Ben Hur: A tale of the Christ

The first thing I want to address is the “speed” of this book. I first read this book in the fall or winter of 1971, and at that time, as a high school senior, I was well-accustomed to reading Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Victor Hugo, and all those other authors of the Victorian era (and before!) B......more

Historical fiction as a genre was first developed by the writers of the Romantic school, which arose around the end of the 18th century; the Romantics were drawn by the exoticism of historical settings and the drama of epochal events, and even of daily life in a time was life was wilder and more dan......more

"Out of that vast tomb Christianity issued to supersede the Caesars." Ben Hur is one of those classic works better recognised for its many adaptations. To this end it seems fair to compare it to another highly similar work - Les Miserables. Both are classic historical fiction works which use hist......more

Third Reading - Lent 2017 Could there be a better classic to read during Lent?! Second reading - Lent 2016. Absolutely better on the second reading. What American is unaware of the Charlton Heston chariot race? It is absolutely iconic. In Anne of Green Gables, Anne is caught reading Ben Hur during les......more

I've been meaning to read this book for at least 40 or 50 years and have just never gotten farther than starting it and then not finishing it. The reason I hadn't finished it in the past was that I'd pick something else up to read. See this book was written or at least published in 1880...the langua......more