Au nom du fils

by Hervé Bazin

in12. Cartonné.

Genres: Classics

380 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 26, 1960

About the author

Hervé Bazin (Jean-Pierre Hervé-Bazin) (April 7, 1911, Angers - February 17, 1996, Angers) was a French writer, whose best-known novels covered semi-autobiographical topics of teenage rebellion and dysfunctional families

Reviews

[Maris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started out by being annoyed at the main character, the father, due to his inability to make decisions and thus making people miserable around him. Then it became more about him and his love for his illegitimate son, what sacrifices he brought for him.
His well-described inner world shows his faults and not many of his traits - his traits are brought out more by how his son thinks of him and behaves around him, how he prefers his company to other's.
The father's life is a mediocre constant struggle of self-love, slow decision-making, inability to accept oneself and one's life. He does, in the end, come to terms with his grey life, as he puts it, but even in the end it's not because he chooses to accept but because the circumstances make acceptance the most logical move.
With all this in mind, the story doesn't come off as tragic in the end. It's more like an exchange of teaching and learning between a father and a son who don't share the same genetics but share the same heart. It also seems that the father succeeded in raising his son to be better in choosing and feeling alive, than he ever was.

[Melis Royer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ça commence bien, on perd le fil au milieu, puis ça reprend et ça finit bien. Grand fan de Bazin, je ne me permettrai pas de critiquer mais nous ne sommes pas au même niveau que ses autres œuvres. Je suis restée un peu sur ma faim.

[Virgilio Machado · Rating 5 out of 5]

A trama de Em Nome do Filho é simplesmente a vida quotidiana, a mais vulgar que há, mas colorida, em cada instante, pelo modo crescente do pai pelo filho - e, em contraponto saboroso, pela sua autocrítica. É um vaivém incessante entre o gesto e o seu significado, a aparência vulgar e o seu conteúdo, fremente de paixão, de expectativa, e, em breve, de ternura partilhada. É um vaivém igualmente entre este carinho - entusiasta e feliz, mas também excessivo e injusto - e a lucidez do pai, o senso agudo do ridículo, um pessimismo velado de homem que se considera, na vida, um vencido. A sua desforra, porém, e magnífica, será este amor exigente e lúcido, que nos é sugerido dentro de uma evocação, realística e saborosíssima, cheia de pormenores picantes e achados desopilantes, deste paraíso-inferno da «vida familiar»: microcosmo que revela sem piedade, sob os disfarces, as paixões e o egoísmo, as grandezas e as torpezas de cada um - mas sobretudo esse fogo subtil e imprescindível do amor, do qual Hervé Bazin (autor do famoso De Víbora na Mão e de Amar Sem Ver a Quem) fez o centro deste livro, tão empolgante como original.

Aba da capa e contracapa

[Kimisse · Rating 3 out of 5]

roman poignant ,dur , l'intrigue est touchante et nous rend sensible au rapport peu commun d une mère indigne face à la haine de son fils...