Condensation

The raison d'etre of the Bible, as far as I can make out, is one- or two-fold:
(1) To tell a great set of stories,
(2) To make us think at least twice about Divinity, humanity and what might be between them.

Problem is, it's a very long text and hardly anyone ever bothers to read it (including, rather ridiculously and worryingly, Christians). Luckily, though, there are plenty of summaries, sections and condensations of the Bible on the market for everyone who wants to get a good idea of what's going on in the Book without having to take a sabbatical. One such condensation is The 100-Minute Bible, by Michael Hinton. Sadly, it's a bit rubbish. It advances neither of the two probably essential things above - the fantastic stories are flatly and sketchily conveyed, and religious or spiritual awe, thoughtfulness and/or interest are entirely absent. It manages to make the Creation, Abraham's almost-sacrifice and - even - the coming of Christ almost negligible. Nothing is explained (it isn't really in the Bible, either, but at least there's almost always a good back story to get to grips with so an explanation can always be deduced), and there's just a lot of thwarting of intentions and forgiving of actions without any reason why that might be appropriate.

This little pamphlet is very well intentioned, but neither tells a good story (despite having the best original material) nor makes God or Christ out to be particularly worth following. It is definitely a text intended (or at least it's only good) for people who are (a) already very familiar with the majority of the stories and (b) already convinced. Beyond that, though, it neither tells a good yarn nor goes into any kind of theological detail (which is a shame, as that's where the thoughts and questions lie).

If you want a good version of the stories, and they really are good, I reckon the best bet is to get a children's Bible. You know the kind - with corny and mutedly-coloured illustrations of shepherds with tea-towels on their heads. And if you want the theology, there are, I very much hope, some good condensations of the text out there - but until I stumble across it (or someone recommends one), I'll be sticking with the good old King James version.

Having said that, if you really do want an extraordinarily general overview, The 100-Minute Bible is better than nothing - it really does take about 100 minutes (and there's even a large-print version available if you feel your eyesight will hinder your speedy reading).