Henri Charriere,P. O'Brian, Papillon Review

Overall Rating

Fascinating adventure story.

It's fiction, visit the devil's islands and see yourself...Mr Charriere attributes to himself the accomplishment's of the others.

Henri Charriere,P. O'Brian, Papillon Review: Having just spent a long week-end at the Devil's islands (iles de salut) and seen the place one can only feel a deep sorrow for the inhumane conditions the inmates (and the guards as well - the isolation is terrible) had to suffer.

However, I FEEL MISLEAD. I read Papillon first at the age of 13, then later and it was a marvellous book at that age. Too bad that it is mostly fiction, as the official papers presented in the museum show who the true heroes where - and certainly not Mr Charriere: he never went to the devil's island itself and he escaped from the mainland (Cayenne) in 1944 as did 5400 out of 6000 prisoners, as the Vichy regime was collapsing anyway. Later on, all the prisoners were given a general amnesty.

It's so hard to know the truth of the boyhood hero (: