Viper in the Fist
book by Hervé Bazin
Viper in the Fist (French: Vipère au Poing) is a novel by Hervé Bazin, published on 15 May 1948 by Bernard Grasset in Paris. It is the first and best known of a trilogy—known as the Rezeau Trilogy—the other two novels being La Mort du Petit Cheval (1950) and Le Cri de la Chouette (1972). The novels are largely autobiographical, drawing on Bazin's difficult childhood with his mother.
When published in 1948, Vipère au Poing was an immense popular success and also the cause of considerable scandal. It is nowadays considered a classic novel in France, widely read by secondary school students.
It is the first and best known of a trilogy, the rest being La Mort du Petit Cheval and Le Cri de la Chouette. These three novels are largely autobiographical.
When published in 1948, Vipère au Poing was an immense success and also the cause of a considerable scandal. It is nowadays considered a classic novel in France, read by students in high school.
Synopsis
Young Jean lives with his grandparents.
The public source identifies “Viper in the Fist” as book by Hervé Bazin. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Viper, Fist and book.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Viper in the Fist”, the useful work is to connect “book by Hervé Bazin” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1875311. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1948, 1950 and 1972.
Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Viper in the Fist”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Viper in the Fist primary sources, Viper in the Fist archive and Viper research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Viper in the Fist”?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Viper in the Fist” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.