Customer Reviews

Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc (1896) (The Oxford Mark Twain)

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There are not enough words to properly rate this book. Mark Twain stepped away from his typical writing style, and the results are amazing. What first drew me to the book was the fact that he had written it, and I simply liked Joan of Arc. This book made me fall in love with her. Yes, it's long, but once you start, you simply can not stop reading. He tells the events of her life beautifully, speaking as Sieur Louis de Conte, her lifelong friend and companion. Everything from the Fairy Tree to her death is enthralling, and he draws medieval France as it was. France was falling, and Joan saved it. Her intelligance beat that of fifty scholars, yet she never learned to read. She could outwit the priest when she was a young child. She overcame all odds, and led France's army to victory. Not many people have read this book, be one of the few that has. I promise that you will not regret it.

"Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc" is a unique entry in the catalog of Mark Twain's works. The reader will find here little of the humor and irreverence which are found in most of Twain's earlier works, and none of the darkness and despair which are found in some of his later works. Instead the reader will find a moving story of the life of Joan of Arc, the poor, uneducated peasant girl who was called by God to liberate France, who led a dispirited and broken French army in victory after victory, who was put to death by a corrupt church hierarchy, and who was later canonized as a Catholic saint. While many of the details in the book are fictionalized, the major points of the story are in harmony with the known facts of Joan's life. In fact, Twain spent twelve years doing research for this book.

I was pleasantly surprised by Mark Twain's reverent treatment of religion in "Joan of Arc." Judging by Twain's other writings, it seems clear that he did not have a very high opinion of the Catholic Church (especially as it existed in the Middle Ages), or of religion in general. Yet this book is a moving and poignant portrait of a medieval Catholic saint, which shows a great respect for Joan's religious convictions. And Twain makes it clear from the very outset, in the preface to the book, that he believes Joan of Arc to have been one of the greatest people ever to have lived; he says that her character "occupies the loftiest place possible to human attainment, a loftier one than has been reached by any other mere mortal."

Mark Twain is quoted as saying that "Joan of Arc" was the book which he liked "best among all my books." I would not go quite that far, as there are several other books of his that I think are better. But this is clearly one of Twain's more underrated and overlooked works. It is somewhat long and slow-moving, but taken as a whole it is an inspiring and enjoyable account of the extraordinary life of Joan of Arc.

Mark Twain's best. I couldn't put it down. I was away for the weekend, found it on a book table in the lobby, and bought it for bedtime reading. The rest of the weekend was devoted to living Joan's story. A great weekend. An incredible book.

This book will make you feel like you walked with Joan, knew her, loved her - READ THIS BOOK. Truly one of the greatest reads of my life! A Book that really changed my perspective on a lot of things.

Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc is a different type of masterpiece, portraying the life of one of the world's greatest people, and showing the more serious side of Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens). "Joan of Arc" is narrated by Joan's best friend Louis, who follows Joan's life from her childhood to her tragic death "saying I was at her side through everything, and mine was the last human hand she touched". This book is known as Twain's personal favorite of all his works because he considered her "the most amazing person the human race has ever produced..." Though different in fictional aspects from the equally excellent CBS movie (with Peter O'Toole and Leelee Sobieski) all the material seems to fit into place nicely. Twain spent twelve years researching archives and trial notes for this book. Reading this book will make people love and recognize Joan d'Arc for who she was even more.