Genesis 1-12

When I first read the Bible, I had problems with it. It tends to contradict itself in very obvious ways. For example, Genesis 1 and 2. They have different accounts of creation. Which makes me pause, because you'd think creation should at least only have one tale regarding it. However, I read an interesting introduction to this new Bible here, and it suggests to look past the tale to look for meaning, and so that is what I will be doing, rather than pointing out contradictions. EEEEHnyway...
So far, I have learned several things:
Half of Genesis is very interested in young men, and who their fathers were. Or, more specifically, their lineage.
1. God hates vegetarians. Cain is spurned for his offering of "the fruit of the ground", while Abel is praised for his offering from his flock. Also, Jehovah forbid Adam and Eve from eating a fruit. Knowledge of Good and Evil, indeed. Rather, knowledge of good fruit.
2. Women are only mentioned if they were really hot or really gullible or really evil. We have discussed this a bit in class, with Lot's wife and daughters, Sarai (who so far up through Genesis 12 has simply been hot, though she supposedly becomes a little more evil later on), Eve, etc., being in one of these categories. Maybe this trend will change as we continue.
3. Nakedness is to be avoided in public. Not just for you, but for others as well. Ham's family is forced into slavery because he saw Noah naked. Poor Ham.

On a more serious note, I recall a book I once read that treated the creation story(ies) as an allegory of two societies, one of the hunter/gatherer society and one of the more civilized agricultural society. It was an excellent book, though the premise was a little weird (a telepathic gorilla is one of the main characters). It was called "Ishmael." I'll post a link for it, hopefully it'll spur some interest for you:

http://books.google.com/books?id=83p-OMrNalYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=ishmael&hl=en&ei=EzSJTNGYA5S6sQPxq8DMCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

To all my devoted fans, good luck and happy hunting.