty and sadistic and denigrating to women as well as other unpleasant things, yet some other people say it is a bit of fun.

I can cope with reading some bad writing if I enjoy the story but I don't want to cope with nasty / sadistic / denigrating, however good the writing may be, and I certainly wouldn't find that to be fun.

I read a very funny précis of it - that was sending it up - so thankfully there is no need to bother.

Did they take the original GN parody down completely?

Not that I'm likely to read it, but perhaps the comments so far are the reason I see so many for sale at boot fairs.

About three years ago, we stopped off at a WHSmith in Cornwall on our way to a funeral to buy new books. The bestsellers were ranked as normal, 1-20 - except 50 shades was in all top three places. I asked how that could be possible, and the manager said that the sheer quantity of sales was such that the numbers actually surpassed the volumes required to be in those places and the book should probably be in 4th place as well.

I read it when it first came out and it was unmitigated rubbish, not worth the paper it was written on.

The assistant in Waterstones thought I probably was too young to read it. Kept my mind pure.

yes I thought it cringeworthy too and gave it to the charity shop along with the next one in the series that Id bought on offer.

I didn't get past the first page, it is so badly written. I am appalled it ever went into print, which it only did because of the sex. Are we a society that is so shallow? The likes of Dickens will be spinning knowing this is in book shops.

Sorry, it's late, if Dickens knew that this was in the book shops.

I downloaded the first chapter free as a kindle sample. Didn't finish that as I thought it was rubbish. Didn't download the rest!

I downloaded the Audible version. Beside being utter rubbish, I didn't get beyond ten minutes because the young lady narrator's accent made your toe nails curl up. Whole host of advertising hype.