America's favourite read...

A recent Harris Poll has revealed America's favorite books - and there are some surprises.

The top choices were largely American classics, such as Gone with the Wind, Catcher in the Rye and To Kill a Mockingbird. A surprising choice - number two for most 32 to 43 year olds - was the American folktale The Stand by Stephen King. I recently read that book (even though King wrote it in the early seventies) and thought it was a breathtaking work of enormous depth (despite being stuck in the 'horror' shelf at your local library.)

I was disappointed, but not surprised by the universal first choice. An old foreign book, it's been on sale for seemingly forever. Technically, I think it only won because all 21 (at last count) English translations were taken into account (even though they're all translated wildly differently, some editions being entirely different books to other copies.)

It's written in a very old fashioned way and incredibly poorly edited - there are glaring contradictions between the various sections of the book and huge plot holes. By today's standards, it's misogynistic and racist and some people even claim it's wildly homophobic. It features more rape, murder, incest, adultery and hate-speech than any book currently in print. Yet, it's America's favourite.

I'm talking, of course, about The Bible.

Apparently based on a true story, the Bible does take some wild liberties with actual historical events and is a bit preachy at times (pushing some very odd values, as well.) Yet because of all the sordid stories contained within it (for example, two daughters, who conspire to seduce their father in order to produce children) it's difficult not to get caught up in it - even despite the incredibly pretentious and sometimes incomprehensible writing style.

The only thing I find surprising is that such a controversial book, chock-full of sex and scandal, hasn't been banned yet! In fact, some families even encourage their kids to read it!

Pretty shocking stuff.

The Bible is available from all good bookstores, Churches and the top drawer of most hotel nightstands. Due to the explicit content contained within, the Bible is not suitable for children under the age of 18.