There are a lot of literary masterpieces I've never read or avoid altogether (Jane Austen, I know I'm bad), but when I had access to the school library I read everything I could get my hands on. I miss those days... It's a sad fact that many people don't read anymore, at least beyond what they find on Wikipedia. XP Funny you mentioned Dune. I had an English teacher make me read it (he wouldn't let me read Jurassic Park since the movie was out) and the book was just so long and boring. It was a real chore! On the other hand, I've gotten through books that were even longer like The Hunchback of Notre Dame and really enjoyed them. It all depends on the writing..

The sad thing about the Bible, aside from people taking figurative things literally, is that through the years of translations and such, people have changed the text to fit their agenda. That has to be why there's so much conflict within the books. Things like where in one part of the Bible we're told to love our enemies (like the story of the good Samaritan), but in others we are told to avoid the evils of the world..and I don't know, it is weird. A lot of things fall down to personal interpretation, except even that's not always possible since a lot of people who say they believe in the Bible (and worse, only even know anything of it through what their pastor preaches) have never even read the thing at all. There are of course some literal teachings (avoiding Satan! We need not beat about the burning bush for that message), a lot of it is metaphor and such so that we can apply the principle to whatever it is we're doing now.

People who take things literally all the time are never fun anyway. -_-;