The Viper's Tangle

Rating:
Summary: Incredible!
Review: A brilliant and sucessful layer lays dying. He ruminates over his discovery twenty years earlier that his wife had been passionately in love with another man and had married him for more practical reasons. During these twenty years, he has become more and more detached from and bitter toward his family and he spends his convalescence listening intently to the whispers of his family reaching him from downstairs. They discuss his wealth and his difficult ways.

His only consolation is the contemplation of his final triumph - when, after his death, his family rushes to the safe and instead of the stocks and bonds they are looking for, they find only a letter. The brilliant letter that makes up this incredible book.

Rating:
Summary: memorable, if rare, work
Review: Few Americans realize that Mauriac was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, or that in his time he was considered to be one of France's greatest men of letters. "Catholic" writers have not been in vogue for some time, and in many of Mauriac's other works, the characters struggle with moral dilemmas that would be considered quaint and old-fashioned by many modern readers. The Viper's Tangle, however, reveals a dying patriarch's attempt to come to terms with alienation from his family and his consuming personal greed, issues that are more universal in scope. The moribund Louis leaves as an inheritance for his forbears not the vast fortunes they expect, but his "meditations" upon his life and the lives of his family. As death and the end of the account approach, Louis undergoes a moral and spiritual transformation, deftly and subtley handled by Mauriac. The crystalline writing survives translation well, and the reader is rewarded with a detailed picture of bourgeois life in 19th century France as well as a stunning psychological portrayal of a fascinating individual.

Rating:
Summary: A Lost Masterpiece
Review: Few Americans realize that Mauriac was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, or that in his time he was considered to be one of France's greatest men of letters. "Catholic" writers have not been in vogue for some time, and in many of Mauriac's other works, the characters struggle with moral dilemmas that would be considered quaint and old-fashioned by many modern readers. The Viper's Tangle, however, reveals a dying patriarch's attempt to come to terms with alienation from his family and his consuming personal greed, issues that are more universal in scope. The moribund Louis leaves as an inheritance for his forbears not the vast fortunes they expect, but his "meditations" upon his life and the lives of his family. As death and the end of the account approach, Louis undergoes a moral and spiritual transformation, deftly and subtley handled by Mauriac. The crystalline writing survives translation well, and the reader is rewarded with a detailed picture of bourgeois life in 19th century France as well as a stunning psychological portrayal of a fascinating individual.

Rating:
Summary: A Lost Masterpiece
Review: Few Americans realize that Mauriac was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, or that in his time he was considered to be one of France's greatest men of letters. "Catholic" writers have not been in vogue for some time, and in many of Mauriac's other works, the characters struggle with moral dilemmas that would be considered quaint and old-fashioned by many modern readers. The Viper's Tangle, however, reveals a dying patriarch's attempt to come to terms with alienation from his family and his consuming personal greed, issues that are more universal in scope. The moribund Louis leaves as an inheritance for his forbears not the vast fortunes they expect, but his "meditations" upon his life and the lives of his family. As death and the end of the account approach, Louis undergoes a moral and spiritual transformation, deftly and subtley handled by Mauriac. The crystalline writing survives translation well, and the reader is rewarded with a detailed picture of bourgeois life in 19th century France as well as a stunning psychological portrayal of a fascinating individual.

Rating:
Summary: memorable, if rare, work
Review: I read Viper's Tangle (I believe my translation was "Nest of Vipers") in high school and became fascinated with Francois Mauriac. I went on to read some of his other works, including "The Desert of Love." This work is psychological and personal in nature. If you enjoy stories which probe characters' minds, this is an excellent choice. An invalid man lies in bed, dying, remembering his life and coming to terms with it, and himself. An unknown classic. Also great if you like to collect obscure literature!

Rating:
Summary: memorable, if rare, work
Review: I read Viper's Tangle (I believe my translation was "Nest of Vipers") in high school and became fascinated with Francois Mauriac. I went on to read some of his other works, including "The Desert of Love." This work is psychological and personal in nature. If you enjoy stories which probe characters' minds, this is an excellent choice. An invalid man lies in bed, dying, remembering his life and coming to terms with it, and himself. An unknown classic. Also great if you like to collect obscure literature!

Rating:
Summary: A quite realistic portrait of a bitter man`s life
Review: This book depicts the evil of a sad and lonely childhood and the omniscient existence of a strong mother, money, hatred and negligence.

We follow the lifeline of the main protagonist Louis with his wife Isa and the children. He is rich, they are after his money...