Papillon is a timeless classic bound to endure

books:


	• Papillon Charriere Pocket, 1983 average customer review:based on 83 reviews
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highly recommended

definitely one of the best

During my 10 years of reading i've read countless adventure stories, some where good others were excelant and some were bad but none even comes close to "Papillon". the debated question wether the story is true or not is hardly relevant, (althought i simply don't believe someone can make up tales in this level of authenticy and realism) this book is impossible to put down and the reader is sucked into Charriere's world within the first page.
If you can read only one book ,definitely read "Pappillon".

Movie? What movie?

In most cases comparing a book to the movie version of it inevitably results in the conclusion that the book is "better". This seems to be the general opinion of others as well as myself. I believe that when reading a book, we fill in the details to the limit of our own imaginations and experience, rather than having the image presented before us as in a movie, and therefore the book will probably be more meaningful and personal for us. However, I find this not to be the case with "Papillon".

The movie shares very little with this book other than the broadest of details (name, location, imprisonment, etc). In fact the only real detail they share is the "falling-down-the-gangplank" stunt at the beginning.

Many more attempted escapes and travel from one prison to another happen in the book than the few locations in the movie. There are eight entire months Papillon spends with the local Indians and gets two young women pregnant before deciding to leave them.

Although the movie is a lengthy 151 minutes, the book is no lightweight either, coming in at 544 pages. However, I found it a bit tedious and am glad I got through it. It's an OK read, but not particularly a stand-out.

If factual, then my hat is off for Charriere's fortitude and determination. If fiction, then he could have used a better editor.

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Charriere is a natural born storyteller

I read this novel after seeing the Steve McQueen movie of the same name. In the movie, after Papillon's initial escape, I expected the movie to end, but as he experienced one amazing adventure after another, each wilder than the last, I felt as if I had gone into a movie-watching twilight zone of an unending action picture. I wanted to see if the book was more grounded than the movie.

The book is even further out there. It strikes me as a partially fictional memoir of Charriere's experiences in a French penal colony in South America. What rings true are the dehumanizing conditions Charriere and the other prisoners experienced. What I think he made up was most of his adventures after his escape. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. For example, whenever Papillon and his friends land on British or Spanish territory, they admit they are murderers,yet they are always welcomed eagerly by the local officials who are eager to show their disdain for the barbaric French penal system. But the thing that really struck me as odd was when Papillon was captured by a tribe of Indians. He married two beautiful teenage sisters whom he left pregnant, and fled with a fortune in pearls. (One of his wives made her living diving for oysters.) That section reads like the daydream of a man stuck in prison for a very long time.

The book is roughly written, and occasionally slows to a crawl as Papillon plans one unsuccessful escape after another, yet he is a wonderful storyteller and it is an excellent adventure, along the lines of "Beau Geste" or "The African Queen."

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Papillon is a timeless classic bound to endure

This is a book that contains two stories; on the one hand, it portrays the indomitable human spirit in a way which is sublime. Mankind through individuals like Papillon reveals itself to be worthy of being called "creatures of G-d". The other side of this book shows a much darker side of us; a so called enlighted society created by men that shows total indiference towards human life; this contradiction is one that we see through history and is not less actual today. The book is always entertaining and gripping. One for the ages.

Papillon: Unbreakable spirit

I read this book after my father's death; it was one of his favorite and now one of mine. It is impossible to maintain a stoic attitude towards the fortitude of its characters, the incredibly journeys at the turn of each page, and the amazing beauty and misfortune of the Caribbean and its people.

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reviews: 1, 2, page 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

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