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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
This is a memoir written by the escaped convict, Henri Charriere, called Papillon because of the elaborate butterfly tattoo on his chest. Critics of the 1969 publication say the story of Papillon's cavale, or escape from the penal colony in French Guiana, is heavily embroidered, and that many adventures of his fellow convicts have been grafted into his story. All the same, it was a fascinating read. Daring attempts to flee, storms at sea, encounters with wild natives and man-eating sharks, Papillon faced it all. He also survived nearly four years in solitary confinement, and that many again of forced labor. As much as I was caught up in his adventures, though, I was more drawn to the inner story. Papillon was a hard man from the underworld of France, and he ran with hard people. But his human dignity was always intact. Papillon is really the story of fighting to overcome the past and start anew a better man.
3 1/2 stars.
3 1/2 stars.
I loved it! What a grand adventure / harrowing ordeal, I was gripped until the end, and what an end it was. Henri, you da man. :)
Definetly an entertaining story, though it's questionable how much of it actually happened (to Charriere) and how much is fiction. I did find Charriere's narration suspicious, since he always seemed to know everything, could do everything, got special treatment because he was just such a fair, great guy and was also popular with many women, who were interested in him either romantically or platonically. Kind of gives me real bad "nice guy" vibes....
It's still questionable what role he actually played in the murder he was convicted for, he claims he was innocent and i think he was even pardoned at old age, but according to research by Georges Menager multiple eyewitnesses testified against him. Additionally, he was accused by Charles Brunier, an ex-Bagno-convict, to have stolen other prisoners' stories. His time with the Indios cannot be proven at all, and doesnt really fit the timeline.
But all of those things hardly matter, in my opinion. By exagerating how nice and helpful all the people he met on his escapes were, including the indios, he highlights France's undoings. The same with the stolen stories. They did take place, they actually give insight on the way these convicts were treated. Which, again, makes France's justice system look real bad, and i don't have one doubt in me, that it was actually this bad, maybe even worse. So Charriere achieved his goal. Thankfully. When reading this, it's easy to think "oh, something like this doesn't happen anymore..". Which, honestly, I am not so sure of. Maybe in western cultures it's not this bad anymore, but is our justice system really better or just as bad but in a different way? And what about other countries, who are not super westernized? Scary to think about that, but also important
It's still questionable what role he actually played in the murder he was convicted for, he claims he was innocent and i think he was even pardoned at old age, but according to research by Georges Menager multiple eyewitnesses testified against him. Additionally, he was accused by Charles Brunier, an ex-Bagno-convict, to have stolen other prisoners' stories. His time with the Indios cannot be proven at all, and doesnt really fit the timeline.
But all of those things hardly matter, in my opinion. By exagerating how nice and helpful all the people he met on his escapes were, including the indios, he highlights France's undoings. The same with the stolen stories. They did take place, they actually give insight on the way these convicts were treated. Which, again, makes France's justice system look real bad, and i don't have one doubt in me, that it was actually this bad, maybe even worse. So Charriere achieved his goal. Thankfully. When reading this, it's easy to think "oh, something like this doesn't happen anymore..". Which, honestly, I am not so sure of. Maybe in western cultures it's not this bad anymore, but is our justice system really better or just as bad but in a different way? And what about other countries, who are not super westernized? Scary to think about that, but also important
A man goes to prison. He has money and decides to hide it in his ass and carry it around 600 pages. Its quite a brilliant book. He escapes prison and gets caught a lot. He also enjoys fishing and masturbation. But then again, who doesn't?
adventurous
dark
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
I always find it a bit unsettling when I don't enjoy a book everyone raves about. My problem with Papillon was twofold. A lot of people compared it to Shantaram when recommending it to me. Gregory David Roberts created such vivid characters, and Papillon is really only about one person (you never get to know much about anyone else). Secondly, I didn't like Papillon, the person, he never felt real, he seemed too good to be true. If he was really such an amazing, noble person how would he end up with a life sentence in the first place. The cherry on the cake was when I read that some of his story was actually taken from other inmates experiences. This is a very popular book, so you may well enjoy it, even though it wasn't for me.
Engrossing and inspiring story of bravery, confidence and unwavering motivation in the face of adversity
A gripping and astonishing autobiography that reads like an adventure-thriller.
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
What an amazing adventure. I don't even care that probably only half of that stuff actually happened, because that's not the point. As the 2018 film says, "It's the story of many men" and that's a nice idea to keep in mind while reading. Even though there are so many details and "mundane" day-to-day things being described it somehow never gets boring. Knowing that the penal colony was real and Papillon did definitely live through *something* keeps you going. Despite the length of this novel I was never bored, and even the fact that I had already seen both films before finishing the book did not diminish my interest in Papillon's story. So if you're interested in fascinating adventures and/or stories like only real life could tell them, then you will definitely love this book.