'Shades' provokes variety of positions
The Fifty Shades trilogy has spawned a rash of copycats and a vigorous debate about where it stands in erotic literature, writesJames Kidd
If you happened to glance through the personals on Hong Kong's Craigslist recently, you might have spotted one titled "50 Shades of something more interesting". A year ago, the headline would have made no sense. But now, thanks to a middle-aged English woman named E.L. James, everything is clear.
Having begun on the internet as an homage to Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, the Fifty Shades trilogy ( Grey, Darker and Freed) narrates a sado-masochistic romance between a manipulative billionaire (the titular Christian Grey) and a winsome student (Anastasia Steele).
Its influence has spread rapidly - from well-heeled corners of metropolitan America to James' homeland, where its 5.4 million sales have made it the most popular novel in Britain ever. Now, with estimated sales of more than 40 million worldwide, Fifty Shades is a global phenomenon - and Asia is the latest continent to fall under James' spell. The Korea Times recently reported that Fifty Shades' first two instalments have sold more than 150,000 copies alone. Although its appeal in Hong Kong is restricted mostly to expat readers, editions in Chinese are being printed.
Nury Vittachi, journalist and author of The Feng Shui Detective, is not surprised by James' growing success in the region. "Asians could be said to have invented erotic writing. For most of recorded history, the best-known erotic book was The Kama Sutra. Japan's The Tale of Genji has been described as the first erotic novel. Others have ascribed that title to China's more readable Jin Ping Mei (The Plum in the Golden Vase)."
The sheer extent of James' popularity (she is rumoured to earn US$1.5 million a week) is now her strongest selling point. "You have to read it to be part of a cultural conversation," says Jonathan Beckman, an editor at Literary Review who organises the annual Bad Sex Awards. "It's not about reading for enjoyment. It's like reading the news."
But how do we explain the popular appeal of a book whose sexual content would normally consign it to a niche readership? Is its success a good thing - for women, sexuality, and literature?