Papillon (book)

Papillon

First edition (French)
Author	Henri Charrière
Translator	Patrick O'Brian
Country	France
Language	French
Genre	Autobiographical novel
Publisher	Robert Laffont (French) Hart-Davis, MacGibbon (English)
Publication date	1969
Published in English	January 1970
Pages	516 (French)
Followed by	Banco

Papillon [papijɔ̃] is an autobiography written by Henri Charrière, first published in France on 30 April 1969. Papillon is Charrière's nickname, deriving from a butterfly tattoo inscribed on his chest. The novel details Papillon's incarceration and subsequent escape from the French penal colony of French Guiana, and covers a 14-year period between 1931 and 1945.

The book was an immediate sensation, and instant bestseller, achieving widespread fame and critical acclaim, and is considered a modern-day classic. Upon publication it spent 21 weeks as number 1 bestseller in France, with more than 1.5 million copies sold in France alone. 239 editions of the book have since been published worldwide, into 21 different languages.

First published in France by Robert Laffont in 1969, it was first published in Great Britain by Rupert Hart-Davis in 1970, having been translated from the French by Patrick O'Brian. The book was adapted for a Hollywood film of the same name in 1973, starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. Charrière also published a sequel to Papillon, called Banco, in 1973.

Papillon has been described as "The greatest adventure story of all time" (Auguste Le Breton) and "A modern classic of courage and excitement" (Janet Flanner, The New Yorker). As of August 2016, Goodread average book ratings gave Papillon an average reader rating of 4.22 (out of 5), which was on a par ratings-wise with Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, and higher rated than other classics such as George Orwell's 1984 and Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, as shown below: