‘Darker’ doesn’t shed much light on Grey
Back by popular demand … it’s Christian Grey.
E.L. James has delivered a fifth book for insatiable fans of her erotic Fifty
Shades of Grey series, who just can’t get enough of the kinky, titillating antics between the gorgeous but damaged billionaire tech entrepreneur and his lipbiting lady love, Anastasia Steele.
With readers evidently still panting for more after the original blockbuster trilogy ( Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty
Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed),
James decided to re-enter the infamous Red Room of Pain and retell the tales from Christian’s point of view. Grey, Christian’s version of Fifty
Shades of Grey, arrived in 2015 and was an instant No. 1 USA TODAY best seller. Now, here’s Darker (Vintage, 546 pp.,
with Seattle’s bad boy of bondage narrating Fifty Shades Darker. Two down, one to go!
With some 150 million copies sold worldwide and two heavy-breathing movie adaptations in the bag (the third is on the way early next year), it’s easy to see why James would want to dip into this well again and again. But the thrill is gone; recycling is just not very sexy.
Whatever you think of the novels’ literary merits or the characters’ sexual proclivities, James filled some sort of deep need in her (primarily) female readers. The original books (dubbed “Mommy Porn” by meanies) were narrated by Ana, an innocent 21-year-old college senior (and a virgin!) who meets the dazzling, mysterious 27-year-old Christian when she interviews him for her student newspaper.
Sparks fly, a non-disclosure agreement is trotted out and Ana has to decide if she’s willing to indulge controlfreak Christian’s alarming tastes in the boudoir. (Hey, this is a family newspaper.) But what really made these books a phenomenon is the romance. Watching Ana fall in love. Watching Christian fall in love. Watching Christian watch Ana eat (or not). Watching Christian reveal, bit by bit, his horrendous childhood. It’s a redemption story. Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, the NC-17 version.
In the original trilogy, we see Christian through Ana’s eyes. In Grey and Darker, we get Christian via Christian, and his alluring arrogance translates too often as Big
Jerk. And it’s not very Alpha
Male for the formerly steely Christian to continually whine, in italics, about his insecurities.
This time around we get more details about Christian’s business deals (boring) and his relationships with former sexual partners/stalkers Elena and Leila (eh), plus additional flashbacks to his childhood (revealing if icky). But there’s just not enough supplemental material to justify 546 pages of soggy rehash, unless you’re dying to relive the explicit sex scenes from the male point of view (with terminology that’s more even graphic than in the original books).
Christian, fans know, is a “good man,” one twisted by things beyond his control, and an environmental- and Third-World-friendly businessman to boot!
It’s interesting in this cultural moment to remember that Christian nailed it in Fif
ty Shades Darker when he warned Ana about Jack Hyde, her slimy sexual predator of a boss. Darker offers very few surprises, but it’s just as satisfying the second time when Jack gets a sharp boot where it really hurts.
Presumably, Christian will soon be narrating Fifty Shades Freed. And then we’ll be Freed at last.