I'm going to have to track down my book on the development of the cult of the Virgin Mary (by Antonia Fraser?) and read it again. I love history, but the ongoing portrayal of major things (attitudes towards the Virgin, what books are considered Scriptures, "The Commisar Vanishes", et al.) are like scholarly CSI episodes. Deducing entire events from scraps of clues.

When I first finished I House of Leaves I didn't know if I'd liked it or not. But it's really stuck with me and has moved into my favorites list, and is a book I don't hesitate to recommend.

My copy walked off with a friend years ago, so I haven't had a chance to re-read.

I also really like the companion CD by Poe (the author's sister). And I like the CD and the book together.

I'm reading a book called "Misquoting Jesus" (too lazy to look up author)

Bart Ehrman. He was interviewed by Leonard Lopate last month (streaming audio or downloadable file) and by Terry Gross in December. I don't remember much about either interview except that in both of them he talked about the "let he who is without sin cast the first stone" story. It's controversial for some reason, but a quick search didn't say why & I haven't had time to relisten.

Let me take a wild guess and say it has something to do with how the Religious Right has a habit of judging and seeking to punish those who they believe to be sinners.

I don't remember much about either interview except that in both of them he talked about the "let he who is without sin cast the first stone" story

Because it's not in the oldest manuscript copies of the Gospel, it was apparently a bit of fic that got popular and some scribe thought it should be/was canon and made sure it got copied in.

So, just like the end of Mark, right? I found it interesting that, in the original, Mark ended with the discovery of the empty tomb, and the words "and they were terrified." Talk about your WTF endings!

Octavia Butler has died.

Frederick Busch has also died this weekend.

Octavia Butler has died.

Whoa. She was only 58! And... I mean, she just published a new book. I don't know, it just doesn't seem right for her to die. That's so sad.

So, just like the end of Mark, right?

The end of Mark, chunks of Revelation, the differences between the Gospels, why do some old manuscripts show Jesus as being angry at some points when other manuscripts show Jesus as being compassionate at the same moment. There are a lot of variants.