It's more fun to watch the chariot race in both 1925 and 1959 film adaptations than it is to read about in Wallace's original novel. The book also suffers for lack of a proper confrontation with Messala and has none of the iconic dialogue that makes the 1959 version sparkle. While very readable, what's here is indulgent and spends more time scene-setting than developing characters. I also find it strange why something so overtly religious and dependent on the miraculous would omit any mention of the resurrection. Overrated, in my opinion. The (mentioned) films commit their own sins but largely improve on the material. ( )

I donated the book to the Friends of the Library because I didn't care for the outdated art.

Don’t know what happened, don’t care what happened ( )

A classic narrative of revenge and redemption that still thrills the reader. While the classic movie is one of the great films of all time, this book is also a great read and like most books it is better than the film version. ( )

My copy of Ben-Hur is over 50 years old – broken spine; brown, brittle pages; looks like it was written on a type-writer. It belonged to my father, who had an entire collection of books from the same publisher – Bancroft Classic. I’ve inherited this one, as well as Robinson Crusoe and A Tale of Two Cities. This one, I’ve been meaning to read the longest.

Ben-Hur follows the story of Judah, Prince of Jerusalem of the house of Hur, a young Jewish man who is wrongly accused of the attempted murder of a Roman General by a man he thought was his friend. After spending years as a galley slave, rowing the boat of another Roman General, Judas is set free and adopted by a Roman whom he saves from drowning. The rest…well, the rest is spoilers.

The novel ties in historical happenings around the time of Roman-Judea to the life of the infamous Jesus Christ. In fact, the whole novel is framed by his life and death. Judas, a faithful Jew, encounters Jesus Christ (and those affected by him) multiple times throughout the story, and it becomes most prominent at the very end.

The whole novel is, therefore, a very Christian tale. You can tell it is by the way Wallace wrote about people’s interactions with Jesus, and the way the miracles are portrayed. Rather than being a purely historical tale, the whole thing stinks of Christian propaganda and the teachings the religion brings.

Now, I’m not the most religious person in the world, but I did enjoy reading this. While the whole thing felt a bit like a morality tale at parts, and the glorification of the Christ figure is a bit too much for my taste, it’s still a classic that deserves to be read.

So, I did just that.

Final Rating: 3/5 – Not a waste of time to read, but I wouldn’t recommend it to just anyone. ( )