Mark Twain's favorite book
Here is something Mark Twain said which may surprise us: "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."
He also said: “Taking into account, as I have suggested before, all the circumstances—her origin, youth, sex, illiteracy, early environment, and the obstructing conditions under which she exploited her high gifts and made her conquests in the field and before the courts that tried her for her life, —she is easily and by far the most extraordinary person the human race has ever produced".
Of course, the critics usually do not agree with Twain. Nevertheless, anyone who is truly interested in his books, would appreciate Twain's own appraisal of Joan of Arc. I read this book several years ago. When I finished it, I saw Joan as being the most courageous person I could ever imagine walking on this earth. I highly recommend the book.
