Saint Joan, by Bernard Shaw…book review

by Richard Subber | Mar 5, 2024 | Book reviews, Books, Human Nature

don’t think about John of Arc

Book review:

Saint Joan

by Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

159 pages

Imagine that Joan of Arc had been John of Arc.

I’m no fan of “what if” history, but I dare to say that John might have become a saint without the burned-at-the-stake part.

Saint Joan is a play, so if stage directions are a distraction to you, you can just pretend that Shaw is whispering in your ear.

Shaw’s 42-page preface is historical treasure added to the literary treasure. He offers even more than you imagine about the life and context and historical significance of la pucelle de Domrémy.

All of the men whose lives she crossed accepted Joan’s exceptionalism. Many believed her story about hearing voices from the saints and from God.

Joan went to the fire without understanding that the kings and the generals wished that she had never been born.

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Book review: The Bridges of Madison County

If you’re looking for

highly stoked eroticism

and high-rolling lives

that throw off sparks when they touch,

look elsewhere.

by Robert Waller

click here

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Above all: Poems of dawn and more with 73 free verse poems,

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