dunno the stats, but IMO, reading has dropped a bit in popularity. in fact i don't know anyone who reads as much as i do.. my wife reads a lot, but i think its my influences more so than a yearning to read.

i don't know anyone less than 20 who reads. course, i don't go around asking either, but when the topic comes up it invariably leads to TV, or video games that play on TV's

sad really.

*bumps*

i am resurrecting this thread for 2 reasons..

1) i need room again in my briefcase.. those of you whom know why, please inform me if you are done.

2) i have a list, one with almost every audio book i will ever need or want, but.. i cannot seem to discern a web address.. would anyone like to assist me in figuring out where? i mean, i can send you the same list, maybe you have seen one before and would recognize exactly how it works.

thanx in advance.

Don't nobody shoot me for saying so, but my dear old dad has been listening to the Bible on tape (unabridged) and, as I have never read the Bible itself despite being a confirmed Episcopalian (), it has been quite interesting, aided of course by Derek Jacobi's pwnage reading skills. I think I've gotten a better idea of the character of Jesus from listening to around half an hour of Matthew being read than I have in an entire lifetime of listening to sermons.

There's also Siddhartha, also by Jacobi, very good stuff.

The different translations aren't that different. They mostly change the language to make things readable for the time in which they were translated. A conservative version will say, "Thou shalt not kill" while a more liberal and modernist one will say "Do not commit murder." And of course any lawyer or guy who just likes to argue a lot (who will be played in the post by me) will tell you that there is a world of literal difference in that small detail. The church has split on a tiny, tiny translation disagreement before (Roman Catholic v. Western Orthodox over one word in the Apostle's Creed). Still the intentions remain the same and new passages aren't being drawn up out of thin air. In other words, that hair thing isn't going to be in one version and not have an analogous passage in the other.

Also, The Holy Bible is not a particular version, as you seem to treat it, but rather what is put on the front cover of any conservative translation. I think you'll find that the more bizarre pronouncements from God tend to occur in three Books: Leviticus, Deuteronomy and Numbers. These books describe all the other stuff that the Hebrews decided to live by as they were more or less creating a culture. It's very codified and doesn't always seem to be relevant. If I remember correctly, there's a passage which says when you walk through someone else's orchard, you're free to take all you can carry in your arms, but nothing more. My favorite one though is an outright command to destroy another Middle Eastern people which had attacked the Hebrews while they were wandering through the desert. It's interesting because it provides so much detail - how many generations down they should continue hunting these guys. I guess it worked, we never hear about them anymore, whoever they are.

Whats mary had a little lamb?