Customer Reviews
Possibly The Best Book Ever - By: L. Holloway, 25 Sep 2008 
This has to be one of the best books ever. It really transports you to another world & what a shocking world of brutality it is. The french penal colonies must have been one of the worst places ever invented. It shows how much spirit Charriere must have had to survive.
The escapes are great but what really makes the book for me are the sories he tells of the other inmates & their sentences & the mundane life on the islands.
Surprisingly Devils Island despite the name was the best to live on.
Buy this book today & you'll probably finish it wothout putting it down it's that good.
The best book you will ever read! - By: Gavin Paterson, 15 Sep 2008 I have read alot of great booksin my time & i can honestly say without a doubt that this is by far the best! It is end to end action & suspense all the way through. Dont let the idiot who scored this a 1 star put you off, if you read this book, you will read it again & again.
A MUST READ in your lifetime book - FANTASTIC - By: lil-d1985, 24 May 2008 Having been recommended this book by someone I decided to see what the fuss what about myself. From the very beginning this book takes hold of you & doesn't let go until you reach the end. The book is based on the diaries of Henri Charriere who was wrongly accused of murder & sent to the penal colonyin French Guiana to carry out his life sentence. The book follows Henri, or "Papillon" as he is nicknamed, through his lifein these horrendous prison conditions that he has to endure. It takes you through his 9 escapes from various different prisons where he is captured every time he manages to escape to another country. There are timesin the book where you really believe that he has made it, that he has escaped, only to discover his recapture. Along the way Charriere meets & makes new friends & some of those he loses along the way, but it is heartwarming to read that later onin the book he is again reunited with close friendsin another prisonin another country.
This book is really fantastic & has to be one of the best books I have ever read (I have read A LOT!). Although at times some of the stories or incidents seem unbelievable & at times it seems as though Charriere makes himself out to be some kind of hero or great man, this book is simply so engrossing that you overlook those small occurances & it doesn't even matter! Charriere's determinationin wanting to escape makes you support him full on & urge him to succeed.
Having just finished this book, I am just about to buy "Banco" to really follow his journey after prison life for 13 years. If you never read a bookin your life, let this be your first & you will be hooked on reading. Simply fantastic.
my top ten books to read in a life time! - By: Sara Mthomas, 21 Jan 2008 This was a fantastic book to read , full of adventure, papillon seems to take you on his journey, His endurance of the french penal system & his outlook on life was never dampend by the way he was so brutally treated & his adventures when he managed to escape were full of bizzarre & wonderfull people he would meet, (the indians), If you are going to read this book then i would suggest reading his second book, Banco! brilliant reading from an extremly intelligent man.
Incredible Story Telling - By: Timothee T, 12 Dec 2007 This is a powerful tale of one man's struggle against the misfortune & inhumanity that life & the French Authorities has brought upon him.
Papillon the man, has a natural gift for story telling, but what shines through his converstaional prose more than anything else is his exceptional sense of honour, good humour & amazing determination to overcome adversity.
Papillon the book, is a must read for anyone who takes inspiration from the display of such positive human traits as these.
The person before me who gave the book 1 star amazes me. For me that rating says more about their attitude to life than a fair reflection of what is an amazingly powerful true story of hope & depth of the human spirit.
