For a time, there was a huge literary trend of re-working classic novels with supernatural twists. See: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Android Karenina. But now with society all aflutter about 50 Shades of Grey, we may soon read about Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth doing much more than sharing a chaste kiss.
Erotica publisher Clandestine Classics has announced that it will be publishing its own editions of classics such as Pride & Prejudice, Jane Eyre and Sherlock Holmes…with a twist. A sexy twist. According to the publisher:
The old-fashioned pleasantries and timidity have all been stripped away, quite literally. You didn’t really think that these much-loved characters only held hands and pecked cheeks, did you?…Learn what Sherlock really thought of Watson, what Mr. Darcy really wanted to do to Miss Elizabeth Bennet, and unveil the sexy escapades of Mr. Rochester and Jane Eyre. We’ll show you the scenes that you always wanted to see but were never allowed.”
Well, that certainly sounds interesting! Frankly I’m surprised that this hasn’t been done yet.
While these aren’t necessarily 50 Shades spinoffs, it’s quite intriguing to see how the series has affected literary culture, and is making erotica more publicly acceptable, or at least acknowledged. Nonetheless, I think the furthest deviation I’ll take from the original Sherlock Holmes is the BBC show Sherlock. [via Jezebel]
What do you think of these books? Will you read them?
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sunflower / 255 posts
It’s called fanfiction. And it’s been done, plus it’s free.
guest
I’d don’t see myself reading them.
guest
Fifty Shades is just someone’s shitty fan-fiction. You can read stuff like that for free by searching Google.
orchid / 248 posts
I wonder what they could do with Moby Dick?
rose / 960 posts
@Trueinnerbeauty - there’s already an awkward homoerotic scene at the very beginning of Moby Dick. they wouldn’t have to do much
magnolia / 1066 posts
*brain explosion* djfadsukhfdfja
there are not enough words for how much I hate this stupid “Fifty Shades” trend bullshit. It’s a terrible fanfiction that somehow got turned into a novel. The only reason I want to read it is so I will have more evidence for my critique and analysis of it (because, as an English major, I feel badly judging any book without having first read it).
This is going to be worse than the vampire craze after Twilight, though I shouldn’t be surprised at the sudden “erotica craze”…it was a Twilight fanfiction initially, after all.
guest
There’s already ‘Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife’, which is quite scandalous.
guest
Hm, well, this is how I see it. I love fairy tales and different takes on fairy tales. A guy I was seeing bought me a book of erotic fairy tales. It sucked. It was poorly written, uninteresting, and ultimately didn’t turn me on at all to boot.
There is good fiction out there that has erotic elements to it (never read it, but heard tons about Outlander) and I can’t imagine anyone easily being able to infuse well written classic literature with erotic elements and it not suck. I’m sure there is someone out there who could do it, but it isn’t going to happen as part of a stupid trend.
guest
Why.
guest
The only reason 50 Shades took off the way it did was because of the
publicity. In case people are still unaware: Dozens of authors have
written, and still continue to write, hundreds of books with the same
content matter, but these books are waaay better in terms of plot,
characters, and writing style. How do I know? Because I’ve been reading
romance novels for the past decade, and 50 Shades is just a crappy,
tropey romance novel that falls in the erotica subcategory. /endrant
That said, I would totally read the spiced up versions of classics as long as they’re written by real writers and not EL James. I know there are a bunch of people going nuts about changing (read: destroying) the classics, but I see it as, I don’t know, getting creative with them. I’m sure many readers already imagined the sexy scenes if the amount of fanfic out there is any indication, so this will just bring their imagination to life on paper.
guest
See : Shamela, Tristram Shandy, and any gothic fiction written in the 1700′s (Walpole is one of my favorites). Been there, done that, and LONG, LONG before most of these novels existed, much less were considered classics. Varney the Vampire, anybody? The original Carmilla? Not only is this trend not unique or original, it also is not remotely interesting. And let’s face it… if you thought Pride and Prejudice was good because of it was a good LOVE STORY, then you either 1) haven’t read any really good love stories, or 2) read the cliff notes version and imagined yourself as one of the main characters. You can like Austen or Bronte all you want, but please don’t tell me they are the great for their being great love stories… hell, Firefly and House had more romantic depth than either of those. And like… the Broadway version of The Secret Garden.
2 points for liking the BBC Sherlock. Absolutely cannot wait for more of those… 3 episodes every year? COME ON BRITAIN!
guest
I probably will not. I loved Pride & Prejudice as much for the unsaid as anything else. Of course there was sexual interest but it did not have to be right in front. Not saying there is anything wrong with overtly sexual books, as i have read them, but not all books need to be that way.
rose / 786 posts
I have still yet to read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
sunflower / 264 posts
…It would just ruin the beauty and art of the originals for me.
guest
“It’s called fanfiction. And it’s been done, plus it’s free.”
^^^ THIS.
This is so ridiculous, and insulting. Those works cannot be improved upon. These people need to go make their OWN plots with their OWN characters. All they’re doing is trying to make a lot of money with the minimal amount of effort on their own part. There are no missing scenes in these novels. These books are complete. A book doesn’t have to have a sex scene to be complete. I HATE THIS IDEA SO MUCH. I GET SO ANGRY JUST THINKING ABOUT IT.
If you want to add your own scenes to well-beloved characters and stories, go to fanfiction.net.
guest
“Sherlock” is BRILLIANT show in my opinion. I absolutely love it. But yeah the 3 episodes a year deal is killing me. Kudos for referencing it. And although there have been slight homoerotic undertones between Sherlock/Watson in the history of Sherlock Holmes, it would break my heart if they actually played that out. Boo. Sherlock is kind of meant to be forever alone/genius type.