"The Personal Recollections of Joan Of Arc"

In the novel "The Personal Recollections Of Joan Of Arc" a childhood friend, The Sieur Louis de Conte, tells of her adventures from beginning to end, as he remembers playing with her in childhood, standing by her in adulthood, and watching her in anguish because of his helplessness at the end. This book is one of Mark Twain's novels, and I think is one of his best. "Joan Of Arc" had a lot of action but hardly any gory or really gross bits to sicken a reader or destroy a good story. One example of that is when she speaks to nobles, lords, even the king himself with her passion for France and justice in her quest to free France. the spirtualness and human natures colliding in this story ,like when she was grilled by the church council and jury regarding Christ, war, people, and the miraculous happenings following her, making this a very exciting read, whether you like to skim the surface and just know the story, or if you would rather dive deep into the hidden messages of love, life, and liberty buried deep withen these words. The only thing I can count aginst this book is that 425 pages makes for a long read, but it's worth it. I recommend this book to someone who wouldn't mind being caught up in the wonderful balance of words and thought of "Joan Of Arc" for an afternoon. I really liked this book, and think that everyone should have the chance to enjoy it. Kudos to Mark Twain, I give your book 4 stars and two thumbs up.

This is one of the grandest jokes in all of literature, if it isn't unique. All in all, you have a complicated structure where Twain plays a contemporary chronicler, feinted away with a gag scene on this personage as a faux poet, with somewhere toward the end the awful, imperishable story about the bee-stung bull.

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.

..............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.

Mark Twain astounded me with this account of St. Jeanne d'Arc's life and death. His twelve years of research are clearly evident in the meticulous detail and quotations taken directly from the French National Archive. Told from the point of view of Louis de Conte, it is an exciting narrative of the battles that won France its freedom and the amazing girl who made it all possible. I truly believed I was reading the memoirs of a man who had known her personally! Twain's idolization of Joan is prominant in each chapter. While this does taint his descriptions of the English and Charles VII, it is this adoration that makes this book so endearing. The reader gets pulled into fifteenth century France, cheering Joan's victories and mourning her injustices. For Twain, this must have been a labor of love, and I am grateful for his devotion to her tale. The footnotes add amusing and sometimes heartbreaking side information. Those who speak French will enjoy the portions written in that language. Those who don't, fear not! Being unable to read it will not ruin the story. While this is a serious novel, Twain's famous sense of irony manages to find a place amongst the legend. I suggest that everyone, particularly avid readers of Mark Twain or of historical figures, read this book. While some may not enjoy it as much as others, it is a history that needs to be kept alive.

A BOY'S BEST FRIEND takes place in Montreal. Will is turning seven years old and has asked his mother and her partner, Jeanne, for a dog for the past four years. Unfortunately, he has asthma. To his surprise he is given a stuffed dog which he cherishes because he is able to sleep with it, take it to the park to meet other dogs, take it on the school bus, and hide it in his school locker. While at school he is teased by some "bullies" and his dog is thrown up a tree. Miraculously, the dog falls in his arms after he has called to it. His mom and Jeanne are surprised to hear what happens and repeat what Will has heard many times before, "Everyone is different. When you don't mind your difference it stops being a problem and becomes your distinction." The story has a lot of text and is most appropriate for children ages five and older. The illustrations, hand colored black and white photographs, depict wonderful scenes of home life, i.e. eating dinner, trips to the park and bedtime rituals. His family structure is explained and visually depicted, but not a negative aspect of the story. We get a glimpse of what school life is like for Will as he encounters the school bullies, an experience many children perhaps can relate to. Also familiar to many children is the frustration of living with asthma. Will is unable to join in a school ritual of running around the room while the others sing happy birthday to him, he is teased because he cannot play ball and towards the end is coughing and running out of breath after his interactions with the bullies. Unfortunately, asthma is not explained or discussed in a way that will help others understand what it is or why he has it and Will is depicted as a sad and lonely child because of asthma.

I thought the book was a bunch of bolagna. I didnt care for it at all and someone should burn it. The only reason i liked it was because it had a bunch of short stories and not just one big book with a bunch of chapters. It had a lot of truth in it which is the only good part of the book. The book was basically about kids that dont fit in and are outsiders. Who ever get's this bpok should throw it away or tearit and burn it into peices.

The book deserved 2 stars because it was a terrible book. I really didn't care for it. it is basically a bunch of short stories about people on how they don't fit in. Alot of it was untrue because people only act bad when they are not liked by others. I also think it deserved 2 stars because it had a bunhc of short stories and there is no boring parts in it. If it would of been a long book i dont think to many peple would be interested in it. Over all i think if somone get's the book they should through it away.

"On the Fringe" is a book of short stories compiled by different authors. The stories do contain one central topic, youth that are considered outsiders. These outsiders face many different problems. One story focuses on hygiene problems, one is about a boy that is short, thin, and is nervous around his peers, and yet another is about an outcast who took his aggression out with a gun at school. These stories did not all focus on one person; several had a cluster of individuals that were ins ome way or another ostricized by the seemingly perfect in-crowd.
We all read this book with deep interest. We felt that it was easy to read due to the fact that they were short stories. We had a desire to find out what happened in each one. We felt like it was very informative. The stories definitely opened our eyes to a variety of issues that neither one of us had ever imagined existed. We, as a society, tend to close our eyes to so much that is unpleasant. This book brings out that side, the one that no one wants to realize exists.
As for liking this book and recommending it, we thought that it was very enlightening and educational, but we would not recommend it for school-aged children to read. It touches on many topics that do happen in our schools, and we do not think that children should be given examples of how to humiliate other students. This is a book that we would recommend to adults. This book illustrates what is going in the heads of kids that do not fit the perfect student role model. These are everyday young adults with problems. This collaboration of stories opened our eyes, and hopefully helped us to know who we, as future teachers, are looking for that need extra love and attention. Maybe with our eyes open, we will be able to counteract some of the negativity that these future adults undergo and keep them from performing a drastic event that will seal their fate forever.

This book is primarily about family relationship at their low points. One thing is easy to observe. Namely that American independence style of life (the main ingredient, I think) bundled with cold family relationship is very likely to generate the whole range of attitudes in the adult life. Not necessarily healthy ones. It is never a good thing when parents cannot communicate with their children. Children must feel love, devotion and real interest at all times. Later, the frustrations come out. Add alcohol and you are done. A good reading, but there is one objection I have. I do not want to reveal the plot to all those who have not read yet, not to spoil their fun, but the first of the affairs in the book is described flatly, just matter-of-factly. No deep ground, just an observation. This is not something that I find convincing. The second one is artificial and there is nothing I can add to that description. Nevertheless, all technical comments aside, what remains is a good reading, I think. I wish only that the author had devoted more time to construction.