Opinions on Ben Hur and Quo Vadis?

[Brigid in NC]

If you have read Ben Hur and/or Quo Vadis, would you give me your opinion about them? Which one would you choose for 9th-11th grade boys? Thank you for your help!
~Brigid

[Jane in NC]

Quo Vadis is on my personal reading list, so I am curious to hear responses to your query.

[CynthiaOK]

Last year I asked the same question of a lady who was once a public school English teacher and now is a homeschool facilitator. She liked Ben Hur for that age group esp. boys and thought Quo Vadis better for older students. I don't remember that she had any specific criticisms of Quo Vadis, though. My problem is that my boys are all familiar with the story of Ben Hur (the movie) and don't really want to read the book.

[K-FL]

My only qualm for youngers w/Quo Vadis would be the s*xual nature of the relationship w/the Senator & Slave (can't remember names) plus their very public hari kari at the end.

[Chris in VA]

Ds read both when he did Ancients in 9th grade--he was 16, however.
I loved both, but Ben Hur seems to have a richer feel to it--I guess because I loved the movie! lol
Both are worthy reads--I don't think you can go wrong. Ask your son which he'd like to read.

[Jann in TX]

Remember that the first part of the book ENDLESSLY describes the desert... I allowed my dd to skip over much of it (I was about to loose her) but she did have to note the author's style...

[Janice H]

Funny, I woke up thinking about Quo Vadis just the other morning. I recommend it without reservation for adults. I read the book a few months ago. It's kind of a "Seutonius lite" look at Nero and his times, creating a palpable context for the early Christianity part of the story. There are several great characters to discuss and write about.

The book was written in the late 1800’s in Polish. I read from two different translations borrowed from the library. High schoolers may not want an edition with “thee’s and thou’s”. Even though the old fashioned pronouns were understandable it kept catching my eye for awhile, slowing my reading. I think the more modern translation I read was this one http://www.amazon.com/Quo-Vadis-Henryk-Sienkiewicz/dp/0781805503#reader_0781805503 although my library copy was a hardback edition (with nice big print).

Note in the Amazon excerpt linked above that in paragraph one we learn that a main character was at an *rgy which followed Nero’s banquet. Therefore, preview this book first. I think it would be ideal to have a male adult read it with male students. There would be lots to discuss as Marcus’s caveman approach to love and life is transformed.

Could it be that other editions are less “frank” in the descriptions than the ones I read? Or maybe I'm overly sensitive in the case of this book. Beautiful Feet uses it in the Ancient History course. Rainbow Resources has it listed as grade 7-Adult. In other books we have read for the ancients-- Herodotus’s History, all the translated plays of Aristophanes--any earthy descriptions or quips go by rather quickly. In Quo Vadis there are many occasions when young women’s body parts are fully described in a leisurely manner, and we get a front row seat for Marcus’s boorish behavior after several wine courses.

[Yabusame]

I have both of these books sitting on my bookshelf, waiting to be read. I'm just finishing off Thucydides then I'll probably jump into one of these. Based on the discussion here, I'll probably start with Ben Hur since it seems the lighter of the two and compare it to Quo Vadis.

Thanks for raising this thread!

[Lizzie in Ma]

You can't go wrong, it is such a wonderful book to read.