Banco (novel)

Banco
First edition (French)
AuthorHenri Charrière
TranslatorPatrick O'Brian
LanguageFrench
SeriesPapillon
GenreAutobiography
PublisherRobert Laffont
Publication date
1972
Publication placeFrance
Preceded byPapillon 
Followed byMagnificent Rebel 

Banco is a 1972 autobiography by French writer Henri Charrière, it is a sequel to his previous novel Papillon. It documents Charrière's life in Venezuela, where he arrived after his escape from the penal colony on Devil's Island.[1][2]

Synopsis

Continuing on from Papillon, Banco relates Henri's life in Venezuela attempting to raise funds to seek revenge for his false imprisonment and to see his father. After many failed enterprises, including diamond mining, a bank robbery and a jewellery heist, he found success in Venezuela running various restaurants. The book provides more detail about the crime he was falsely accused and convicted of committing in France, his arrest, trial and views on French justice. Towards the end of the book, he returns to France as a free man.

Reception

In The Pittsburgh Press, critic John Murphy noted that the story was "told with frankness, humor and feeling" and stated that "Banco shows dramatically how a man can maintain his dignity through a most humiliating personal experience and emerge from it to say with more conviction than ever, 'I am a man.'"[3]

Adaptations

References

  1. ^ "Henri Charrière". Lecturalia (in Spanish). 2015-01-09. Retrieved 2023-09-03.
  2. ^ "Entrevistas Papillon, un rebelde con causa Roberto Bennett". Letralia 146 (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-09-03.
  3. ^ Murphy, John (6 January 1974). "New Life Begins". The Pittsburgh Press. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
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