50 Shades of Go Away?

Is it just me, or is anyone else a little teed off with not being able to turn around without bumping into this book, or something related to it?

As always, there are fads of things, and I'm pretty sure this is just another one as the reviews I have seen aren't actually all that good. Possibly the subject matter is more the draw for some than the quality of writing. I can't comment on it personally as I haven't read it, and frankly, don't have an inclination to. Several years back when Dan Brown was the rage with his Catholic Church conspiracies, I decided to try The Da Vinci Code, just so that I wasn't slating it without basis. I wasn't. It was dreadful. In my opinion, anyway. When dialogue needs to be held up with scaffolding, then personally I don't think that's such a great book. But the huge hype was much the same and people bought it by the droves because it was the trend.

The other issue with this latest trend is that publishers are frantically looking elsewhere to see what they can sex up and sell as Erotica. And, apparently, they have no boundaries, because they are going for the Classics! Yes, on your local bookshop's shelves shortly will be erotic versions of truly wonderful books like Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey and Jane Eyre - all great favourites of mine, and perfect just as they are! The relationships in them are of their time, although the feelings are just as relevant today. The moral and expected standards of the time heightened any emotions between the characters, exactly because they weren't able to just act on it! That's what makes us think - Oh! But he's nuts about you and he can't tell you! It drives us to keep turning the pages to see if he ever does get to tell her that - or her him.

Taking these wonderful classics and throwing them into the Erotica field is wrong in my opinion. I have absolutely nothing against the genre - but I think this is publishers taking an easy way out. There are plenty of great authors out there writing new erotica novels. Give them a chance instead!

I'm not slating 50 Shades of Grey, because I haven't read it. If you have, and enjoyed it, great! I'm just not a great fan of bookshops and publishers putting all their eggs onto one bandwagon - and trying to ruin wonderful books as they do it.