Papillon: A Moving Portrait of a Wrongfully Convicted Man's Fight for Freedom (P.S.)

The books takes us through the daring adventures of Papillon (the author himself) as he makes nine death-defying escapes from the penal settlements of French Guiana in eleven years. The story that was penned down by Charriere in colloquial French after his final escape, acquired widespread fame and critical acclaim after being reprinted in an English translation in 1969. The English rendition (by Patrick O’ Brian) avoids becoming a sketch through the translator’s eyes. The emotions of the protagonist are explicit, the thrill of the story is resolute and the lessons from his life are succinct. This is not the book to be read with slumbering, tired eyes on a cushy couch. It engrosses, awakens and excites! The book (with the author’s own emphasis) also explores the humane relations Papillon shared with his cell mates. He was heavy handed with sods but befriended his prison mates easily. He learned to live with the rogues, the dreaded convicts who hacked at moment’s provocation but he never abandoned the meek and the suffering. Papillon made good friends with staff of the prisons where he was grounded (the warders and the gendarmes). They were never repulsed by his obstinacy to break, believed in his innocence and respected his dream to live as a free man. It was this trust that enlivened his spirits and increased his strength to keep his sanity in the lowest ebbs of confinement. Papillon for me has outlived its reputation. The book makes an appeal to a whole range of men. It cannot be merely looked as the story of the struggle of a convict for freedom. Papillion’s struggle reveals much more than this character; it uncovers a whole process of catharsis. The book has become an obvious and useful addition to the library of many prisons since its printing. It implores people at large to never lose hope while facing an adversity; win or lose, the way of the warrior is the only way to survive. Charrière emphasises that his will to survive and make a new life for himself was the sole purpose he needed to carry on. During his first escape from the penal settlement, he comes across a Native American tribe on the Guajira Peninsula, Columbia. Initially he is treated as an outsider by the tribe, but over time he earns their trust and is able to connect and even bond with them. He spends only a brief time of six months there, but he later reflects that this simple way of life he participated in was one he would regret leaving for the rest of his life. This theme of civilisation vs. ‘savagery’ is constantly subverted, and at a time where capital punishment was still exercised without mercy, it makes sense that Charrière and others like him found solace in the simpler things. This tale of one man and his struggle to escape a society that had rejected him is one of toil, and not for the faint hearted. However, it is also an uplifting story that shows the true power of the human spirit, and one that cannot be truly encapsulated in the written word.

It has been said that that a justice system is the measurement of the humanity of a culture. I believe this is true. Papillon is an amazing memoir that chronicles the wasteland of the justice systems worldwide in the late 18th and early 20th centuries and one man's extraordinary journey through a living death, redemption, and finally freedom. Having worked in the criminal justice system for since 1980, as a probation officer until 2016, and a mitigation specialist in federal death penalty cases since 2017, I have met many men both before and after serving decades in prison. Many have been in solitary confinement; some I know are serving life sentences. These experiences leave a lasting impact on their psyches and souls, especially solitary. Henri's story is extraordinary, not only in its description of the torturous, barbaric treatment he experienced and observed, but more importantly his will to survive, obtain his freedom and become a better man. It is truly inspirational to read about his mental toughness, determination, and drive to find God and the true man of love and compassion within himself.

This memoir, quasi-autobiographical fiction or whatever one wants to dub it, is, as almost all the reviewers here attest, a gripping narrative of the human condition and source of strength and hope for anyone, especially anyone undergoing the trials and tribulations of man's inhumanity to man. True, Charrière more often than not comes across as a bit of an incarcerated flâneur with a sort of noblesse oblige toward everyone involved, from fellow prisoners to guards, wardens, administrators, the lot. But he has a sense of humour about his own hyperbolic amour-propre which makes it endurable. At one point, faced with a dilemma in this moral code of his, he writes: "I smiled at the prospect of having to search out an evil policeman with no family. How should I put it to him:'If I kill you, are you sure no one will miss you?'" Very droll, Papi. All this aside, what marks this book out from other books of the sort is the detailed descriptions of the torrid conditions of the tropic zone where our hero spends his sentence. They are utterly convincing, and if there's one thing to which everyone agrees it's that, guilty or not, Henri Charrière did spend much of his life on penal colonies such as the Île-Royale, described thus: "The noon sun was leaden-a tropical sun to boil the brain in your skull; a sun that shrivelled the plants not yet grown strong enough to resist it; a sun that, in a few hours, dried up all but the deepest salt-water pools, leaving only a white film of salt; a sun that set the air to dancing-it literally moved before my eyes-its reflection on the water burning my pupils." In his second stay in solitary confinement, he pens - perhaps a bit too overtly - a passage worthy of France's greatest writer, who famously confined himself to a cork-lined closet during much of his latter years: "Such sharp recollections of moments and events fifteen years in the past, and the ability to relive them so intensely, can only be accomplished in a cell where you're cut off from all noise, in the most absolute silence. I can even see the yellow of Aunt Outine's dress. I could hear the wind in the chestnut trees, the dry noise a chestnut makes as it falls on the ground, or its soft thump when it hits a pile of leaves...And there was no one to stop me from rolling around in these memories and drinking in the peace so necessary to my battered soul." Despite the nod Proust-wards here, there can be no doubt in the reader's mind after finishing the book, despite questions about specifics, that the writer has indeed been battered in soul and in body and seen the very best and the very worst of which humans are capable, and that the reader, vicariously, has done so as well. As Papillon says about the halfway fictitious explanation of an incident concocted, in order to save their skins and positions, by both guards and prisoners for the administration on one of the colonies: "It has since remained part legend, part true story." So with "Papillon" and his harrowing tale of hope amidst the darkest adversity.

Sentenced to life imprisonment in the penal colony of French Guiana, he became obsessed with one goal: escape. The way he tries escape after escape attempt shows the grit and true determination of this man. The descriptions of the beatings and privation he suffered at the hands of his French captors, was so brutal you could almost feel it yourself. Then to delve into the amazing friendships, and brutal murders of the prisoners and guards, gave me the chills. Finally, he is granted freedom in Venezuela. I’ve seen questions about authenticity of some of the happenings in this book, but I don’t care what other people think because to me this is an amazing and riveting piece of literature, at least in my mind.

I just finished the novel, "Papillon" by Henri Charriere. 540 pages. I rarely read novels but this book might be one of the best I've ever read. Quite possibly one of the best adventure stories ever told. Very well written and well paced to keep your attention.

Papillon was an epic story that I enjoyed very much. The resilience of the human spirit of Henri Charriere is astounding. He had intelligence and strength in the worst of times in solitary confinement but never once gave up the thought of being free one day. I highly recommend this book. I have seen two movie adaptations that are good but leave out so much of his story. There is no way to encompass the entire story in a movie I imagine.

Print is too small. It was a bad gift idea for a friend. The free movie was much better. Tiny print which sucks.

Papillon is quite a tail of adventure. The writing is a bit raw, but it works somehow and lends an authenticity. The manner of story telling is very straight forward: this happened, then this happened, etc. It is effective, and often riveting, but lacks introspection until the very end. At times it reads more like fantasy and is difficult to believe. For example, nearly everyone the escaped cons meet are eager to help them despite their being violent criminals. Their disapproval of the French penal system outweighs whatever concern they might have for their own safety. This seems to me more like a product of Charriere’s imagination than reality, at least in part. Despite that, Papillon’s perseverance makes his a story worth reading.

الكتاب تقليد مو اصلي بس الكلام واضح وينقرا بس للي يهتم بكونه اصلي او لا فهو كوبي مو اصلي

J'ai bien aimé le récit de ses aventures basées sur des faits réels, l'écriture en anglais de ce livre m'était abordable.

Es ist ein geniales Abenteuerbuch. Unglaubliche Geschichte! Kann ich jedem weiterempfehlen.

This is one of the greatest books ever written. I loved it. I read it as a young man and had to read it again as an old dude. The movie is garbage compared to this book.

You might not expect the penal colonies in French Guayana to be the setting for a tale of determined and ultimately successful resistance, but here it is.