Joan of Arc

Rating:
Summary: Truly Beautiful Biography!..........
Review: ..............the captivating story of Joan of Arc come to life through the writing of Mark Twain! This work is remarkable not only due to Twain's writing ability, which thoroughly conveys the moving and powerful story of a heroine and martyr, but because we are aware of the twelve years of research he did before embarking upon putting it in writing. We trust and become enthralled over the story he presents. This is a story I want my future children to read.

Twain, through a ficitional narrator takes us through the story of Joan's simple and modest upbringing to her response to God's command that she save France from the English. We follow her into battle, see her become the teenage commander-in-chief of an army, win victories, struggle with a weak French king, and finally fall victim to the leadership in Burgundy and the corruption within the church. Twain brings us through her entire trial, where we see young Joan withstand grueling questioning and physical and psychological torture for months on end. Through it all she never falls victim to traps deliberately set for her that are solely designed to prove her an idolater, sorcerer and heretic. Ultimately, we walk with her as she takes the last journey of her life, to the stake to die by fire.

This work is based on well preserved information about the experiences of Joan of Arc. Twain makes a point of telling us that "The Official Record of the Trials and Rehabilitation of Joan of Arc is the most remarkable history that exists in any language; A deeply fascinating story.............found in its entirety in the Official Trials and Rehabilitation". We therefore know that his sources are well researched and ones we ourselves can access. Twain beautifully reconstructs Joan's early life based on this information, doing her great honor throughout the novel. We realize, too, that as the story progresses, we are presented her trials in their full, true detail. Twain also tells us that Joan's story was almost one that was lost, having not been very well known for approximately four hundred years after it occurred.

Reading this book is truly to experience the incredible life and achievements of Joan of Arc. I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Hate To Be The Dissenting Voter, But...
Review: ...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. It just reads as nonsense, yawn-inducing plotlessness & not so much fairy tale as piddle-paddle. I truly believe Mr. Twain dropped the ball on this one.

Rating:
Summary: A great book about an extraordinary person
Review: A master storyteller tells the tale of one of the most remarkable persons in known history. How a young, illiterate farm girl became commander-in-chief of France's armed forces at the age of 17; leading her army, which had become accustomed to defeat, to victory after victory, putting a reluctant king on his thrown and in the process, for a brief time, becoming the living embodiment of France to its people.

It is a story of Joan's courage, intelligence and most of all her unswerving faith in her destiny and in her God, and how in the last year of her brief life she stood totally alone against her persecutors, whose sole objective was to have her die by fire.

Twain's admiration for her shines through every page, and the more I learn about Joan of Arc, the more I share his admiration.

This is a great book, and a must read for anyone interested in Joan of Arc.

Rating:
Summary: Not what you would expect!
Review: A young girl in France starts to hear voices after she, and her friends, dance around a fairy tree near her yard. She then decides that she is going to lead France in conquest against the Anglos. After butchering many innocent people, she is proclaimed a hero and begins to live the high life with the king, kind of like a court jester, until people start complaining that the king won because of witchcraft. Then watch out Joan! What did she expect. After all, this is medieval France. Too bad for Joan that John Paul II wasn't pope, maybe the should could have gotten a job at the Vatican. By the way, I loved her cameo appearance in "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure."

Rating:
Summary: Catalyst for Canonization?
Review: About 20 years ago I learned that Mark Twain had written a book about Joan of Arc. His book must be seriously considered as a possible catalyst toward the Vatican's decision to canonize Joan in 1920.

The capture and subsequent execution of Joan of Arc occurred in 1431. Except for some correspondence which resulted in the Vatican annulling her sentence in 1456, nothing more was written about the girl until the first biography about her was published -- 400 years after her death.

It is not difficult to suppose that the length and upheavals of the intervening centuries resulted in her becoming a mostly legendary figure by 1840. Until Mark Twain began to publish his findings 60 years later, no more than a dozen biographies were produced, many containing accounts based solely on conjecture; relying on folklore.

Mark Twain spent 12 years in France, during which time he learned French and was able to secure that
government's permission to search their archives. As the most popular writer of his time, his book reawakened interest in Joan's life and martyrdom, and not only among his faithful readers. It is usually with extreme caution that
the procedures leading to Canonization are undertaken by the Vatican, with each and every fact verified in detail.

Would the Vatican have gone to the considerable effort necessary to research the circumstances under which
a legendary and obscure young soldier-girl was purportedly martyred half a millenium beforehand, if it did not already
have most of the facts it needed in order to effect her Canonization?

It is reasonable to consider that the Canonization of St. Joan of Arc, on May 16, 1920, 500 years after the end of
her her short career, might perhaps have resulted from the renewed interest in her life -- interest awakened due to the 12 years Mark Twain spent learning the realities surrounding the life of the girl soldier he admired so much.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful, moving, flawed.
Review: I am very happy to have read this noble and inspiring work, and maybe that should be considered the bottom line. However, I did feel that it succeeded on some levels far, far better than others. In order to understand where this work succeeds and where it falls short, I think the first thing to note is that Twain seems to have accepted uncritically (and faithfully relayed) every glowing thing his research turned up regarding Joan's words and deeds. By that, I mean that almost every dramatically important thing said or done by Twain's Joan can be traced to the testimony of her contemporaries. If we find it plausible that her enthusiastic contemporary allies and admirers stretched the truth here and there, one suspects that Twain the story-teller nevertheless approves. I believe it was Twain's intent to drop this semi-historical "Joan as legend" into his work intact, rather than risk reconstructing the human Joan to his own specifications. There is actually much to admire in this approach. However, it does render Twain's Joan seriously out of phase with his other characters. She is so omniscient and devoid of human frailties as to render her somewhat flat and colorless. Her almost unerring judgement and profuse gift of prophecy often cause her to blend into the backdrop of events. Here she seems less a human being (however sublime) than a force of nature. Twain's true characters become satellites circling a brilliant but dismayingly distant sun. On the other hand, the interplay between these supporting characters is engaging (if sometimes outrageous); and the dialogue is perceptive and lively. Another saving grace is Twain's descriptive gift. I have rarely read a book that made reality melt away and brought to life visions of another time and place so forcefully. I can't speak to how accurate Twain's portrayal of war-torn 15th century France might be, but it is indisputably powerful. This isn't the work I would turn to for a better understand of the human Joan or the history "behind" the legend. However, if your aim is to enjoy a descriptive and inspiring drama while getting an inkling of how Joan's allies might have regarded her, Twain's effort delivers admirably.

Rating:
Summary: Nice book on Joan
Review: I find this book a very good one for beginning with the life of Joan. The most of her history is nicely described.

I would ask to Mr. Pastor Bob if he understand what he says ?
Between Frenchs and americans, who lose their soul ? I think 99% of the world (not US) answer the second ones.

Rating:
Summary: the best representation of Joan of Arc
Review: I first began my interest in Joan of Arc after being confirmed with her as my saint. Mark Twain's book was one of the first, though fictional, accounts I read about her. He brings the grace and spirit of Jeanne D'arc to life. Many other books or films concentrate only on the deeds of her life. While, Twain conveys how important Joan's religion is to her. God was part of every aspect of her life. This one characteristic is one of the many that makes a true saint. I think that if Joan could carry through with such miracilous deeds she would have been the same as Mark Twain described her. This book in imcomparable to any other book of her.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT
Review: I FOUND A COPY OF THIS BOOK AT AN ESTATE SALE, IT IS A HARDBACK COPYRIGHT DATED 1896, 1898, IT STATES IT IS THE AUTHOR'S NATIONAL EDITION AND ON THE NEXT PAGE READS IN HANDWRITTEN: THIS IS THE AUTHORIZED UNIFORM EDITION OF MY BOOKS SIGNED MARK TWAIN. BUT IT IS ONLY VOL I OF A II VOL SET. IT IS PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS NEW YORK AND LONDON. I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN SELLING IT IF YOU CAN HELP. E-MAIL ME AT [e-mail], I JUST GOT THIS COMPUTER AND STILL TRYING TO FIGURE IT OUT.

Rating:
Summary: It was a beautiful story.
Review: I had not read any books on Joan of Arc, and was not terribly interested to either. I just picked it up because I thought it was weird for Mark Twain to have written it, so different from all the other books he had written. It was his greatest achievement and that he knew it shows in every page. She is brought to life, and the incredible, impossible, improbable accomplishments of Joan are believable and simply told. I loved it.