Henri Charrière Books

Henri Charriere, called "Papillon," for the butterfly tattoo on his chest, was convicted in Paris in 1931 of a murder he did not commit. Sentenced to life imprisonment in the penal colony of French Guiana, he became obsessed with one goal: escape. After planning and executing a series of treacherous yet failed attempts over many years, he was eventually sent to the notorious prison, Devil's Island, a place from which no one had ever escaped . . . until Papillon. His flight to freedom remains one of the most incredible feats of human cunning, will, and endurance ever undertaken. Charriere's astonishing autobiography, Papillon, was published in France to instant acclaim in 1968, more than twenty years after his final escape. Since then, it has become a treasured classic -- the gripping, shocking, ultimately uplifting odyssey of an innocent man who would not be defeated.

Condemned for a murder he had not committed, Henri Charriere (nicknamed Papillon) was sent to the penal colony of French Guiana. Forty-two days after his arrival he made his first break, travelling a thousand gruelling miles in an open boat. Recaptured, he suffered a solitary confinement and was sent eventually to Devil's Island, a hell-hole of disease and brutality. No one had ever escaped from this notorious prison - no one until Papillon took to the shark infested sea supported only by a makeshift coconut-sack raft. In thirteen years he made nine daring escapes, living through many fantastic adventures while on the run - including a sojourn with South American Indians whose women Papillon found welcomely free of European restraints Papillon is filled with tension, adventure and high excitement. It is also one of the most vivid stories of human endurance ever written. Henri Charriere died in 1973 at the age of 66.

Here at last is the sensational sequel to PAPILLON - the great story of escape and adventure that took the world by storm.Banco continues the adventures of Henri Charrière - nicknamed 'Papillon' - in Venezuela, where he has finally won his freedom after thirteen years of escape and imprisonment. Despite his resolve to become an honest man, Charrière is soon involved in hair-raising exploits with goldminers, gamblers, bank-robbers, revolutionaries - robbing and being robbed, his lust for life as strong as ever. He also runs night-clubs in Caracas until an earthquake ruins him in 1967 - when he decides to write the book that brings him international fame.Henri Charrière died in 1973 at the age of 66.BANCO is ferocious, funny, tender, crowded with incident and excitementBANCO is as vibrantly alive as PAPILLONBANCO is the work of a born story-teller.

Voici le récit du plus célèbre évadé de France condamné en 1933 au bagne, pour un meurtre qu'il n'a pas commis. Henri Charrière, dit " Papillon ", en réchappera treize années et quelques tentatives d'évasion plus tard : " sorti définitivement du chemin de la pourriture ". Entre ces deux dates, l' " enfer vert " ! Des années de réclusion totale aux îles guyanaises du Salut, de cavales en pleine jungle colombienne entrecoupée d'un intermède paradisiaque chez les Indiens Guajiros. Une épopée sur terre et sur mer qui s'achève par l'ultime évasion, la plus risquée, la plus désespérée, à bord d'un simple radeau, pour une traversée de l'océan impossible. Et pourtant, au bout, c'est la liberté ! On sort secoué, épaté de ce livre comme d'un superbe roman d'aventures. A la différence près, qu'ici tout est vrai ! Un best-seller vendu à dix-sept millions d'exemplaires dans le monde, depuis sa parution en 1969, époque à laquelle François Mauriac saluait déjà cet extraordinaire phénomène par ces mots : " Je trouve que c'est un livre d'un talent extraordinaire. L'immense succès de " Papillon " correspond exactement à la valeur du livre, à l'expérience qui a été celle de l'auteur. C'est une lecture passionnante. "