Ben-Hur

By: Lew Wallace

Narrated by: Lloyd James

Length: 23 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

An American classic, Ben-Hur is both a vivid historical epic and the powerful story of one man's spiritual journey from slavery to vengeance to redemption. Born the son of a Jewish nobleman, Ben-Hur is condemned to the galleys for life for accidentally dislodging a piece of tile that falls on the Roman procurator. He is betrayed by his best friend, manages to escape his imprisonment, and gains revenge and glory before the cheering multitudes in the chariot races at the Roman circus in Antioch. Later, he fulfills his true destiny at the foot of a cross on a hill in Jerusalem.

(P)2000 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"This is a performance of sustained excellence, sustained across a range of characters and emotions, across time and geography. Male and female, young and old, the self-absorbed and the selfless, the worldly and the spiritual; all are within the compass of James' command. His reading is at once evocative, moving, and entertaining." (AudioFile)

Great Christian Read

The story has great characters villains to hate and heroes to love. Surrounding the story around Jesus Christ's Life is awesome. Fun read

Over and over

I listen to Ben-Hur every Christmas season and I love it every time. The narrator is excellent and the length is perfect for winter evenings.

Still A Great Story!

A great story when first written and still a great story to listen to. Audible offers two unabridged versions; listen to both samples and dertimine which you would rather listen to. One with a Bostonian accent and one without. I first read this story as a teenager, and now in my sixties, it still remains one of my all time favorites. If you're not in for over 20 hours of listing, get the unabridged version. It's an action adventure at 2 1/2 hours and I have found it to be a favorite of mine to fall asleep at night listing to (spurs some interesting dreams).

Wonderful - Listened twice

I was held spell bound by the narration and the story.I have actually listened twice and enjoyed it even more the second time. The slight technical glitches did not affect my enjoyment of the story. Much better than the movie!

A Great Tale That Endures Time

Innocence lost, betrayal, suffering, love, humor, redemption, revenge, forgiveness, if these be qualities that move you then here is a book for you. This is also an extremely accurate depiction of cultures, of varying ethnicities and faiths. Described in a manner that I feel authors of today could not achieve. The background is vividly portrayed as you accompany the main character along his journey from beginning to end. This books focus goes well beyond what the motion picture industry portrays.

Ben Hur Narrated by Lloyd James

Book starts out slow and dull (however, I realize laying a background). Narrator is one of the worst I've heard on audible. Could go to sleep by him.

Good Narrator, bad editing

great performance and story, but the audio editing on this recording is poor. many abrupt stops, cutting words.

boring

Love the movie. book is to boring to listen to, same with reading it also.

More biblical than action

This is a long, quite slow moving biblical epic. I got this because I loved the movie, and this was much greater in breadth than the movie. The movie is about the enslavement of an innocent Jew in the time of Christ, and his journey to escape slavery and seek revenge against the Roman who is responsible for his punishment. Almost all the additional material was biblical in nature, with many discussions and thoughts about the meaning of god and the coming of the messiah. The novel starts with the meeting of the three kings and the birth of Christ. It is not even until the second hour of listening that Ben Hur is even introduced. While I am not a believing Christian, I do enjoy biblical stories coming to life, and this novel did a great job of doing that. There were great parts of this novel, both about Ben Hur's tale of vengance and the birth and death of Jesus. My complaint is that there were many slow moving parts in between the engaging ones. If you are a lover of the bible and a patient reader, and especially if you are a believing Christian, you might love this book. It does transport the reader effectively to a different time. I did get the feel of what is was like to be a Jew or Arab in the Roman empire. I gave this three stars because I enjoyed half the novel and was antsy with the slowness the other half.

Riveting Historical Storyline

As each main character's lives become intertwined, you are drawn into their passions, beliefs & purposes. The historical details of the conflicting cultures - their love, compassion, hate, and loyalties - makes you a part of the story. Amazing that Gen. Lew Wallace wrote this post-Civil War. His writing style draws you in - like a bystander privy to all and you can't take your eyes off the drama (rather, hard to stop listening, ok?). The narration is absolutely wonderful. Good listening to this book at bedtime. Great introduction of Christ & very spiritually uplifting.