Resumo de Ben-hur: A Tale Of The Christ

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ is a novel by General Lew Wallace which was published on November 12, 1880, by Harper & Brothers. Wallace's work is part of an important sub-genre of historical fiction set among the characters of the New Testament. The novel was a phenomenal best-seller; it soon surpassed Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) as the best-selling American novel and retained this distinction until the 1936 publication of Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind. In 1912, Sears Roebuck published one million copies to sell for 39 cents apiece: the largest single year print edition in American history. Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ was the first work of fiction to be blessed by a pope.Lew Wallace said that he wrote Ben Hur as a way to sort out his own beliefs about God and Christ. In doing so he inspired many readers by combining romanticism and spiritual piety common in sentimental novels of the 19th century with the action and adventure found in the more vulgar stories of the day. It prompted many clergy to reverse their church's long-held opposition to novels and actually encourage their congregations to read Ben-Hur, as a result helping it to become one of the best selling novels of its time. It not only helped wipe away any lingering American resistance to the novel, it was instrumental in introducing many Christian audiences to theater and film. Ben-Hur has been hugely popular, often appearing on lists of "great American literature" which has been a source of frustration for many literary critics over the years. They point to problems such as flat characters and dialogue, unlikely coincidences that drive the plot and tedious and lengthy descriptions of settings. But other critics say it is highly entertaining and engrossing with a well structured plot and exciting story. The novel was quickly adapted into numerous stage productions, including one which recreated the climactic chariot race on stage using live horses, full size chariots, and a series of treadmills. With the subsequent development of the cinema, the novel was also adapted into motion pictures in 1907, 1925, 1959, & 2003.Ben-Hur was inspired in part by Wallace's love of the story The Count of Monte Cristo (1846) by Alexandre Dumas, which Dumas based on the true memoirs of a French shoemaker in the early 19th century who had been unjustly imprisoned, and who then spent the rest of his life seeking revenge. In his autobiography Wallace said that while he was writing Ben-Hur "...at my rough pine-table, the Count of Monte Cristo in his dungeon of stone was not more lost to the world."

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