I have the hardest time when I don’t read a story for even a couple days, and then try to jump right back into it. Did I have time to read Ben-Hur this weekend? Honestly; yes I did. Especially since I started reading another book Saturday night while I was trying to stay awake all night and get back on my shift-worker schedule. It was a lighter read, a fun murder-mystery (should that be fun? Ehh, it’s a good story) that I got halfway through. But more on that later.
So as to where I left Ben-Hur; he has heard Balthasar’s story, and needs time to contemplate what it could all possibly mean.
Book Five begins with Ben-Hur thinking about what he was told, as well as having Esther on his mind.
Messala is also occupied by his thinking, and pens a letter to Gratius, the governor whom Ben-Hur supposedly tried to assassinate. He tells of the incredible story he heard of how Ben-Hur is still alive, and that he actually saw him the previous day, although not recognizing him at the time.
Ben-Hur spends some time with Esther, and he runs the horses through their paces, preparing for the race against Messala and hopefully the revenge he has longed for all of these long years.
An intercepted letter that falls into the hands of Ben-Hur and Ilderim tells that no one is sure of the fate of his mother and sister, and that Messala now considers Ilderim to be a traitor.
Ilderim takes the highest offense to this. He confesses that he knows Ben-Hur for who he truly is, and hopes that he will seek the revenge he himself is no longer capable of dispensing. He won’t tell Ben-Hur how he came to know his true identity, just that he does indeed know it.
(At some point I will reach the end of this story; certainly not as soon as I had expected, but I will get there, I promise!) Although I am enjoying this story, it normally does not take me this long to read a book, even one of this length. I am looking forward to ending this one and moving on to something new.
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