Read The World - French Guiana - Papillon

Book: Papillon
Author: Henri Charriere
Pages: 576
Book takes place in the country: YES (around 50%)
Author is from the country: NO
I have visited: NO

This is my 27th read for the year

This is the author's own story of the time he was in prison for a murder he states he was wrongly convicted of.  Nicknamed Papillon due to the butterfly tattoo he had on his chest, he takes us through his trial, his sentence of life in Prison, and then his time in French Guiana prison.  Papillon had only one thing on his mind once he got to prison in French Guiana - escape.  He escaped several times over the 13 years he spent in prison before he finally escape for the final time.  He lived out his days in Venezuela as a free man after his final escape and there he wrote this book recounting the prison time and his escapes in detail.

This was a good book.  I did wonder by the end how true it all is (at least the way people reacted to an escaped convict) because Papillon never saw himself in anything but a positive light.  He was always well respected and well liked and a hard worker.  It may all be true, but only Papillon would know for sure.  HOWEVER - this does not take away from the story itself and it is well written.  I became highly invested in his story.  He is a good story teller above all, so I am glad I decided to go ahead and read this one.

Stars: 4