Joan of Arc: Amazon.ca: Mark Twain: Books

Frequently Bought Together

Product Description

Book Description

Few people know that Mark Twain wrote a major work on St. Joan of Arc. Still fewer know that he considered it not only his most important but also his best work, spending 12 years in research and many months in France doing archival research. A book to inform and inspire its readers.

About the Author

America's most famous storyteller, Mark Twain, was obsessed with the story of Joan of Arc, and labored 12 years to tell it in this novel, which he considered his masterpiece. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
When Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc was first published in Harper's Magazine, the reading public did not realize that the work was written by Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910). Read the first page

Explore More
Concordance

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

Tag this product

(What's this?)

Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.

Customer Reviews

38 Reviews

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

Average Customer Review

4.4 out of 5 stars (38 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most helpful customer reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Chivalry still matters, Mar 4 2004

By

PATRICK OHANNIGAN (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Joan of Arc (Paperback)

The man universally acclaimed as the father of the American novel here abandons much of his trademark bite to show a surprisingly tender side. By the time Twain is done, you, too, will find yourself full of admiration for Joan of Arc.

Although he knew full well that patriotism is often the last refuge of the scoundrel, Twain turns that saying on its head in this book. In language befitting the fifteenth century, he salutes Joan as a remarkable Catholic teenager who embodies patriotism. Indeed, to some of her peers, Joan becomes France.

I especially enjoyed the few parallels between this book-length love letter and Twain's more famous work in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The Paladin does in this book what the "king" and the "duke" did in Huckleberry Finn. Better yet, while Joan's soul mates in real life would be other devout women who died young (like, for example, Therese of Lisieux), her soul mate in literature would have to be Mary Jane, the pretty girl who makes a brief but memorable appearance in Huckleberry Finn because her promise means more to Huck than "another man's kiss-the-bible."

Why Twain loved Joan is understandable: her honesty and intelligence command devotion. Twain's affection for inept French generals who spent most of the Hundred Years War losing to the English is more mysterious, and may shock modern readers almost as much as the fuss that corrupt priests really did make over Joan's clothes. One way or the other, this meticulously researched and lovingly told tale stays with you like a tropical sunset. In two words, Virtue Rocks.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One more reason to love Mark Twain, Oct 11 2003

By

Jane James "homeschoolmum" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Joan of Arc (Paperback)

I read a number of biographies of Joan of Arc when I was a child, but I never read a novel based on her life.

This was amazingly well done, but then again, it was Mark Twain who wrote it. I would expect nothing less from him.

The story was very easy to follow, and very believeable. Twain gives us a glimpse of what the daily life of Joan of Arc might have been like. We see her in her vulnerability and in her strength, as the complex individual she must have been.

I really enjoyed this story and I'm looking forward to my own children reading it someday.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The scholarship holds up ..., July 14 2003

By

James V. Sylvester (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Joan of Arc (Paperback)

This is just one of several books that I've read about the amazing short life of Jeanne d'Arc, "La Poucelle d'Orleans," more familiarly known as "Joan of Arc." Twain's research holds up well against more recent studies such as those by Regine Pernod.

Yes, Twain's "Joan" seems incredible and something other than human. Yet, his projection is not that far from the historical record, which by reason of the records of her trials is one of the most detailed ever collected on one individual. The more I read about Jeanne the more I tend to agree with the old curmudgeon pessimist that Twain was: she was the most extraordinary person the human race has ever produced.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 38 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Want to see more reviews on this item?

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 72 reviews 4.4 out of 5 stars

Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Voyeur's Peek Behind the Curtain of "Facts"
This book is truly riveting for its factual accuracy, detail & ability to pull back the curtain on the real life of Jehanne d'Arc. You must read this!

Published on Jun 26 2004 by Jehanne d'Arc

1.0 out of 5 stars Hate To Be The Dissenting Voter, But...
...this book is really bad. I am a Mark Twain fan, as well. But I cannot let that fact cloud my honest opinion about how inferior this book truly is. Read more

Published on Jun 26 2004