The Ginger Reader: Fifty Shades of Grey, an Introduction

Welcome to the inaugural entry of "The Ginger Reader"! I'm currently sitting in my local Panera, where so many other local clientele are also busy typing away on their computers (although, I admit, I am doing this not from my computer, but from my tablet, which somehow makes me feel fancier than the average biped). I should note that the cookies here are HUGE. Take a look at this monster as an example:

Sorry for the image quality. I forgot that I could take pictures with my tablet, and my phone does not have the best resolution. But I digress.

This cookie is almost as large as the napkin it's resting on, and that is impressive! Ahem, digressions aside...

I was inspired to begin a book review, or perhaps more accurately a book commentary, series after reading a not-insignificant portion of "Mark Reads Harry Potter."

(Another digression: He is currently reading Neil Gaiman's Sandman series, which is beyond thrilling. I'll have to see if my local library, or even my alma mater's library, has the series currently available to check out. I'd love to read along with him and see what he has to say about such an interesting graphic novel series. I haven't read his commentary yet, as I wouldn't want to spoil anything, but I recommend checking out some of the things he has done.)

Additional inspiration struck from the seemingly unending flurry of bestselling book series. I feel as though I have found myself wondering, "What is the newest trilogy to hit the market this month?" with shocking frequency. From Twilight to The Hunger Games,  from Game of Thrones to Fifty Shades of Grey, and everything in between... I felt like every time I turned around, there was another series with multiple books already published that I'd never heard of that was enthralling the masses, with varying degrees of quality and respectability. Astounding. 50 Shades caught my eye because, even though I am reluctant to admit such a thing, I was once a fan of Twilight. I once yearned after Edward Cullen. I was also once sixteen years old, so forgive me my youthful follies. Anyway, this trilogy by E.L. James had been described to me as Twlight with sex. Erotic Twilight. What might have happened on that honeymoon trip if Stephenie Meyer had not cut to black in the last book.

My inner sixteen-year-old was intrigued. My current 21-year-old self could only roll her eyes in disgust. Twilight with sex could only mean impossibly rich and pretty and brooding leading men with flat, vacant leading women that marked a step backwards in the fight for gender equality. Did the world really need another series with a character that is such a terrible Mary Sue that Mary Sues everywhere hid in shame at the prospect of being compared to her? Well, according to book sales, apparently. The logical voice in my head told me to give this series a wide berth, and for a long time I did just that.

However, as summer and the end of college approached, I realized that I had an unprecedented opportunity to read trashy literature for a good laugh without feeling guilty for not attending to piles of homework. The literary prospects for the list of "trashy books" began popping up everywhere -- too much good stuff. And then 50 Shades came crashing back into my field of vision as my friends sent me videos of celebrities reading excerpts from the book. I found myself falling out of my chair laughing at each and every excerpt shared on YouTube, and that propelled this "erotic romance" to the front an center of my attention.

My inner sixteen-year-old felt triumphant. My current 21-year-old self stroked her chin pensively; if this 50 Shades could cause diverse celebrities to parody, ridicule, and satirize it, then perhaps it wouldn't be such a painful read after all. Perhaps I could create a series of blog entries analyzing, commenting on, and reacting to, at the very least, the first book of the trilogy. Perhaps I could point out to my inner sixteen-year-old exactly why a trilogy like this is the last thing in the world young women need to be reading when they are still trying to develop their own identities, sexual, professional, or otherwise. Perhaps I could have a little fun reading this book, and perhaps I could make a few people laugh in the process. I bounced the ideas off the heads of a few friends, who enthusiastically approved (and so I hope I don't disappoint you, friends :) ), and thus did I rush to the Kindle store on my tablet and download Fifty Shades of Grey.

I invite you to join me, dear reader, for the next five entries of "The Ginger Reader" as I barrel through the erotic and kinky adventures of one Anastasia Steele, five chapter at a time. I don't pretend to be any sort of great critic, and I certainly don't expect to provide the most profound or articulate commentary as, based on my brief glimpse at the first chapter, I expect to spend much of the book baffled by, well, just about everything. I do, however, hope that you'll have fun and that you'll giggle or laugh or even see eye-to-eye with me when you read these posts because, hopefully, you and I share the same common love for good writing, complex characters, well-developed plots, and some good, old fashioned romance. And perhaps, together, we'll finally come to understand why so many women (and my inner sixteen-year-old) have been so enraptured by E.L. James' work.

Until the next chapter,
Rachel

Oh, look, new things!

Hi, y'all!

Just wanted to let you know that I changed a couple things on the blog. First of all, I updated the description under the header for the the site because I figured that now that it has actually taken shape, the old description didn't quite do the blog justice. The bit at the end about "my time away from home," for example, didn't seem to fit anymore because I have posted from Boston, which has become a second home, and France has certainly become a third home to me at this point. Also, once I return from France, I was thinking I might continue this blog and talk about any other journeys that I might take. So "voyages" really fits more. Not that you, dear reader, particularly care about the description too much, but at least now you know that I have plans to continue the blog after France.

Secondly, and more importantly, I added some links over on the right of the page. The first section, entitled "Blog Heaven" has links to the websites of my friends! Exciting! Be it Blogger, Wordpress, Tumblr, or any other site that hosts the interesting musings and works of my friends, I am happy to link up to it. So, friend, if you are reading this, look over to the right and see that your blog, website, online store or what have you is not there, and you would like it to be, let me know and I shall add it (for only four low, monthly payments of $39.99! Haha). The second section, "Internet Obsessions," presents you with links to websites that provide me with limitless amounts of amusement. Feel free to check them out or to get me hooked on my next great Internet obsession.

That is just about it for now, kids. I've got to go think about studying for a midterm. My next post will be about my Christmas in Paris, and the post following that will detail my travels in Italy during Carnival.

Peace, love, pandas, and midterms breathing down my neck,
Rachel

A Slight Misnomer

I am not an elf. I feel compelled to clear that up before anyone is confused and people begin sending me comments along the lines of "OMG!!!1 I've known you for friggin ever and NOW you tell me that your an elf?!?!" First of all, the grammar, spelling, and punctuation in that comment are painful to read. Second of all, there is a story behind the title of this blog that I wanted to share.

Years ago, when the world was young... at the beginning of the Iraq War... when we still were under the reign of the Bush the Second... when college was something for adults and older siblings... right smack-dab in the middle of my favorite awkward period of life known as adolescence... I had a very close group of friends. (Well, I still have a very close group of friends, but this one was special). And together we decided to create story, which all of us would write, in which all of us had our own character that represented us in ways both obvious and vague. My character was based on my love for J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth, and she was one badass elf named Lauremir. She was strong, graceful, wise, occasionally a leader, and turned into a big green monster whenever she didn't get what she wanted or whenever someone angered her.

Eventually, these characters became us, and my friends and I became synonymous with our characters. "Lauremir" became not just my nickname, but a nerdy 13-year-old with acne and an insatiable appetite for books. And so, I became the elf. To my friends. To anyone else, that probably would have been a little weird.

The name, and to some minor extent, the persona, has stuck with me over the years. The last name "Bennet" was added at some point as an homage to my all-time, number one, absolute favorite female author, Jane Austen, and the name "Lauremir Bennet" has since been used in pretty much every online social networking/blogging/art site I've ever joined where a screen name was required. It's nice to have a little continuity, or perhaps constancy, in life.

Thus, I am not an elf. But, indeed, the elf I am.

The slight misnomer comes into play with the word "travelling." It is perfectly true; I will be travelling from Boston to Paris, from Paris to Aix-en-Provence, and from there to who knows where. However, it will not be a constant in my life. I will not be travelling the world. I will not be in a new country every other week. As awesome as that would be, it is unrealistic, and so I ask of you to instead think of the full title of this blog as "The Elf, Who Is Actually Human, Who Experiences Punctuated Travels, But Mostly Stays In One Place In France." Not a very pretty title, though, is it?

Therefore, at the price of ever so very marginally misleading you, I have opted to choose a much shorter and nicer blog title: "The Travelling Elf."

I do ever so hope that you enjoy reading this blog. It is my intent to create a new entry on a weekly basis, and perhaps even more frequently than that, should there be something particularly interesting that I just must share with you in order for my day to be complete. I plan on sharing as much as possible about my time spent away from San Diego and away from Wellesley with all of you lovely people. This includes, but is not limited to, stories about my travels, awkward moments with strangers in foreign places, unfortunate mishaps that led to fortunate results, photographs of whatever happens to strike my fancy that day (or is pertinent to the blog entry), musings about the world at large, rants that express my frustration with life and school, and so on and so forth.

Originally, I had promised to send roughly five people short of a gazillion letters about my time in France. However, I decided to use a blog, instead. There are a few people who will still be getting postcards and/or letters (they threatened me with shoes, cluebats, and death by fire, so I had to say yes), but for everyone else, I look forward to communicating with you on the Interwebz!

Much Hugs and Love,

Rachel