- Paperback: 688 pages
- Publisher: Flamingo; (Reissue) edition (17 April 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0007115245
- ISBN-13: 978-0007115242
- Product Dimensions: 17.6 x 11 x 4.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (79 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 147,089 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
A classic memoir of prison breaks and adventure – a bestselling phenomenon of the 1960s
Condemned for a murder he had not committed, Henri Charriere (nicknamed Papillon) was sent to the penal colony of French Guiana. Forty-two days after his arrival he made his first break, travelling a thousand gruelling miles in an open boat. Recaptured, he suffered a solitary confinement and was sent eventually to Devil’s Island, a hell-hole of disease and brutality. No one had ever escaped from this notorious prison – no one until Papillon took to the shark infested sea supported only by a makeshift coconut-sack raft. In thirteen years he made nine daring escapes, living through many fantastic adventures while on the run – including a sojourn with South American Indians whose women Papillon found welcomely free of European restraints…
Papillon is filled with tension, adventure and high excitement. It is also one of the most vivid stories of human endurance ever written.
Henri Charriere died in 1973 at the age of 66.
From the Back Cover
"A literary prodigy. Merely having been a transported convict and having escaped does not mean a thing: you have to have talent to give this tale a ring of truth."
LE FIGARO
'I looked closely at the cell they had put me into. I should never have imagined or believed a country like mine a country like France, could possibly possess an establishment of such barbarous repression as the saint-Joseph solitary confinement prison… At once there came to me a thought, "Here, in cell 234, Charriere, nicknamed Papillon, is going to try and live through a sentence of two years, or seven hundred and thirty days, without going mad.'
"This book is an account of Papillon's astonishing escapes, but it is also savagely contemptuous of the Establishment… Indeed, we have a minister's word for it that the present hopeless moral decline of France is due to the wearing of mini-skirts and to the reading of Papillon."
PATRICK O'BRIAN
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
What an amazing book! No other book has captured my imagination as strongly as Papillon. It is a true account of a man sentenced to life imprisonment in the French penal colony of French Guiana and his many attempts to escape.
It is superbly paced and flows so well that it's almost impossible to find a point where it can be put down so you can get your breath back! Charriere manages to encompass just about every emotion and through all the adversity and suffering there is still plenty of room for some wicked slices of humour.
At a push, two slight criticisms: Throughout, he claims to be innocent of the crime that he was punished for (which I am a little dubious about after reading some of his exploits!); and I also felt he was a bit "over-modest" and too superhuman at times, but this does not taint the quality of the story at all...just minor niggles!
Also recommended is "Banco", the sequel to Papillon, in which Charriere describes his life on the straight and narrow....yeah,right.
Last point: Why on earth wasn't there a better film made? Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman are brilliant but the film was desperately disappointing. It would have been better to have made two or three 2-hour films (a la Kane and Abel) and done the book justice.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is one of few books that I continue to reread every few years cover to cover. The book is conversational in tone but the experiences are so personal and extreme that you feel that you have met and know Henri.
There is a great deal of humour and wisdom in the book unlike the disapointing film version which was standardised prison break adventure.
A difficult book to sum up but it has always amazed me that Henri found so much goodness in people, so much to admire in the most bleak and unlikely surroundings.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This has to be the greatest book I have ever read. Not a dull moment, the only problem was putting the book down! Thought provoking, disturbing at times, exciting, gives an amazing insight into life for convicts, police, prison guards & people living in South America in the 1900s. I have frequently thought about this book since I read it and have been left with an incredible impression of "Papi" whom I think was a unique, good man, what a life, that he survived his adventures was a feat in itself! I so wish I could have met him. I cannot rate this book highly enough.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
One of the best stories ever written?
This is quite simply one of the best stories - if not the best - I have ever read. The experiences told by Henri are vivid, enthralling, shocking, moving, inspiring, wise, hopeful,... Read more
Published 28 days ago by Simba the Lion
Papillon - Henri Charriere
This is an amazing book, such an incredible story that I found it hard to put down. I am going to read his other book Banco.
Published 1 month ago by yummy-lumley
Civilization and the arse
Young person reading this: 'Papillon' is for you. 'Reader - supposing this book has readers some day - I am not clever and don't possess the vivid style, the living power, that is... Read more
Published 1 month ago by W. Rodick
couldnt put it down!
Papillon was the first book iv read in a long time that I could not put down untill I finished it! All round an excellent book. Read more
Published 3 months ago by D3RF
One of the best escape books I have read.
A long read (for me) however this is one of the books I'll always remember. I followed through his various escape attempts with great interest. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Pete__S
love it so far!
I love this book and find it unbelievable if it really is a true story! I have about 200 pages left to read and have to force myself to put it down so that its not over just yet! Read more
Published 5 months ago by CurlyWurlyZoe
A Thrilling Read
There are some greats bits in this story, it is a totally solid adventure book. Some of it is very sad and some of it is very... erm... nail biting and even horrific... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Nathan Strange
Classic. Untouchable
Fantastic unputdownable story that will have you spellbound from the first page to the last.
Unbelievably the publisher stated that the initial manuscript was published... Read more
Unbelievably the publisher stated that the initial manuscript was published... Read more
Published 9 months ago by J&H
What is "Good" condition?
This paperback book was described as being in "Good" condition. The paper has yellowed due to age and being left in sunlight which makes it harder to read. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Jaypea
Suitable for anyone who loves the idea of prison breaks...
Papillion is well written book that captures perfectly the story of a man who repeatedly escapes from Penal Colonies in the Caribbean in the 1930's and onwards. Read more
Published 18 months ago by George Armstrong
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