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Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc Audiobook
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(3.01) - 2,422 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Regarded by many as the most luminous example of Twain's work, this historical novel chronicles the French heroine's life, as purportedly told by her longtime friend--Sieur Louis de Conte. A panorama of stirring scenes recount Joan's childhood in Domremy, the story of her voices, the fight for Orleans, the splendid march to Rheims, and much more. An amazing record that disclosed Twain's unrestrained admiration for Joan's nobility of character, the book is matchless in its workmanship--one of Twain's lesser-known novels that will charm and delightfully surprise his admirers and devotees.
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"The only reason I can surmise that this work doesn't get more attention is because Joan of Arc is so different from Twain's other books. But it truly is a thing of beauty, his lack of satiric bite and surprisingly pro-French (or maybe just pro-Joan and the force of her will) bent notwithstanding. It's a thoroughly engrossing story, with a decade of research to buttress its narrative."
— Ike (5 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“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 -
“Mark Twain comes furtively like Nicodemus at night with this tribute to one of God’s saints. In doing so he tells a secret about himself. It is as though the man in a white suit and a cloud of cigar smoke thought there just might be a place where people in white robes stand in clouds of incense.”
— Fr. George Rutler, author of The Cure d’Ars Today -
“Joan of Arc is the lone example that history affords of an actual, real embodiment of all the virtues demonstrated by Huck and Jim and of all that Twain felt to be noble in man, Joan is the ideal toward which mankind strives. Twain had to tell her story because she is the sole concrete argument against the pessimistic doctrines of his deterministic philosophy.”
— Robert Wiggins, author of Mark Twain: Jackleg Novelist
Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc Listener Reviews
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" Mark Twain (if such can be said in this case) at his finest. "
— Joe, 2/18/2014 -
" I really wanted to learn more about Joan of Arc, but this book was too lengthy and bogged down in so many details that weren't even related I lost interest. I guess I didn't give it the time that I needed read it before book club. Not a quick read. I'll have to approach it again when I feel less busy. When will that be? "
— Michelle, 2/12/2014 -
" magical - mark twain's self-proclaimed 'best book' - took 12 years of research to complete "
— Kristie, 2/1/2014 -
" I love this version of her story - not what you'd expect from Mark Twain, but it is fantastic and so inspiring. I don't know how many times I've read it. "
— Jennie, 1/28/2014 -
" The only reason I knew this book existed was Wishbone. It's a gem, and Mr. Twain thought it was his most important work, which is interesting. Shows another side of Mark. "
— Jenna, 1/22/2014 -
" An excellent read on a truly unique and amazing young woman. There are no words for what she accomplished. "
— Becky, 1/21/2014 -
" Twain lent 12 years of his life researching saint Joan of Arc and it shows; an interesting and well-written account/story of one incredible human being. "
— Paul, 1/13/2014 -
" I was fully enveloped in this book and loved reading about such a fabulous women of history. It was reassuring the amount of time and effort with research Clements put into this book. His style with the narrator made it great storytelling and more personal. I would absolutely recommend this book. "
— Kara, 12/13/2013 -
" Good book. The tale of Joan of Arc told from another point of view. "
— Miranda, 11/28/2013 -
" Mark Twain dubbed this his best work and I agree. A richly spiritual book, that floows the life of Joan of Arc from birth to her heartbreaking death. The spiritual side is what drew me from the beginnng. She truly believed she was doing GOd's will, and by the end of the book, so did I. "
— Selina, 11/14/2013 -
" She is my heroine and everytime I pick up this book, I dont finish it once I reach the chapter of her "capture" "
— Manikantan, 10/23/2013 -
" What an incredible person. This book makes you feel like you are there as Joan saves France. "
— Gary, 9/22/2013 -
" Very interesting. Shocking that book is so obscure: Twain considered it his best work. I learned a tremendous amount about Joan of Arc from this book. "
— Jack, 6/3/2013 -
" I really enjoyed getting to know the true life and short mission of Joan of Arc. She is a brave woman and hero I can look up to. "
— Kellie, 5/15/2013 -
" Very un-Twain like, but a bit maudlin for my liking. "
— Lauren, 11/28/2012 -
" Easily one of my favorite books of ALL time!!! "
— Maredith, 11/17/2012 -
" I really liked this book. I never knew the story of Joan of Arc and this was a very interesting and touching story. "
— Amy, 6/24/2012 -
" Another book club pick...who was responsible for this one? I'm not a Twain fan, found this difficult to read. It did, however, give me a very good historical perspective of Joan and what actually happened to her and why. "
— Pattie, 1/12/2012
About Mark Twain
Mark Twain, pseudonym of Samuel L. Clemens (1835–1910), was born in Florida, Missouri, and grew up in Hannibal on the west bank of the Mississippi River. He attended school briefly and then at age thirteen became a full-time apprentice to a local printer. When his older brother Orion established the Hannibal Journal, Samuel became a compositor for that paper and then, for a time, an itinerant printer. With a commission to write comic travel letters, he traveled down the Mississippi. Smitten with the riverboat life, he signed on as an apprentice to a steamboat pilot. After 1859, he became a licensed pilot, but two years later the Civil War put an end to the steam-boat traffic.
In 1861, he and his brother traveled to the Nevada Territory where Samuel became a writer for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, and there, on February 3, 1863, he signed a humorous account with the pseudonym Mark Twain. The name was a river man’s term for water “two fathoms deep” and thus just barely safe for navigation.
In 1870 Twain married and moved with his wife to Hartford, Connecticut. He became a highly successful lecturer in the United States and England, and he continued to write.
About Robin Field
Robin Field is the AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator of numerous audiobooks, as well as an award-winning actor, singer, writer, and lyricist whose career has spanned six decades. He has starred on and off Broadway, headlined at Carnegie Hall, authored numerous musical reviews, and hosted or performed on a number of television and radio programs over the years.