Fifty shades of red

Friday, July 27, 2012

Deirdre Reynolds takes THAT book on a tour around Dublin to judge the reaction of the Irish public

FIFTY Shades of Grey? It was more like Fifty Shades of Red when I took to the streets of the capital with my copy of the pornographic mega-hit.

More than 30 million women (and a few husbands) worldwide have been seduced by EL James’s erotic ‘thrill-ogy’ — which tells the story of a young student initiated into the kinky world of BDSM.

But whatever about curling up in bed with the book’s brooding anti-hero Christian Grey — would you dare to read the titillating page-turner in public?

I did — and was met by a mix of knowing winks, bemused stares and disapproving glares.

Leaving my “vanilla” love life behind, I began by delving into Fifty Shades in bustling St Stephen’s Green at lunchtime.

Luckily, as anyone who’s read the love it/loathe it tome will know, the first few chapters are perfectly chaste — so I didn’t feel too pervy for perusing it in public beside the family with two small children who were picnicking nearby.

Although, after spying the tell-tale men’s tie on the cover, their thirty-something mum didn’t look too impressed with my choice of reading material.

Either that, or she was just jealous that she hadn’t nabbed her own copy of the bonkbuster.

Next, it was on to the five-star Shelbourne Hotel, the type of place that billionaire playboy Christian might bring his conquests — if he didn’t have his own personal sex dungeon, that is.

As the naughty 500-page novel finally began to hot up, I managed to resist the urge to say “Spank you” to the worldly gentleman who gave me a wide berth entering the hotel’s famous revolving door because I was so engrossed in Grey. It seems I’m not the only one unashamedly flirting with Fifty al fresco. Although much of the bestseller’s success has been put down to its beginnings as a self-published e-book — allowing women to slyly read it on the bus on the way to work or in bed snuggled up to their partner, now the hardcore hardback is everywhere too.

“Our customers seem quite happy to stroll in to get their copy of Fifty Shades of Grey,” says Liam Donnelly, deputy manager of Hodges Figgis in Dublin. “We just got 500 more copies in due to demand. We’ve got the book on permanent display in our window and it’s number one on our bestseller list — so it’s very visible in store. Irish women are definitely not embarrassed to buy it.

“We’ve always sold erotic literature,” adds Mr Donnelly. “But it was always one of those niches that never really took off because it was seen as being a bit under-the-counter.

“Until now, we only had one small section and sales weren’t very strong. Now you can see clones starting to pop up throughout the store.

“The cover of Fifty Shades of Grey is a work of genius – it’s innocuous enough that people don’t feel the need to shuffle shamefacedly up to the counter or hide it under another book.

“The last time we experienced a phenomenon like this was Harry Potter — and that lasted 10 years.”

With a big screen version of the ubiquitous book on the way, Fifty looks set to be flogged for another few years too.

It might explain why no-one bats an eyelid when I whip it out on the bus and Luas.

“No-one should be embarrassed to read about sex,” reckons author Amanda Brunker, who scored a hit with her own racy Champagne trilogy.

“Humankind would cease to exist if we all stopped having sex!

“People like having sex, so it’s no big surprise that they like reading about it too. My first novel had a picture of a woman’s legs in a pair of high heels on the cover – it was bold and proud.

“Erotica is nothing new,” she adds. “However, it’s still a mystery to most authors why this particular tome hit the big time.”

“After all, it’s not exactly well-written — nor does its sexual content match up to that practised by many of its readers.

“Obviously, I’m envious that it wasn’t my own naughty trilogy that had such epic sales. But I’m still thankful to EL James for bring the genre back into fashion.”

By now, Fifty Shades of Grey’s deceptively innocent cover is as instantly recognisable as that of Jilly Cooper’s ’80s bonkbuster Riders.

In a week when Queen of Pop Madonna mooned audiences at a gig in Dublin though, perhaps reading about subs and doms in broad daylight isn’t so shocking after all.

“Any good?” smiles my hairdresser, as I reject a magazine in favour of the final chapters of slap and tickle. Sadly, not really.

But as S&M singer Rihanna would warble, Fifty Shades of Grey may be bad, but it’s perfectly good at it.

Bluffer’s guide

* The main players: Anastasia Steele, a 22-year-old student who’s never been kissed (let alone spanked) and Christian Grey, a rich 27-year-old with a penchant for whips and chains.

* The book: Despite being roundly panned by critics, the “mommy porn” sensation – which began life as Twilight fan fiction — has become the fastest selling paperback ever. Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed complete the trilogy.

* The plot: Set in Seattle, it follows the lusty story between controlling Christian and naïve Ana after he asks her to sign a contract to become his submissive. Think Cinderella but with nipple clamps.

* The sex: After taking her virginity gently, Christian introduces Ana to his “Red Room of Pain” — complete with handcuffs, horse whips, ball gags and a suspension rack.

* Do say: “Urgh, my sex life is, like, just so vanilla right now.”

* Don’t say: “Vanilla? Isn’t that a flavour of ice-cream?”

45 people waiting to get their hands on it

Not only are bookshops selling out of the kinky novel, but libraries have also recorded a huge demand.

Marie Brown at the de Valera library in Ennis, Co Clare, noted a waiting list of 17 people for a number of copies of the book throughout the county’s library branches.

“Members can keep the book for up to four weeks, and some do, but others are returning it after 48 hours — it’s not exactly a literary work of art,” she told the Irish Examiner.

Kerry county librarian Tommy O’Connor said demand has also been high there. “It is definitely high up in the rankings, and I think it will stay there for a while. We think it will be the first of many books in a certain type of genre after this.

“We will supply Fifty Shades of Grey to the readers as they demand it. We’ll leave it up to them as to whether they enjoy it or not.”

At Cork City Library, which has six branches as well as the central library, executive librarian Sinead Feely said there are 45 people waiting to get their hands on one of their eight copies of the first novel. “We have rarely had a waiting list as long as that,” she said. There are three people waiting for each of the two sequels in the trilogy. “I’d say once the first book is read, the demand for the other two will increase too,” she noted.

No-one has ‘returned it in disgust’, to any of the libraries we contacted. Home