This book is really a long repetitive stream of self-indulgence. Even if it is all true - which is most likely isn't - Charriere focuses on secondary characters only as means to praise himself. Everyone he meets piles compliments on him, promising to help him in his quest to escape due to his bravery and machismo. This book doesn't deserve its reputation.

I read this long time ago but even now I can still visualise this book it slow dark grasping atmosphere .
If never read it you enjoy it's autobiographical description & this came out long before Shawshank or the Green mile .I was only 15 when read this & it's sequal Banko it is like Swing Hammer Swing by Jeffrey Torrington or Angles Ashes.
The Dustin Hoffman & Steve McQueen movie was not bad too.
But like Q & A which end up as Slumdog Millionaire this book is much better.

Henri Charrière (aka Papillon - for the butterfly tattoo on his chest)

Papillon is the autobiography of Henri Charrière, a petty criminal convicted of murder (a crime he denied committing) and sentenced to a life of imprisonment in French Guiana in 1931. The book describes the brutal living conditions Charrière experienced in the penal colony as well as his numerous attempts to escape (an endeavor, which ultimately succeeded in 1944).

Questions have been raised as to the accuracy of the book with the general consensus being that a number of the events were true, but that they probably happened to other inmates and that Charrière subsequently attributed them to himself. So, rather than an autobiography, the book is probably best thought of as ‘based on true events’.

As to the book itself … it’s compelling, though in reading it I had trouble believing all of it was factual. I’d also say it was somewhat too long. With that said, it was worth reading.

What is certainly true is the harsh treatment that prisoners received in the French penal colonies. Violence and deprivation was commonplace, as were tropical diseases. Few detainees survived to return to France to describe the horrors they experienced. In 1953, the prison system was finally closed entirely and now serves as a tourist attraction.

un livre qui est absolument a lire, fabuleux !

رواية ممتعه بكل المقاييس .. من الصعب التصديق ان كل ما قرأته حصل فعلا .. هنري شاريير رجل الهروب حبيته من قلب :P
.. انسان مغامر حاول الهرب حوالي 9 مرات بعضها نجح وبعضها فشل .. خصوصا ان بعض المحاولات لو فشلت كان ممكن تكلفه حياته .. تذكرت صديق عراقي لما قص علي حكايته انه ايام صدام لما كان مجند تجنيد اجباري كان مخير اما يموت في حروب ماله علاقه فيها او انه يهرب و حزتها لو انمسك يقتل فورا .. واختار الهروب و تزوير بطاقة له وتغيير شكله و في النهاية بعد مروره من نقطة تفتيش الى نقطة تفتيش قدر يهرب .. قرار الهروب بحد ذاته يحتاج شجاعه كبيرة فكيف بكل هالمحاولات .. الرواية حلوة وشيئ واحد اعيبه عليها .. هو انه ما تكلم بشكل مطول عن السبب الي دخل بسببه السجن .. يعني قال انه بريئ واتهم بجريمة لم يتركبها لكن بدون تفصيل .. وبغير هذا الرواية كانت متقنه وتستحق القراءة ..

I feel like this book had a lot of potential but didn’t deliver. It’s totally outrageous, which prompted me to Google it and discover that it’s not entirely true and large parts of the book have been disputed. It also felt incredibly dated, lacked character development and emotion. And to be honest, I found Henri incredibly arrogant and annoying. I was hoping this book would be more historical and provide insight into the penal system, but overall it felt like a man bragging for 500 pages.

Trois étoiles et demi.

PS: Mon rating concerne l'histoire, et non pas son authenticité. Sachant qu'il s'agit bien d'une biographie romancée dont plusieurs faits réels furent vécus non pas par papillon mais par d'autres personnes, donc, je considère ce récit comme un roman et non pas une biographie.

Henri Charrière, dit papillon, est né en 1906 en Ardèche. En 1925, il rejoint la marine, en 1927, il se fait reformer puis s’installe à Paris, où il vit de petite délinquance. Le 7 avril 1930, papillon est arrêté pour un crime qu’il n’a pas commis, c’est le début de l’aventure.
Papillon entame sa première cavale quarante-deux jours après son arrivée en Guyane Française, il fera plus de deux-milles cinq-cents kilomètres jusqu’en Colombie et vivra en paix un certain temps entre les indiens de Guajira. Consumé par sa vengeance, il quitte son havre de paix en route vers le Honduras Britannique, pays où les évadés bagnards ne sont pas extradés vers la France. Mais son plan échoue, et papillon encore une fois se retrouve au bagne, là, il sera envoyé aux Iles du Salut, où il sera condamné à la réclusion à l’ile de Saint-Joseph. Sa bonne conduite ainsi qu’un geste héroïque lui valent le retour à Royale. Ne pouvant pas s’échapper, il demande à être envoyé sur l’ile du diable qui sera le point de départ de sa dernière cavale.
Au fur at à mesure des cavales, on visite plein de paysages, faisant la connaissance de plein de gens qui, parfois, son tellement bons, qu’on se demande si papillon n’est pas en train de nous mener en bateau. Il est vrai qu’il en a vu papillon, mais le truc qui m’a le plus dérangé, c’est le surplus d’héroïsme, papillon est le plus habile, le plus intelligent, le plus rusé, certes, avec une volonté et une détermination pareille, on devient inventifs et on est prêt à parer tous les coups mais sans beaucoup trop exagérer quand même.
Les points qui m’ont le plus frappé sont l’indifférence des autorités françaises ou internationales à la souffrance des inculpés, la façon inhumaine de les traiter, isolement, réclusion, cachots, mais surtout la persévérance et la pertinence de certains prisonniers à quitter ces conditions ainsi que leurs misères et à regagner coûte que coûte leur liberté.
Ce fut une longue lecture, certains chapitres étaient si captivants, que je veillais sans problème, mais d’autres étaient si longs et dépourvus d’actions, que j’avais envie d’abandonner à chaque fois.
L’histoire est géniale, on est à fond avec les prisonniers mal traités, on commence même à haïr certains administrateurs et à aimer d’autres, on s’impatiente lorsque les préparations des cavales traînent et on prie dieu pour que la suivante soit la bonne.

Imagine being..
Imprisoned to rot for a crime you had not committed.
Framed by the law and frustrated by such injustice.
Fueled by vengeance with an undying hope of freedom.

This book puts Prison Break (the series) to shame. Prison stories are my guilty pleasure. I simply can't get enough of them. No wonder that my all-time favorite book is The Count of Monte Cristo. There's something magnetic about prisons that attracts me in a heartbeat. Do you feel the same? Join the club. Papillon by Henri Charrière is one of those stories. And it's a true story (or mostly true).

The book consists of 13 notebooks documenting Henri Charrière's life in prison(s). The English translation is easy breezy and goes by smoothly like water running through fingers, so I didn't encounter any difficulty reading it. That's almost always a bonus. While the simple writing style serves for easy reading, the two-dimensional dialogue sounds robot-like and devoid of emotion sometimes.


Henri Charrière (Papillon aka Papi) looking badass AF.

I lost interest after about 20% into the book. It was shortly after Papi & Co. had made their first escape. I wondered whether the rest of the book will be about the mundane routine of freedom. But my loss of interest didn't last too long because the boys got busted again. And again. And again. Am I a sick person if I enjoy the parts when they are behind the bars more than those when they're free?

There was a WTF moment while Papi was staying with an Indian tribe. He was in a relationship with a young woman (Lali) who thought that she wasn't satisfying him enough, and she offered him Zoraima (Lali's 12-year-old sis) to have sex with, and the threesome became husband and wives. I don't care if it's traditionally okay for that tribe's children to screw around at such a young age, but Papi's consent made me despise him then.

Taking into consideration all the helpless and extraordinary fucked up circumstances he was going through, I couldn't cut him some slack in that particular issue. But it's crazy because aside from his consent to have sex with a minor, his other traits keep him charismatic enough that you can't help empathizing with his case. He's brave, witty, diplomatic, funny, upbeat, honorable, and a best friend to count on in tough times.

In general, this book doesn't feel like an autobiography. I feel that I'm not that much into biographies/autobiographies (well, except for Maya Angelou's which I ADORE!). But somehow, Henri Charrière manages to keep his story interesting because it's full of adventures. It's a timeless thriller which will make you at the edge of your seat each time Papi tries a cavale. I definitely recommend this book to action, thriller, and drama lovers.

Η αληθινή ιστορία της καταδίκης σε ισόβια στα νησιά της Γαλλικής Γουιάνας, του θρυλικού Πεταλούδα, γραμμένη από τον ίδιο. Ο Ενρί Σαριέρ είναι ένας λωποδύτης που ζει στο Παρίσι την δεκαετία του 1930. Δυστυχώς για αυτόν, συλλαμβάνεται και καταδικάζεται σε ισόβια για έναν φόνο που ο ίδιος ισχυρίζεται ότι ποτέ δεν διέπραξε. Η γαλλική δικαιοσύνη τον στέλνει σε ισόβια καταναγκαστικά έργα στα νησιά της γαλλικής Γουιάνας στην Καραιβική. Εκεί θα ζήσει εννέα ολόκληρα χρόνια ( τα τρία από αυτά σε φριχτές συνθήκες απομόνωσης). Θα κάνει εννέα απόπειρες απόδρασης, η τελευταία θα είναι και πετυχημένη. Θα ζητήσει άσυλο στην Βενεζουέλα και θα ζήσει εκεί 25 ολόκληρα χρόνια έως την παραγραφή του αδικήματός του. Μετά από προτροπή ενός Γάλλου εκδότη, θα καταγράψει σε 13 τετράδια την περιπέτεια της ζωής του. Το βιβλίο θα γίνει μεγάλη εμπορική επιτυχία και λίγα χρόνια αργότερα θα βασιστεί σε αυτό η καταπληκτική ταινία με τον Στηβ Μακ Κουήν και τον Ντάστιν Χόφμαν. Δυστυχώς για τον Ενρί Σαριέρ, θα πεθάνει μόλις μια εβδομάδα πριν την παγκόσμια προβολή της ταινίας.
Πολλοί ισχυρίστηκαν ότι όλες οι περιπέτειες που περιγράφει ο Πεταλούδας δεν είναι αληθινές αλλά προιόν μυθοπλασίας, η αλήθεια είναι ότι κάποιες από αυτές ακούγονται απίστευτες για να τις ζήσει όλες μαζί ένας και μόνο άνθρωπος. Πολύ πιθανόν ο Πεταλούδας να εμπνεύστηκε και από ιστορίες που έζησαν άλλοι συγκρατούμενοί του ή να υπερέβαλε λίγο για χάρη του βιβλίου. Πάντως έχουμε να κάνουμε με μια υπέροχη περιπέτεια που εξυμνεί την ζωή και την ελευθερία, και με ένα καταπληκτικό δείγμα απλής γραφής προφορικής λογοτεχνίας.

Everybody enjoys a good prison break story. From Escape from Alcatraz, Shawshank Redemption to the Count of Monte Cristo, a prison break equals an instant classic. Papillon certainly fits the bill as a French autobiographical prison break classic.

A Frenchman is sentenced to life in prison for a murder he denies having committed and is sent to serve his sentence in French Guiana. Papillon and a few of his inmate compatriots make a daring escape and travel by ramshackle boat to freedom. Thus begins Papillon's adventure wherein he receives help from various groups of people who live outside the confines of modern society ranging from hermits, leper colonies and natives. Never one to stay in one place for too much time, Papillon attempts to reenter modern society and is quickly recaptured and sent to a maximum security prison. He dreams and plans for another "caval" ie. a prison escape. As we discover, a caval is more than simply a prison escape, it is an adventure.

I will admit that this book took me a long time to finish. I stuck with it because the story was simply incredible. How much of the story was true one can only guess. I would definitely recommend this book with the advice to take your time for this is an epic.

Absolutely fantastic read, what this man goes through is unbelievable.
Honestly gets you from the 1st page and never let’s go.

این کتاب رو حدودا دو سال پیش خوندم. ترجمه کتاب واقعا بد بود گرچه داستان کتاب به شدت گیرا و جذاب بود که میتونست تا حدودی ترجمه بدش رو پوشش بده.
زمانی که به این حقیقت فکر میکنی که داستان هایی که داری میخونی عین واقعیته حس و حال خاصی داره.
4/5