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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mark Twain brings Saint Joan to life!, July 17, 2007
This review is from: Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc (Hardcover)
The master storyteller, Mark Twain, used his immense talent to create this fictionalized account of Saint Joan's life. Even though it is fiction, it is still very historically accurate and stays true to the story of Saint Joan of Arc. Because it is fiction, Twain is able to bring out Saint Joan's personality in a way that reminds us that she was a beautiful, vibrant, passionate young woman who sacrificed everything to serve God and save her country I think the very fact that Twain would even choose to write a biography about Saint Joan is a further testament to her greatness. Twain was personal friends with U.S. Grant and could much more easily have written a biography about him. He also lived at a time when some of the greatest military leaders ever lived like Lee, Jackson, etc., so if all he had been looking for was a famous military leader he could have also chosen one of them. Obviously, he was looking for someone even greater to write about. I think his own words probably explain why he chose Saint Joan when he said that: "She was perhaps the only entirely unselfish person whose name has a place in profane history." Whether you are a Saint Joan devotee or not I think you will enjoy reading this book. It is well written and easy to read and covers one of the greatest stories in world history. If you already know about the life of Saint Joan, I also think you will end up loving this account because of the way Twain brings her to life. Definitely one of the best of all the biographies written about Saint Joan of Arc and considered by Twain himself to be his greatest work. Five stars are probably not enough.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"The poor young thing is demented.", October 16, 2006
This review is from: Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc (Hardcover)
A paean to the bravery and spirit of Joan of Arc, this novel by Mark Twain is also his most scholarly, having taken twelve years to write. Clearly fascinated by Joan's "voices" and her sense of mission, Twain delves into her religious passion and her belief that God has chosen her to free France from England and restore the Dauphin to the throne. Often focusing on the arguments and trials in which Joan participates throughout her life, Twain shows her childhood attempt to "save the fairies," her struggle to become general of France, and ultimately, her defense against heresy and sorcery. Through these, Twain attempts to reconcile her spiritual commitment with the tumultuous temporal world in which she is engaged. Born in Domremy in 1412, seventy-five years after the beginning of the Hundred Years War, Joan, an Armagnac, supports the isolated Dauphin, son of Charles VI; another faction supports the Duke of Burgundy, allied with the British. When Joan is fifteen, her angelic voices tell her she will lead God's armies, win back France, and restore the Dauphin. By the time she is seventeen she is General-in-Chief of France. After lifting the siege of Orleans, achieving many victories, and finally, standing beside the Dauphin at his coronation, she is, however, captured by the Burgundians. Sold to the English, she is later surrendered to an Inquisition in Rouen for trial as a heretic and sorceress. The Dauphin fails to intervene, and at age nineteen she is burned at the stake. Twain creates a fast-paced story about this tumultuous period, creating a series of repeating characters who anchor Joan's story from the time of childhood until her death. One of these characters is Sieur Louis de Conte, a childhood friend, supporter during battle, and mourner at her execution, who narrates Joan's story many years later. Rare comic scenes provide occasional changes of mood, and the last section of the novel--Joan's trial and execution--is dramatic and moving. With the focus on Joan and the arguments she promotes to advance her cause and facilitate her actions, Twain explores the phenomenon of religious passion and the lengths to which a "chosen" person will go to fulfill divine will. As interesting as this book is, historically and thematically, it lacks the unity of some of Twain's other novels. Joan of Arc is so heroic in stature that one feels little emotional connection to her, and Twain's dialogue is so wooden that the other characters fail to come alive, except as mouthpieces for background or philosophy. On several occasions, Twain explains the historical background (how the war began, and later the Five Great Deeds of Joan of Arc) though these delay the action. A serious attempt by Twain to depict a character with whom he was obviously fascinated, this novel is full of biographical and historical detail, but Joan remains an enigma. Mary Whipple
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5.0 out of 5 stars
You can't do that with a trade paperback ... or an e-book, June 4, 2011
This review is from: Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc (Hardcover)
I reviewed the Dover paperback version of Twain's Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc for Amazon. The Dover edition is my reading note-taking copy ... ... but this hardback edition is my pretty ... Joan of Arc that I enjoy paging through & reveling in & it takes its place on my Sam Clemens shelf with the Norman Rockwell edition of Tom Sawyer & the Readers Digest editions of Twain's literary successes. The review remains the same. When MT published his version of Joan of Arc he wrote " I like Joan of Arc best of all my books; and it is the best; I know it perfectly well. And besides, it furnished me seven times the pleasure afforded me by any of the others; twelve years of preparation, and two years of writing. The others needed no preparation and got none." -- Mark Twain His Joan of Arc has gotten bad press ever since. But Sam (MT) was right. While critics have lampooned his Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc as dull, tawdry, uninspiring, second-rate Twain this reader suggests the critics are wrong. Whatever the reader comes to the Twain/Clemens bibliography in hopes to find (& no matter what it is it's everywhere) that same reader will find that Twain got it right & it's all there in his ... Joan of Arc. The joy of being a child in Twain's bucolic memory somewhere a long time ago is there in Joan's childhood. She is a real girl as real as Becky Thatcher & she lives in a real world ... ... & Twain puts her there. Joan's story contains as much humanity as Huck & Jim's voyage down the river ever could. ... Joan has heroes & anti-heroes to compare with Grangerford & Judge Thatcher. Its narrative is as daunting as Tom Sawyer in the cave, as heroic as Puddinhead Wilson, & as insightful of what it means to be human as the Mysterious Stranger. MT saved the best for the last. Sometimes a long-time Twain reader needs a good hardcover edition to enjoy its heft & smell. You can't do that with a trade paperback ... ... or an e-book.
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