Who led XXX?
Hervé Bazin
The novel portrays the hatred between a mother nicknamed Folcoche (from the French ``folle'' (crazy) and ``cochonne'' (pig) and her children, including the narrator Jean Rezeau, called ``Brasse-bouillon''. Maurice Nadeau described the novel as ``Atrides in duffle-coat''. The book was immensely successful in postwar France, and was followed by La Mort du Petit Cheval and Le Cri de la Chouette to create a trilogy. In other works, Bazin returned to the theme of the family. In addition to novels, he also wrote short stories and essays. Bazin became a member of the Académie Goncourt in 1958, replacing Francis Carco. He became its president in 1973, and was replaced, after his death, by Jorge Semprún, while the presidency was given to François Nourissier. Politically, Bazin belonged to the Mouvement de la Paix, in relation with the communist party of which he was a sympathizer. He obtained the Lenin Peace Prize in 1979. This made Roger Peyrefitte say jokingly: ``Hervé Bazin had two prizes which fitted each other: the Lenin Peace Prize and the black humour prize.`` In 1995, he gave his manuscripts and letters to the record office of the town of Nancy, which already owned the archives of the Goncourt brothers, who originated from