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A review by donnaadouglas
Papillon by Henri Charrière
4.0
Well, I don't think I'll ever be able to think of the word plan in the same way again!
This is a very interesting and well-written memoir of escaped con Henri Charriere. Convicted of a crime he didn't commit, he is sentenced to a life of hard labour in a French penal colony, from which he makes multiple escape attempts, finally succeeding 14 years later. I'd previously watched the Steve McQueen film as a student, some 15 years ago now, and reading this showed that I remembered pretty much nothing from the film!! (Note to self: must re-watch!)
I found this book incredibly readable, if a bit long. He covers some areas, such as this first escape, in great detail (it covers almost half the book, detailing a period of 7 months), whereas some other areas, such as his final escape, are barely touched upon.
The message of this book is very much a critique on the harsh conditions that the French penal colonies placed on their inmates, and the lack of humanity that this reflects on 'civilised' society. I absolutely loved how Charriere portrays the Venezualan and Guajiran communities - the kindness of these people that were considered 'uncivilised' at the time, and the message that empathy and warmth of heart is the true mark of humanity.
This is a very interesting and well-written memoir of escaped con Henri Charriere. Convicted of a crime he didn't commit, he is sentenced to a life of hard labour in a French penal colony, from which he makes multiple escape attempts, finally succeeding 14 years later. I'd previously watched the Steve McQueen film as a student, some 15 years ago now, and reading this showed that I remembered pretty much nothing from the film!! (Note to self: must re-watch!)
I found this book incredibly readable, if a bit long. He covers some areas, such as this first escape, in great detail (it covers almost half the book, detailing a period of 7 months), whereas some other areas, such as his final escape, are barely touched upon.
The message of this book is very much a critique on the harsh conditions that the French penal colonies placed on their inmates, and the lack of humanity that this reflects on 'civilised' society. I absolutely loved how Charriere portrays the Venezualan and Guajiran communities - the kindness of these people that were considered 'uncivilised' at the time, and the message that empathy and warmth of heart is the true mark of humanity.