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433 reviews for:

Papillon

Henri Charrière

4.02 AVERAGE

shaunaghsimone's review

3.0

A good story. Very inspiring to never give up hope but I just feel it ended very abruptly for a book about a man fighting for his freedom we don't really hear about his freedom and I feel like some interesting stories were missed out. I also didn't feel like it ended, there were a lot of loose ends like I get this is about real life but I want more and there is just no more

jesssonkosi's review

4.5
adventurous inspiring reflective medium-paced
adventurous slow-paced

Innecesariamente largo, repetitivo, aburrido y difícil de creer. Me siento mal dándole una crítica tan dura siendo que se supone es autobiográfico, pero la verdad me cuesta creer que 1) este hombre recuerda con tanto detalle 13 años de su vida y 8 intentos de escape, 2) el nivel de respeto, devoción y fidelidad que inspira en todas las personas que conoce, dentro y fuera de prisión (sobre todo fuera de prisión, porque no deja de ser un extranjero condenado, ¿o estoy usando los parámetros de desconfianza y escepticismo de la actualidad? Ni idea 🤷🏻‍♀️) 3) lo competente, por no decir mágicamente maravilloso, que es para TODO (idiomas, construcción, pesca, navegación, negociación, pelea, todo, cualquier habilidad que Charrière necesitaba tener en determinado momento, la tenía), no sé, creo que no soy el público objetivo de este libro, pero la verdad no lo recomendaría, me costó horrores terminarlo y pasar la última página se sintió como un alivio y nada más. 
scottl's profile picture

scottl's review

4.25
adventurous funny hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

Got lost half way through but committed to the end of it & really enjoyed it. Just a big old book
emotional inspiring mysterious

dangg140's review

2.0

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed Shantaram, and being advised of Papillon's similarity, I was keen to try it out. Having spent a great deal of last year on the Caribbean coast of South America, I was even more eager to read this book. Having always enjoyed the "breaking out of prison" theme in storytelling, a fondness for French culture, and a great deal of appreciation for autobiographical stories, I was so convinced that I would absolutely love this book that I actually considered a butterfly tattoo before reading a page.

What an unbelievably disappointing 500-odd pages. But thank God I don't have a butterfly on my chest to remind me of the time I wasted reading Papillon.

I suppose the most irritating part of the book was, as has been mentioned by other reviewers, his portrayal of himself as a multi-talented, loved by all, innocent hero, whose own destiny was more important to practically every other character than their own.

If you haven't read the book, stop here as from hereon there are plenty of spoilers.

From this point I will just list what got on my nerves.

Every woman he meets is immediately completely and utterly enamoured with him. Every other prisoner he encounters (and there are probably over a hundred mentioned) is somehow willing to risk his life to slightly improve his chances of escaping. He seems to know each and every one from his days in France, they all know him as Papi. Wardens bend over backwards to treat him well, as if he was royalty. When he's not incarcerated, everyone he meets is seemingly willing to go far and beyond the call of duty to help him. All his friends (and he seems to have a lot) have startlingly convenient skills to help him with his break. He always has plenty of money. He is seen as a leader by all despite his youth. He never writes to anyone from home, despite his apparent irresistible popularity, not his wife or his family. He is supremely skilled at anything he tries. He gains the trust of people he simply shouldn't be able to even speak to because of his status as a prisoner. He picks up Spanish in a day yet can't speak a word of "his" Goajira tribe's language after months. He impregnates two of the tribe that he apparently so loves and not only doesn't want to stay (promptly getting caught all over again), but doesn't think to return after his actual successful break. He manages to convince what must be the most trusting warden on the planet (which goes totally against their normal behaviour as described by Papillon throughout) that he had amnesia. He somehow convinces another set of wardens that he is insane and ends up in the asylum (of course an expert tactical move by him). I lost count of the number of "breaks" he made, the number of lives he saved, the number of people who said they would die for him, and the number of people who were hurt or died because of him.

Not halfway through the book I was so tired of his egotistical behaviour and writing that I just wanted it to end, but I have my own habit of finishing a book to blame for that. I know people will remain unperturbed by the fact that most of this autobiography is not in fact autobiographical as the story seems entertaining. But in all honesty, the story is so unbelievable that it just detracts from what actual interest the plot generates.

Ideally, Charrière would have condensed "his" experiences being incarcerated to one or two hundred pages and told his "great... successful and... disastrous" adventures of life beyond prison as a free man. However, I doubt I would have believed any of those either.

teresavh's review

5.0

I LOVED IT SO MUCH! I'm starting to believe this is my kind of book. I love french literature and the pace and detail of this story. I love the adventure and tension, and the way he looks at people. It makes me think of a modern Dumas. I need more like this!
adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

avoidthenoid's review

5.0

Why are you still reading my review? Go... GO READ this
adventurous tense medium-paced