Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, Volumes 1 & 2
Mark Twain
Read by John Greenman
Mark Twain's work on Joan of Arc is titled in full "Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, by the Sieur Louis de Conte." De Conte is identified as Joan's page and secretary. For those who've always wanted to "get behind" the Joan of Arc story and to better understand just what happened, Twain's narrative makes the story personal and very accessible.
The work is fictionally presented as a translation from the manuscript by Jean Francois Alden, or, in the words of the published book, "Freely Translated out of the Ancient French into Modern English from the Original Unpublished Manuscript in the National Archives of France."
It was originally published as a serialization in Harper's Magazine beginning in 1895 and later published in book form in 1896. However the Harper's editors decided to cut 12 chapters that describe much of Joan's Great Trial, saying the chapters were not suitable for serialization since, "They will not bear mutilation or interruption, but must be read as a whole, as one reads a drama." This recording contains the complete text!
De Conte is a fictionalized version of Joan of Arc's page Louis de Contes, and provides narrative unity to the story. He is presented as an individual who was with Joan during the three major phases of her life - as a youth in Domremy, as the commander of Charles' army on military campaign, and as a defendant at the trial in Rouen. The book is presented as a translation by Alden of de Conte's memoirs, written in his later years for the benefit of his descendants.
Twain based his descriptions of Joan of Arc on his daughter, Susy Clemens, as he remembered her at the age of seventeen.
Twain said, "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." (Summary by Wikipedia and John Greenman) (15 hr 18 min)
Chapters
Reviews
Brilliant Reader
Zonda
I've been impressed enough with John Greenman's readings to google him! Fantastic reader, who's made it his mission to read all of Mark Twain's books. And he seems to know them all by heart.... faultless readings, the characters come alive and hundreds of hours of brilliant entertainment. Why would ANYONE watch tv with this freely available? Thank you! Awesome :D
Excellent reading of an excellent book
Vic LePanto
I'd like to thank personally the reader, John Greenman, for the superb job he did. What a great book! I enjoyed this very much.
most interesting book and excellent reader
I enjoyed this book. It is worthy of your time. It starts slowly with details you do not realize will be relevant to the rest of the story. You will be glad you kept listing. The pace will quicken and you will not want it to end. The reader is one of the very best!!
Rach
Outstanding rendition of third lengthy story. The reader had superb diction, flow, sensitivity to the text. And an smooth voice that was easy to listen to.
Personal Recollections of Jean of Ark - Superb
A less renowned Twain story, but a compelling retelling of the Mayrter's life. Excellent reading by Mr. Greenman
Joan
TheBookworm
Excellent book, full of action and pathos. And of course Greenman's reading is simply wonderful. Thank you, John. TheBookworm (Manchester, UK)
Just as Good if not better than Tom Sawyer.
Fred Brandt
Joan is half Angel and half Virgin Mary. To think that something good and noble religion-wise ever came out of France! The Country of Napoleon Bonaparte and Maximilian Robespierre. France was probably the first Atheist Country in Europe. And to think just 4 hundred years after God save them from the Tommies! France has been in religious turmoil since the 1500s. This is what the French did. Less than a hundred years after Joan passed away the Reformation started and the French were to busy being Catholic to convert. And when some sensible people converted and guess what? The Catholics spend the next 80 years or so trying to exterminate them. And then Henry the 4th of France comes along and construct one of the most Amazing documents in history. The edict of Nantes giving Protestants rights. He was Protestant, and yet he was willing to compromise he became a Catholic he didn't make France Protestan he united France he brought peace to a country that had been at war for decades!
Shades of Read
This was one of the first books I’ve read about Joan of Arc and it was entertaining and enlightening. It flows well (though some parts are slow/redundant) and gives a good look into Joan’s story for a beginner like me who didn’t know many details beforehand. The narrator’s voice is great aside from his Joan impressions. 😬 In attempting to make her sound sweet and innocent, he makes her sound ditsy and air-headed, which couldn’t be farther from the truth. Overall I was touched by the life of this incredible Maid through reading this account, and it led me to reflection of God’s power, His plan, our role in that plan, and the disbelieving hearts of men.