About this title: One of the greatest Catholic novels of the 20th-century tells the story of Louis, an elderly man filled with bitterness who keeps a journal in which he records the vipers' tangle of his own heart. With subtlety and wisdom, Mauriac traces the transformation of this tortured soul by the light of God's grace.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Loyola Press
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780829422115ISBN:0829422110
Description: Good. Cover has slight edge wear. Ex-Library with usual stamps, stickers & markings. Light soiling on sides of book. Otherwise, pages are clean and unmarked. Good reading copy. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Image Books
Date Published: 1957
Description: Acceptable. Spiral bound. Book has considerable wear, but is still very usable. Price marked inside. SHIPS W/IN 24 HOURS! FREE INSURANCE on all orders! E-mail notification! Careful, thorough packaging. Fast, personal service. No hassle, full refund return policy! COMBINE SHIPPING-TENS OF THOUSANDS OF OTHER BOOKS/CDs/MOVIES AVAILABLE! read more
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. readers crease-surface tear where sticker was-foxing back cover-moderate edge/tip wear-owner inscribed. read more
Description: Good. B0006AUWK2 Good reading copy. Moderate cover wear, binding strong. Free upgrade to 1st Class Mail! Sent promptly from Manhattan, NYC! read more
Binding: Mass Market P
Publisher: Image Books
Date Published: 1957
Description: Very Good. 1957 Mass PB. Image Books. 199 PGs. No reader marks, clean pgs, binding solid. Cover very good with only very light shelf/edge wear. Pages very lightly tanning. The story of Louis, an elderly man filled with bitterness who keeps a journal in which he records the vipers' tangle of his own heart. read more
Description: Good. 1957 Image Books paperback; no writing or marking within text; crease in spine; cover edges have crimping; front corner bent; RTB1008. read more
Edition: First Paperback Edition; Fourth Printing
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Image Books, Garden City
Date Published: 1962
Description: Very Good-; Binding strong. Text clean and complete. Good reading copy. Edge and shelf wear. Endsheet removed. 3829. 197 pages; 37028. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Loyola Press
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780829422115ISBN:0829422110
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Loyola Pr
Date Published: 2005-09-01
ISBN-13:9780829422115ISBN:0829422110
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780829422115. read more
Edition: First American Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Sheed and Ward, New York
Date Published: 1933
Description: Good. No Jacket. Front board slight bend with front pastedown paper torn, some wear to head of spine, and spine letters darkened. First American Edition. read more
Description: Very Good. Publisher: Carroll & Graf Date of Publication: 1987 Binding: Trade Paperback Edition: First Thus Condition: Very Good Description: 0881843059 reissue date 1987. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Image Books
Date Published: 1957
ISBN-13:9780881843057ISBN:0881843059
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 199 p. Audience: General/trade. First Image book printing. Pages clean, bright and unmarked except for former owner's name on first page corner and outside edge. Binding tight with faint hinge crease. Cover colorful and attractive with light edge/shelf wear (includes small edge/corner chips or dings, price sticker, some age darkening, light scuffing). This is a nice sturdy copy, barely used. read more
Edition: 1st
Binding: Cloth
Publisher: Sheed & Ward, New York
Date Published: 1933
Description: Very Good. No Jacket. Hard Back. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Spine discolored/faded, very slightly spine cocked, a great book otherwise...... read more
"Lo leí en español, "Nudo de víboras". Y la edición Andrés Bello no vale más de 4 lucas. ¡Tre-men-da! Un destilado de humanidad a la vena; un free pass al alma del ser humano con uno de los inicios más brutales de la literatura: un hombre le deja una carta a su mujer para cuando él muera (... si lees esto es porque me morí y porque estás buscando las acciones..., o algo así)"
"Une histoire tres profonde d'un marriage dont le couple n'est pas heureux.C'est plein des issues - l'amour,les enfants,l'argent,la tentation d'etre infidele, la religion, la classe sociale. C'etait magnifique cette histoire!"
"I wonder if Marianne Robinson, who wrote "Gilead", was inspired by this book Viper's Tangle by Francois Mauriac. The format -- letters written by a dying man, coming to write more than he originally intended -- is quite similar. The book also reminded me strongly of The Death of Ivan Illich, with its similar trajectory of a dying man with cold relatives who finds redemption in his final days.
Francois Mauriac is a Catholic author -- I came across his name when I read Flannery O'Connor's letters quite a long time ago. He wrote that he is a "philosopher who works in the concrete". In this book, letters by a hateful old man written for revenge on his wife slowly turn into a confession of sorts, and in the end, a testament to grace in the life of the truthful sinner. He writes in Gospel terms that surely the bad man, covered with slime and wretchedness and very conscious of it, is somehow in a better position than people, most notably his son, who gather a sense of duty and righteousness and religious practice around them like a white cloak around their filthiness. The series of letters, ending with final ones by his son and granddaughter, seem to bear him out on this. A contrast between the Pharisee, the publican and the woman who has loved too much."
"The narrator of Vipers' Tangle is a near-perfect mix of Dostoevsky's Underground Man and Tolstoy's Ivan Ilych. Which is to say, he's a bitter, bitter bastard. For some reason, I felt sure that this book would end up heavy-handed or sentimental. Early on Louis is just too miserly, to the point where it's almost beyond credulity. Rather than clumsily over-playing his hand, Mauriac, it turns out, intentionally includes this too-greedy-to-be-believed aspect as an effective plot point. Every time you think the story's driving to an inevitable, predictable conclusion, he takes a left turn. Mauriac also has the good sense to leave the outcome of Louis' soul (which is the culmination of the novel) as ambiguous. Different readers will come to opposite conclusions here--some will side with Hubert and some with Janine. Based on the fact that this is a "Loyola Classics Series" novel, however, I think we can guess where the author stands."
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