Recently I've been reading historical epic novels from the 19th century like Quo Vadis and Ben Hur and started thinking that if you took the plots out of Ancient Rome and put them into modern or other settings with some changes they could still work.
One random thought I had was Ben Hur in a (more) modern but not contemporary setting, maybe the US in The Roaring '20s or The '50s with Messala as the teenage son of the immensely wealthy head of an old Sicilian crime family, and Judah Ben-Hur as a minor gangster.
The revenge/redemption plot fits well in the gangster story framework.
The friendship between Judah and Messala begins to break apart when Messala's behaviour starts to become much more violent and erratic. After an incident in which a brick is thrown through a window, Messala accuses and betrays Judah so Judah is sent to a juvenile detention centre/reform school where he is treated badly. He swears revenge on Messala, plans to escape, and saves the life of one of the staff members, earning him better treatment and later an unofficial adoption. The chariot race becomes a nationally-covered carriage driving event.
I read this thread and while researching something else I found the book ''The Greatest Menace: Organized Crime in Cold War America." Anyone else know of other resources on organised crime in the US in either the 1920s or 1950s? I'm leaning towards the 1920s as a setting.
Recently I've been reading historical epic novels from the 19th century like Quo Vadis and Ben Hur and started thinking that if you took the plots out of Ancient Rome and put them into modern or other settings with some changes they could still work.
One random thought I had was Ben Hur in a (more) modern but not contemporary setting, maybe the US in The Roaring '20s or The '50s with Messala as the teenage son of the immensely wealthy head of an old Sicilian crime family, and Judah Ben-Hur as a minor gangster. The revenge/redemption plot fits well in the gangster story framework.
The friendship between Judah and Messala begins to break apart when Messala's behaviour starts to become much more violent and erratic. After an incident in which a brick is thrown through a window, Messala accuses and betrays Judah so Judah is sent to a juvenile detention centre/reform school where he is treated badly. He swears revenge on Messala, plans to escape, and saves the life of one of the staff members, earning him better treatment and later an unofficial adoption. The chariot race becomes a nationally-covered carriage driving event.
I read this thread
and while researching something else I found the book ''The Greatest Menace: Organized Crime in Cold War America." Anyone else know of other resources on organised crime in the US in either the 1920s or 1950s? I'm leaning towards the 1920s as a setting.
edited 30th Nov '14 12:00:22 AM by MorwenEdhelwen
The road goes ever on. -Tolkien