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Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

Lew Wallace

4.03 · Rating details · 32,639 ratings · 1,083 reviews

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1880) by Lew Wallace is one of the most popular and beloved 19th century American novels. This faithful New Testament tale combines the events of the life of Jesus with grand historical spectacle in the exciting story of Judah of the House of Hur, a man who finds extraordinary redemption for himself and his family.A classic of faith, fortitud ...more

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Hardcover, 620 pages

Published October 18th 2007 by Norilana Books (first published November 12th 1880)

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Jul 12, 2009 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical, novels, classics, 19th-century, fiction, united-states

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, Lew Wallace

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ is a novel by Lew Wallace published by Harper & Brothers on November 12, 1880, and considered "the most influential Christian book of the nineteenth century".

The story recounts in descriptive detail the adventures of Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish prince from Jerusalem who is enslaved by the Romans at the beginning of the 1st century and becomes a charioteer and a Christian. Running in parallel with Judah's narrative is the unfold Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, Lew Wallace

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ is a novel by Lew Wallace published by Harper & Brothers on November 12, 1880, and considered "the most influential Christian book of the nineteenth century".

The story recounts in descriptive detail the adventures of Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish prince from Jerusalem who is enslaved by the Romans at the beginning of the 1st century and becomes a charioteer and a Christian. Running in parallel with Judah's narrative is the unfolding story of Jesus, from the same region and around the same age. The novel reflects themes of betrayal, conviction, and redemption, with a revenge plot that leads to a story of love and compassion. ...

تاریخ نخستین خوانش: ماه فوریه سال 1971میلادی

عنوان: بن هور؛ نویسنده: لوئیس والاس؛ مترجم: محمد نوروزی؛ تهران، امیرکبیر، فرانکلین، 1339؛ در 8ص و 535ص؛ موضوع داستانهای علمی تخیلی از نویسندگان امریکایی؛ سده 19م

عنوان: بن هور - یا، داستان عیسی؛ نویسنده: لوئیس والاس؛ مترجم: محمود شایگان؛ تهران، علمی، 1363؛ در 337ص؛ فروست: داستانهای علمی تخیلی؛

خانم «ناهید سلطانی»، و آقایان: «امین نصیری»؛ «اسماعیل (اسمعیل) شایگان»؛ «کیومرث پارسای»؛ «حسن نامدار»؛ «محمدتقی دانیا»؛ نیز این کتاب را ترجمه کرده اند

کتاب در سال 1880میلادی نوشته شده است؛ داستان شاهزاده‌ ای یهودی به نام «جودا بن‌هور» است؛ که ناجوانمردانه به جرم سوء قصد به جان فرستاده ی سزار، توسط دوست رومی‌ خویش دستگیر، و به بردگی و بندگی، و دیگر اعضای خانواده‌ اش هم به سیاهچال فرستاده می‌شوند؛ او پس از عبور از ماجراهای بسیار، به وطن خویش بازمی‌گردد، تا انتقام گیرد و خواهر و مادرش را رهایی بخشد...؛

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 22/07/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی ...more

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Nov 11, 2013 Mary rated it it was amazing

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!) Back then, I read one Shakespeare play every year for high school English literature (with support from my friends and the teacher!), and had even slogged through the assigned portions of Beowulf. That ...more

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Aug 18, 2014 Vanessa J. rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015, terrible-writing, das-ungeheuer-is-to-blame, je-suis-masochiste, overhyped, classics, historical-fiction, boring, disappointing

Is not his the law, Eye for eye, hand for hand, foot for foot? Oh, in all these years I have dreamed of vengeance, and prayed and provided for it, and gathered patience from the growing of my store, thinking and promising, as the Lord liveth, it will one day buy me punishment of the wrong-doers?

Who's in for a revenge tale set in the first century a.C.?

Ben-Hur is a man who's perfectly happy. He has a mother and a sister who love him, and he's friends with a Roman, and that puts him in a posit ...more

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Nov 14, 2012 Jonathan Terrington rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books-to-read-before-you-die, personal-favourites, books-with-films-2, classic-literature, faith, classic-challenge-2, historical

"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 history to spread themes and ideas about humanity as a whole. Both novels also regularly divert from the storytelling to provide detailed insights into history. This is perhaps where Ben Hur is stronger t ...more

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Nov 01, 2017 Werner rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Fans of 19th-century literature, or of historical fiction

Shelves: classics, historical-fiction

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 dangerous. Lew Wallace's masterwork stands squarely in this tradition, but takes it in a new direction. For the first couple of Romantic generations, "history" largely meant European history. Biblical hi 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 dangerous. Lew Wallace's masterwork stands squarely in this tradition, but takes it in a new direction. For the first couple of Romantic generations, "history" largely meant European history. Biblical history, outside of the text of the Bible itself, simply wasn't that well known; archaeology was in its infancy, and neither writers or readers could really imagine the Biblical world as it actually was.

By 1880, however, scholarship had pulled back the curtain of obscurity enough to bring to light the basic contours of that ancient and Near Eastern world, and a full-fledged epic novel of the time of Christ had become possible. It was Lew Wallace's destiny to write it. A lawyer-politician with a military background in both the Mexican and Civil Wars, he was already a successful historical novelist. At the time he embarked on writing Ben Hur, by his own statement, he had no particular religious beliefs; but during the seven years of research he put in for the writing of the novel, his study of the New Testament and its historical background led him to become a Christian believer. Although title character Judah Ben Hur is the novel's protagonist, this is also very much, as the subtitle says, a tale of the Christ, who will be the decisive influence in the protagonist's life; and the author's treatment of Christ and his ministry is thoroughly reverent.

The novel isn't without its flaws. Having a background in Biblical scholarship, I'm prone to notice factual errors in the historical-cultural details; and despite Wallace's research, there are several of them here, though in the interests of time I'll refrain from cataloging them. Besides his typical 19th-century diction (which doesn't bother me personally, though it does some modern readers), his pacing can be slow, especially in the opening chapters, and a few passages of dialogue basically take the form of long, sermon-like discourses or expositions that can be on the dry side. His prose style is often description-heavy, and there sometimes isn't a corresponding gain in the clarity with which readers can visualize the scenes (for instance, despite the laborious attempt to describe the appointments of the ampitheater at Antioch, I can't say I really have a clear mental picture of it, though that may be my fault and not his). He inserts miraculous Divine activity into some contexts where the New Testament writers don't; and in common with most 19th-century Christians, he belabors a false dichotomy between Christ as a savior and "spiritual" king vs. his role as future king of the physical world, a dichotomy which IMO makes nonsense of both Old and New Testament eschatology (though Wallace is right in recognizing that Christ's mission in his first coming was vastly more profound, and less militant, than the role the Zealots wanted to cast him in).

However, the pluses here strongly outweigh the minuses. This is a substantial novel, dealing with serious spiritual, moral and psychological issues, and embodying them in the experiences and decisions of very well-drawn, lifelike characters. To be sure, there is the full panoply of a Romantic -school novel of excitement and adventure, with plenty of appeal to strong emotions (miscarriage of justice, galley slavery, piracy, shipwreck, a high-stakes chariot race with the possibility of death or injury for the contestants, a romantic triangle, revenge, betrayal, the horrors of leprosy, and above all the intense real-life drama of the crucifixion of Christ, here depicted with as much horrific force as prose can give it without the visual element). All of this, of course, is something the Realist critical establishment, of Wallace's day and ours, sees as literary mortal sin, and deprecates accordingly --and which I do not. But it's coupled with a significant message that's as profound as that of any other classic novel that's stood the test of time. That combination made this the best-selling novel of the 19th-century, and ensured that it's never been out of print since. It was the decisive influence in opening up the Biblical world as a setting for historical fiction, which innumerable authors since have made use of, and in opening up the minds of conservative Protestant readers in the English-speaking world to the legitimacy of fiction as an art form. These are no mean achievements; by any objective measure, Wallace ranks as one of the most influential and significant American authors of his period, although you would never discover this from most of the "official" literary histories and academic survey courses.

Note: I read this in the 1992 Reader's Digest unabridged edition, which has an illuminating Afterword adapted from Lew Wallace, Militant Romantic, by Robert and Katharine Morsberger. ...more

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Mar 01, 2009 Sara rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

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 lessons but couldn't put it down because of the intensity of the chariot race.

Most Americans have grown up with at least a passing exposure to the Hollywood epic of Ben Hur and therefore will find the t 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 lessons but couldn't put it down because of the intensity of the chariot race.

Most Americans have grown up with at least a passing exposure to the Hollywood epic of Ben Hur and therefore will find the text to be surreal and disorienting at first and then much richer than the beloved movie as the story evolves.

This very complex story has a whole cast of important characters and hundreds of pages to work out their stories. It is a lot to read and keep straight - but it is packed with one incredible story and some of the most beautiful biblical imagery I have ever read.

While the story is layered, exciting and quick moving, it is the beautiful scenery that Wallace paints that stays with me. Wallace carefully orients the reader in the sights, smells and people in the background of each scene. This makes for very entertaining reading but in the scenes with Christ, this leaves a reader feeling as though they were actually there.

We see Christ through 3rd person eyes but sometimes we also see him through Judah's eyes and this is very helpful during the Passion. We relate to Judah's struggle against wanting to defend Christ with a sword against the Romans but being bound by His will. Wallace does a brilliant job of drawing Judah right into those famous biblical scenes without compromising the Gospel one iota. His ability to hold a fictional plot line in tandem with these eternally famous final days of Christ's life is inspired. I was particularly gratified by how Wallace was able to include Judah into the most famous scenes of the Gospel without changing Christ's words one syllable. The way that he fills in the context is very inspiring to this reader. In fact, I wish that more biblical movies would study the final chapters of this brilliant book.

There are so many interesting themes that one could teach an entire year on this text and the rabbit trails it takes us on. Egyptian mythology, Eastern religions, Jewish customs, Jewish law, Judaism across different cultures, Roman expansion and occupation, Roman military engineering - specifically their dominance at sea, Roman games - specifically chariot racing, Arabian horses, Leprosy, Jewish banking, Slavery, the life of Christ, persecution of the early Christians, etc. etc. etc.

This is a book that I will re-read every few years and always during Lent. This is a beautiful example of fiction revealing Truth, Goodness and Beauty. I am a better person for having let the Prince of Hur move into my heart.

First reading Apr 1-13, 2014. Without a particular thought to the season in which I chose to read this, I was, by Divine Intervention, scheduled to read this at the end of Lent. The incredible last 50 pages on Palm Sunday weekend. Ben Hur was a beloved childhood movie. I had no idea how much richer and profound the book would be. Beginning with the wisemens' meeting and ending with the persecution of Christians by Nero, this book is a Christ story as well as an incredible fictional adventure and love story. Absolutely incredible. ...more

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Nov 27, 2017 Mike (the Paladin) rated it really liked it

Shelves: action, christian-fiction, historical-fiction

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 language and the writing reflect that.

Look, that is not a criticism it's simply a fact. I had trouble acclimating myself to the period writing.

Also I suspect most reading this will have seen the Charlton He ...more

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Nov 12, 2008 Christian McKay rated it it was ok

Shelves: regrettables

The first sign that I should not have read this book was the discrepancy in hours between the abridged and unabridged versions on audible. Unabridged: 21 hours, Abridged: 3 hours. I bought it anyway and soon discovered why. There's about 15% story and 85% fluff in Ben Hur. It is, hands down, the best argument for editing I have ever read.

For example, there was a section in the beginning where two men embraced. That's all we need to know, right? No, no. Of course not. We have to hear that they t ...more

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Jul 17, 2019 Charles van Buren rated it liked it · review of another edition

Excellent novel, weak theology.

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Feb 08, 2020 David Eppenstein rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, classics

Like probably most if not all of you I have seen the movie made from this book and more than once. To no one's surprise I last saw that movie a very long time ago. Consequently, I cannot say just how faithful the screen adaptation was to this book but I think the book, as we would all expect, is better and the ending much more fulfilling. Now why read a book first published in 1880? To be honest, as a kid, I liked the movie though after reading this book I think Charleton Heston was horribly mis Like probably most if not all of you I have seen the movie made from this book and more than once. To no one's surprise I last saw that movie a very long time ago. Consequently, I cannot say just how faithful the screen adaptation was to this book but I think the book, as we would all expect, is better and the ending much more fulfilling. Now why read a book first published in 1880? To be honest, as a kid, I liked the movie though after reading this book I think Charleton Heston was horribly miscast as a Jewish man in his late 20s to early 30s. Later, in my fascination with history I learned that the author of Ben Hur was Lew Wallace a Union general in our Civil War. I thought it very odd for a general of Wallace's repute would be writing a novel and a novel such as this one. So I was curious about this book and got even more curious when I learned that it was the most popular American novel of the 19th century surpassing Uncle Tom's Cabin. Life, however, doesn't always allow us to satisfy our curiosities whenever we please and I just never got around to reading this book until now.

I have to admit that I think the knowledge gained from seeing the movie did reduce the tension that one might have had if the movie had not been seen. Nevertheless, I did find the book written better than I expected. I have read books written in the 19th century and have found the written language of that time to be very formal and stiff, in fact quite dull and that was what I expected in this book. I am pleased to say my expectation was not met. While Wallace did his best to replicate the language styles of the Biblical era his writing otherwise was almost modern in its usage. I was also very impressed with the amount of research the general had to do to write this historical fiction as he had never been to the Holy Land. I knew that after the Civil War Wallace became the territorial governor of New Mexico and I had the opportunity a few years ago to tour the Old Governor's Palace in Santa Fe where part of this book was written. The general's descriptions of the culture and geography of this early Christian Era history is remarkably detailed and I was now curious as to how he managed this accomplishment. Thanks to Google I learned that Wallace spent of great deal of time in the Library of Congress specifically researching for this book. So the story while probably well known to most readers is well written and its age doesn't show in the reading and it is worth reading. After the reading you might experience the same final curiosity that I had.

Lew Wallace was a military man, a man that played a key role in the Civil War and was a man of war. Ben Hur is a book set during the life of Christ and the Crucifixion is a pivotal scene in the story. Why would such a man write such a book? I thought about this while reading and I was able to see parallels between Wallace's story and the Civil War and the Reconstruction. The book is about misunderstood causes and rebellion, unjust enslavements, the useless pursuit of revenge, forgiveness and rebuilding. Upon thinking about it I could believe the writing of this book might have been very cathartic for a combat general in such a horrible war. The book might be very old but it is worth reading and I'm glad I did.

Now I have a question that I hope some of you more knowledgeable in literary history and trivia can answer. The book I have is a Wilder publication from 2011 and it is titled Ben Hur by Lew Wallace, however, at the top of every lefthand page in bold type is the name Sir Edwin Arnold as though Arnold was the author. I Googled Arnold and discovered he was a 19th century author and poet but there was no apparent relationship to Wallace or Ben Hur mentioned. I checked Wallace and there was nothing to be found connecting him to Arnold. Can anybody explain why Arnold's name is on every page of this book? ...more

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Jul 22, 2011 David Sarkies rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Everybody

Recommended to David by: Charlton Heston

Shelves: historical

One man's search for redemption
27 July 2010

Needless to say that the book is much better than the movie, and when it comes to Ben Hur, that is definitely saying something. While the famous scenes in the movie are replicated from the book (that being the chariot race and the sea battle), there is much more to the book than there is to the movie (though the theme is the same in both). The book is actually called Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ. It may seem that Christ is only a bit part in the book One man's search for redemption
27 July 2010

Needless to say that the book is much better than the movie, and when it comes to Ben Hur, that is definitely saying something. While the famous scenes in the movie are replicated from the book (that being the chariot race and the sea battle), there is much more to the book than there is to the movie (though the theme is the same in both). The book is actually called Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ. It may seem that Christ is only a bit part in the book (and in the movie) but his presence in the world of Ben Hur dominates.

Much of Ben Hur is about who the Christ is and what his purpose is in the world, and there is a lot of discussion about this. We have Balthasar, an Egyptian and one of the wise men who visited Christ at birth. He is seeking a redeemer, somebody to restore the relationship between humanity and their creator. Then there is Ben Hur, a Jew who believes that the Messiah is a king who shall come and liberate them from the Romans (and he even has three legions ready to be called when the king comes on his own). To us this side of the cross, Balthasar is correct in identifying Christ as a redeemer, and it is that realisation in Ben Hur that forms the centerpiece of the book (and this is something that isn't teased out in the movie, though the scene where Ben Hur sits at the foot of the cross and looks up to Christ still sits in my mind as one of the greatest scenes in film history).

However the first part of the book (like the movie) is about how Ben Hur comes through his own redemption. At the beginning he meets Masarla, a childhood friend who traveled to Rome for an education, and it is when they meet as adults that they discover that they can no longer be friends. Masarla believes that the Jews are a backward people clinging to their outdated traditions (much like how the world views Christians today) while Ben Hur is convinced by his mother that these outdated traditions are not outdated, but eternal, and demonstrates that Masarla is incorrect when he accuses the Jews of not having a culture (and identifies the psalms and the prophets as examples of their literary ability – indeed today the book of Isaiah is considered a literary masterpiece).

Ben Hur travels to hell in the form of being a slave on a galley, but he is released shortly before the battle, and it is this act of a gracious tribune that redeems him in the eyes of Rome. From then on, while clinging to his Jewish heritage, he is reborn as a Roman and is able to pass through the Roman world as a Roman. However, it is his heritage that defines him, and Ben Hur is faithful to that heritage.

While in the film the focus is on Ben Hur's search for his mother and sister, and then his quest to see them healed of their leprosy, this is a mere sub-plot in the book. The quest is for the Christ and the redemption of Israel, however at its conclusion, it is not a physical redemption from Rome that is achieved, but a spiritual redemption with God. ...more

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Dec 22, 2014 Rebecca rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015-reads, historical-fiction, favorite

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Wow.
I have put off reading 'Ben-Hur' for years because well it was just too long, too big, to old, to boring sounding. And after seeing the horrible rendition of the movie I thought that I certainly didn't need to read it any time soon. Finally however my sister convinced me to read it and as soon as I picked it up I was hooked.
It takes a truly great author to write historical fiction I believe for unlike Fantasy, where you can make everything up, historical fiction has to be at least somewhat Wow.
I have put off reading 'Ben-Hur' for years because well it was just too long, too big, to old, to boring sounding. And after seeing the horrible rendition of the movie I thought that I certainly didn't need to read it any time soon. Finally however my sister convinced me to read it and as soon as I picked it up I was hooked.
It takes a truly great author to write historical fiction I believe for unlike Fantasy, where you can make everything up, historical fiction has to be at least somewhat historically accurate and if its not, well Lord help the author whose book I come across that is not historically accurate.:)
Lew Wallis is one of those few truly great authors that can write a compelling, interesting, exciting, vivid, detailed, fast-paced, sweeping, epic, historical fiction book that gives the genre a great name. Ben-Hur has got to be one of the best pieces of literary work written that I have ever read.
At first, reading Ben-Hur, I was sympathetic towards Egypt and didn't like Esther who I thought weak and a wimp (My only problem with the book.) But in the end Egypt turned out to be a traitor and showed her true colors and Esther, although still a tad of a wimp, was not so bad and I believe Ben-Hur made the right choice in marrying her.
The tale of Christ, intricately woven into that of Ben-Hur and being as much part of the book as he was, was told wonderfully and accurately and by the end of the book I was crying as I read again of the love of God towards humankind and His greatest gift of His only begotten Son; Jesus Christ.
I fear that I am rambling now so I will cut it short with just one last word: at the end of the book there was a 'Afterword' telling a bit about the author and the writing of Ben-Hur. What I found extremely interesting was how it used to be a mandated read in the school system and one of the 'have to read' books for everyone. All I can say is I wish it still was and it should be made so again for everyone can benefit from this hauntingly-beautiful, thought-provoking book of mercy, loss, revenge and the greatest of all things: Love.
One more thing that I thought of that I had a problem with in this book was that there was no talk of the resurrection of Jesus Christ a very important and necessary part of salvation that shouldn't be overlooked. I feel that the author should have spoken of this for without the resurrection there can be no everlasting life in Heaven. ...more

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Apr 09, 2014 Suzannah rated it really liked it

Shelves: classics, historical-fiction

There is a very small genre that I love. Set during the late ancient times, it tends to be sensational, exciting, and full of moral fibre. That's right—I'm talking about that guilty pleasure of the Christian fiction world, the Tale of Early Christianity, the ultimate have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too book, in which people with shocking vices get saved and then (like as not) served to the lions in the Circus Maximus. Henryk Sienkiewicz won the Nobel Prize for Quo Vadis, perhaps the masterpiece of the There is a very small genre that I love. Set during the late ancient times, it tends to be sensational, exciting, and full of moral fibre. That's right—I'm talking about that guilty pleasure of the Christian fiction world, the Tale of Early Christianity, the ultimate have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too book, in which people with shocking vices get saved and then (like as not) served to the lions in the Circus Maximus. Henryk Sienkiewicz won the Nobel Prize for Quo Vadis, perhaps the masterpiece of the genre in 1907, but it continues today with the Mark of the Lion novels by Francine Rivers and many others.

Ben-Hur, subtitled A Tale of the Christ, may have been the first notable work in this genre. And it's a really good one. When Judah Ben-Hur's estranged childhood friend, the Roman Messala, betrays him into a life as a galley-slave and leaves his mother and sister to rot in prison, Ben-Hur survives only by vowing revenge. The wheel of fortune eventually brings him wealth, power, and an incredibly well-developed physique, so he returns to Palestine hell-bent on exacting the kind of comeuppance that would make the Count of Monte Cristo raise his eyebrows and tut. Along the way he makes the acquaintance not only of Messiah claimant Jesus of Nazareth but also of the beautiful and scheming Iras the Egyptian.

There is, at one point, a chariot race, but that's only a fraction of the fun to be had. In case you didn't notice yet, this is one ripping tale of backstabbing, revenge, adventure, true love, and more melodrama than you could possibly imagine. Mixed in are some theological musings which I, when I first read it, found very profound, and still enjoy.

I had read the book perhaps five times when I got around to seeing the movie, and was consequently surprised to see the decidedly pale and husky Charlton Heston playing Ben-Hur, although gratified to see some of the storylines played with even more melodrama. Unfortunately, the movie did not include the character of Iras the Egyptian. This is a shame, because she might be the best character in the book. I was also a little disappointed by the omission of the scene at the Palace Idernee.

Before I finish—you, dear reader, may go off to read Ben-Hur and be disappointed to find it slightly more slowly moving than you expect. It does take a little time to get underway, though it gathers steam after the Prologue and kicks into high gear halfway through. It's a fantastic adventure story well worth being patient with.

(Review originally posted at Vintage Novels) ...more

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Sep 05, 2008 Teri rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, 2009, church-religion, read-the-book-watch-the-movie

Went to a BYU education week class on finding good books to read. A woman in the class recommended this one. One of her favorites. I look forward to reading it and then watching the movie which Sally has highly recommended.
I loved this story. It was a bit of a challenge in the beginning. There is a lot of detailed description of clothing, customs, etc. Wallace addressed the reader and would try to put you in the location he was describing. It took some patience, but I began to really enjoy it. ...more

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May 06, 2020 Olivia rated it it was ok

Shelves: classics, historical-fiction, faith-related

I think Elizabeth said this best: "A great story. Not always told in the greatest way."

There were moments that truly spoke to me spiritually, moments that were outstanding. But there were also many moments that were not. I wanted to rate it three stars just for those passages that were so meaningful, but I knew that two stars would more accurately reflect my opinion, so here we are.

[Also I'm in increasingly desperate need of a solid 4- or 5-star read so send help plz. *sobs*] ...more

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Jul 04, 2016 Winter Sophia Rose rated it it was amazing

Engaging, Moving, Thrilling, Uplifting, Unforgettable, Action Packed & Life Changing! An Amazing Classic! I Loved It! ...more

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Jun 21, 2013 Julie Davis rated it liked it

Having just watched the 2016 Ben Hur (which was inferior to the classic 1959 film, but very interesting as a companion piece), I decided to reread the book because my memory of it is muddled by all the film versions. Enjoying it so far and surprised by some of the book facts that the movies changed.

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I'm listening to the LibriVox recording by Mark F. Smith. AND reading the Readers' Digest version which is unabridged and has illustrations on every page. It's the next best thing to watching ...more

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Dec 05, 2016 Robin Hatcher rated it it was amazing

Shelves: challenge-2016, audiobooks

I first read Ben-Hur when I was in my late teens or early 20s. But over time, the Charlton Heston movie version (a favorite that I watch often) replaced anything about the book in my mind. Therefore, I decided it was time I revisited this classic novel, first published in the USA in 1880.

This novel is surprisingly easy to read, considering when it was written. The style is as that of a storyteller, speaking directly to his audience, and I quickly fell under the spell of the story being told. The ...more

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Aug 25, 2016 Ron rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, gutenberg, historical-fiction, christian-fiction

“A man is never so on trial as in the moment of excessive good fortune.”

Read the book. Many people argue about the relative merits of the 2015 movie version of Ben-Hur versus the classic 1959 version. I liked both, but realized I hadn’t read the underlying book, published in 1880. Now I have: forget the movies; read the book.

“When God walks the earth, his steps are often centuries apart.”

Moderns think, “That’s the story about the chariot race.” No. The chariot race occurs two-thirds of the way ...more

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Sep 16, 2017 Kim rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 4-star, favorites-2017

An inspiring read... more to follow.

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May 03, 2013 Joshua rated it really liked it

Before reading the book, I had the pleasure of watching the 1959 film. So, whilst reading the book, I found myself constantly comparing it to the film. There are so many differences! The book, like most, have a lot more backstory and character development than in the film.
Two of the characters that stood out to me in difference from the film the most where: Tirzah (Judah Ben Hur's Sister) and Quintus Arrius (Judah's Step-father). To me both book versions where way better than what was portrayed ...more

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Sep 09, 2019 Ivi Oltovska rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 1002-before-i-die, best-of-the-best, best-classics-ever

loved it epic 5 stars

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Aug 14, 2018 Allen M Werner rated it liked it · review of another edition

Said to be "the most influential Christian book of the 19th century," I thought it was about time I read it, having seen the silent film from 1925, and the religious epic of 1959 - both films I highly recommend, although the book is different in many ways although not deeper - just different.
Reading any book written in 1880 is a challenge for us today unless you are accustomed to reading books from this time period. I am not. I've read some but never had a steady diet of them. On that note, let ...more

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Jun 03, 2018 Nooilforpacifists rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ancient-history, religion

Really two books; the first about a young Jewish Prince, Judah Ben-Hur, who contemplates rebellion with Rome, the second in which Ben-Hur increasingly is intertwined with the life of Jesus. Published in 1880, it quickly became the second best selling book in the English language until 1936, when “Gone With The Wind” shattered its record.

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Mar 05, 2015 Yibbie rated it did not like it

Shelves: classics

Wallace's style is engaging, and his descriptions of the area are so clear you can easily picture Ancient Rome or Judah. The research seems quite accurate as to the customs of the time and place. He was a very good author.
I don't think his handling of Biblical characters was appropriate. There was just to much dialog and to many extra-biblical scenes. The Bible is the Word of God and only through it we have eternal life. We must be very careful in our handling of it. Especially if we are tryin ...more

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Jul 15, 2008 Rachel N rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

INCREDIBLE! I found this book to be on the same par as Les Miserables. The story begins with the birth of the Christ Child and a detailed depiction of the journey of the Three Wise Men (what could have happened), and ends with the Crucifixion of Jesus. In between these two world changing events is the story of a man (Ben Hur) from a wealthy family who is deeply betrayed by a Roman friend. He ends up in the bowels of a ship as an oarsman – a grueling job. Ben Hur’s life journey is described in gr ...more

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Jul 24, 2011 Brian Eshleman added it · review of another edition

Goes into more historical and character depth than does the movie. The story, movie or book, is an exciting classic, and the book enhances the attraction by spending more time on the human tendency to build kingdoms in this world in Christ's name versus living here in gratitude for His everlasting Kingdom. The only downside of the book is that the author is so ready to educate the reader on the culture and geography of the time, in itself a strength, that he takes long pauses in the story to do ...more

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Apr 09, 2018 Michael O'Brien rated it liked it · review of another edition

This was probably originally written about 50 years ago for a 3rd-5th grade reading level. It's good for that age group. Being an older comic, it's illustrations are about what you'd expect for that. It covers the main parts of the plot of the book, but it's condensed quite a bit. Probably good for one's kids, but, for adult fans of graphic novels, you may want more than what it's got in terms of story line.

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Jun 16, 2020 Czarny Pies rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Young people who know the Passion stories from the New Testament.

Shelves: american-literature

Published in 1880 with a Jewish hero, Ben-Hur is appears to be the work of a liberal progressive. A quick search on the Internet reveals that the Lew Wallace indeed had been a rabid abolitionist and that his mother-in-law was an active suffragette. Unfortunately, this well-intentioned book is extremely verbose and the author's decision to imitate the language of the King James Bible in his dialogues is highly irritating.

The biggest problem is that Wallace's novel is far more Christian than the H ...more

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Jan 04, 2014 Joseph rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: religion, philosophy, history

So this is the best selling American novel of all time. It is also a hit movie from 1959 and a new adaptation just hit the theaters last week.

The book itself is excellent. The subtitle is there so that, among other things, the last few chapters aren't a surprise. The main plot follows the young Judah Ben-Hur as he navigates his way from profound loss and betrayal back to wholeness, a wholeness which comes through his experiences of the Christ.

Quite likely, some people who read this will object So this is the best selling American novel of all time. It is also a hit movie from 1959 and a new adaptation just hit the theaters last week.

The book itself is excellent. The subtitle is there so that, among other things, the last few chapters aren't a surprise. The main plot follows the young Judah Ben-Hur as he navigates his way from profound loss and betrayal back to wholeness, a wholeness which comes through his experiences of the Christ.

Quite likely, some people who read this will object to its placement on my "history" shelf. By way of explanation, I put all historical novels I read on that shelf, and, despite objections from Bill Maher et al, Jesus of Nazareth is a historical figure. Get over it.

Maj. Gen. Wallace was a civil war veteran who became a successful author. And Ben-Hur probably has the most heartfelt dedication I've ever seen. "To the wife of my youth, who still abides with me." Gen. Wallace' prose is precise, yet poetic. The only times I recall having to reread a passage I was either falling asleep or was in a room with the TV on manufacturing my own distractions.

Gen. Wallace' command of the English language is on full display at the novel's opening when he has the three wise men discourse on Love, Faith, and Good Works. Gen. Wallace did his research for the novel, as he uses the traditionally assigned names of Balthasar, Gaspar, and Melchior for the wise men, and to my knowledge, prior to the writing of Ben-Hur, he was a kind of wishy washy Methodist and I don't believe the Methodist tradition makes broad use of those names in the way that Catholicism and Orthodoxy do. As the novel progresses, Gen. Wallace makes great use of the Balthasar character as a sounding board for his philosophical points.

There are some very fun aspects of reading older novels, this copy was a second edition, for instance, old spellings like "Cæsar", as well as old style type faces which I personally find to me more aesthetically interesting than modern mass market ones.

The novel culminates with the events of the Passion, with Gen. Wallace using heavy quotation, primarily from St John's Gospel. I wish that he had had access to more modern translations since, rather than the authoritative "I AM" in Gethsemane, we have to make due with "I am he". In the last few chapters, Ben-Hur becomes almost a Jewish Forrest Gump, accompanying Christ along the Via Crucis to the foot of the cross, and assuming recognizable roles from the Gospel narratives. Last night I had the privilege of serving an extraordinary form Mass, and the way that Gen. Wallace describes the crucifixion and the discussions that his characters have there make me certain he spoke to Catholics while researching. The ideas of the Communion of Saints, the Mass a participation in Christ's death and resurrection, and the cross as the place of Christ's Glory are all in the last chapter of the book. It is truly an excellent novel and one that everyone should read as an example of great American literature at the very least, and a modern proclamation of the Good News at the very greatest. ...more

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About Lew Wallace

Lew Wallace

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Lewis "Lew" Wallace was a lawyer, governor, Union general in the American Civil War, American statesman, and author, best remembered for his historical novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.

From Civil War Biography:

Although he would have much preferred to be remembered as a highly successful military hero, Lew Wallace has been thwarted in this ambition and is best known as an author. Born in Indiana Lewis "Lew" Wallace was a lawyer, governor, Union general in the American Civil War, American statesman, and author, best remembered for his historical novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.

From Civil War Biography:

Although he would have much preferred to be remembered as a highly successful military hero, Lew Wallace has been thwarted in this ambition and is best known as an author. Born in Indiana, he had worked as a clerk and early displayed a fascination for Mexico which would affect him in later years. During the Mexican War he served as a second lieutenant in the lst Indiana but saw only minor action. In 1849 he was admitted to the bar in his native state and seven years later entered the state senate.
With the outbreak of the Civil War he offered his services, and his assignments included: adjutant general of Indiana (April 1861); colonel, 11th Indiana (April 25, 1861); colonel, 11th Indiana (reorganized August 31, 1861); brigadier general, USV (September 3, 1861); commanding 3rd Division, District of Cairo, Department of the Missouri (February 14-17, 1862); major general, USV (March 21, 1862); commanding 3rd Division, Army of the Tennessee (February 17-June 1862); commanding 8th Corps, Middle Department (March 22, 1864-February 1,1865 and April 19-August 1, 1865); and also commanding the department (March 22, 1864-February 1,1865 and April 19-June 27, 1865).
His career got off to a promising start when he routed an inferior Confederate force at Romney, Virginia. Promoted to brigadier general, he was given charge of a newly organized division in the midst of the operations against Fort Donelson and was soon rewarded with a second star. However, that spring his reputation plummeted after the battle of Shiloh. On the first day his division was stationed north of the main army at Crump's Landing, and a series of contradictory orders from Grant forced him to countermarch his command and delayed his arrival on the main battlefield until the fighting was nearly over. He redeemed himself on the second day, but a scapegoat was needed for the near disaster the day before and this was Wallace. Sent home to await further orders, he offered his services to Indiana Governor Oliver P. Morton and, despite his high rank, took temporary command of a regiment during the emergency posed by Kirby Smith's invasion of Kentucky. With Cincinnati threatened, Wallace was placed in charge of a mostly civilian defense force. Through a show of tremendous energy he was able to save the city without a major fight. He was then head of the commission which examined Buell's handling of the invasion and other boards until placed in charge in Maryland in early 1864. There he bought valuable time for the defenders of Washington during Early's drive into the state when he made a stand at Monocacy with an inferior scratch force.
At the close of the war he sat on the court-martial which tried the Lincoln conspirators and presided over that which sent Andersonville chief Henry Wirz to the gallows. He then joined a movement to aid the Juarez forces against Maximilian in Mexico. He tried to raise money and troops and even accepted the title of major general from the Juarez group. On November 30, 1865, he resigned from the U.S. service, but his Mexican venture collapsed and he realized little of the money which he had hoped to gain from it. In later years he was governor of the New Mexico Territory and a diplomat to Turkey. As a prolific writer, who often drew upon his own experiences, he is best remembered for Ben Hur.- A Tale of the Cbrist, one of the most popular novels of the nineteenth century ...more