Posted on 08/23/2004 10:29:14 AM PDT by dukeman
1. Wallace, what an interesting life!
2. The literary Ben-Hur story is different from the Charlton Heston theatrical version.
3. Leave it to God to use a renowned agnostic to spur on an inchoate believer who, in time, would write a book which contributed to the expansion of the kingdom.
Bump for later!
Ben Hur was written as fiction.
The Last Temptation of Mel took truth and perverted it.
bump!
Gen. Wallace is one of my ancestors. Thanks for the post about him. I obviously knew about Ben Hur but did not know much about his life prior.
Hey, that's cool you're related to Wallace and it's my pleasure to post this. This item was a bulletin insert yesterday at my church. I thought Freepers might enjoy it.
Thanks for the post! Ben-Hur has been one of my favourite books since I was nine. I was very much a fan of the Anne of Green Gables books, and when Anne got in trouble for reading it, why, I just had to go find it and read it to :)
Lew Wallace also wrote another novel called THE FAIR GOD about the Spanish conquest of Mexico.
In one chapter a Spanish soldier stumbles into the fabled underground city under the Aztec capitol.
There he finds one of the Aztec maidens and he escorts her out to the daylight. As they walk, he tells her of Christ and by the time they reach the exit to this underground city she has accepted Christ as Savior.
Upon opening the door to get out of the undeground city they find the Spanish and Aztecs embroiled in a hot war. She is struck by an errant crossbow shaft and dies a Christian saint.
This book was re-published in 1962 in paperback as a prelude to Warner Brothers making a movie (SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE!) of it. The movie never was done.
Victor Davis Hanson has talked and written about Lew Wallace and Ben-Hur. I have no idea where to find it, but it's worth a read if you can locate it.
Wallace didn't keep his promises to Billy The Kid though.
I'll bite. What did Wallace promise Billy the Kid? Was this some incident while Wallace was Governor of New Mexico?
Interesting. Thanks!
I've read some of Victor Davis Hanson's writings. Isn't it truly a pleasure to read things so clearly written?
Basically Wallace "amnestied" everyone but The Kid over the Lincoln War. (Not that The Kid deserved amnesty; he committed other crimes besides those in the War.) Wallace was supposed to at least hear The Kid's side of things but didn't do so. I think Wallace was too busy writing Ben Hur to be an effective governor.
I totally agree! He appears from time to time on booknotes, C-Span. I just love to hear him talk as much as I like to read his work. That's where I heard him talk about Lew Wallace. Soemthing about the book he wrote about three major battles...
The story about Billy The Kid and Wallace was on TV recently. It was either pbs, TLC or the History Channel. One of the Investigating History-type shows. It was well-done.
Yes, that's the book. Thanks. My boss ordered it when I told him about it and he said it was excellent.
bump
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