Viper in the Fist

work by Bazin

Also known as: “Vipère au poing”

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July 14, 2026

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Viper in the Fist (Vipère au poing) is an autobiographical novel by Hervé Bazin, published in 1948. The novel depicts Bazin's unhappy childhood, portraying his mother as a "monstrous figure" with "near-mythic proportions" due to her "virulence". Bazin's work often satirizes family and marital problems, and this novel was seen by some as a "blasphemous" attack on motherhood and family institutions. The novel's themes of rebellion and conflict continued in his subsequent works, though Bazin later shifted to a more moralistic tone in his writing.1

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Hervé Bazin
…novel Vipère au poing (Viper in the Fist). In this book he portrays his unhappy childhood as an unrelenting battle with his mother, a monstrous figure who assumes near-mythic proportions through the concentrated energy of her own virulence. Bazin’s relentless attacks upon the institutions of family, church, and motherhood…
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…novel Vipère au poing (Viper in the Fist). In this book he portrays his unhappy childhood as an unrelenting battle with his mother, a monstrous figure who assumes near-mythic proportions through the concentrated energy of her own virulence. Bazin’s relentless attacks upon the institutions of family, church, and motherhood…
Read More