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Summary: The loveliest book ever
Review: I picked this book up because I enjoyed the Magician's Assistant so much. I had no idea what was in store for me. I loved this book from start to finish. I have recommended to everyone who will stand still long enough to listen to me, and have become impatient when my friends don't read it fast enough. It is on the very top of my list for "favorite books of all time." Get it now, read it slowly and enjoy!
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Summary: Engaging and breath-taking
Review: I belong to a book club and this book was our pick for April. At first I was leery of the combination or terrorism and opera but was hooked from the moment I started reading. Ann Patchett's writing is luminous and you can feel every aspect of the story. It's like you are actually there with the characters. Her descriptions are detailed and specific without being too wordy. You never feel bogged down in the story. I would highly recommend this book to anyone that likes a good book and a great story.
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Summary: AMAZING
Review: This was an amazing book and anyone who will not read it is really missing out on a wonderful and splendid journey.
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Summary: bored to tears
Review: I'm just amazed so many people gave it a good review. I had to force myself to finish it.
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Summary: So close, and yet so far.
Review: Ann Patchett, Bel Canto (Harper, 2001)I have spent quite a while mulling this over, and have finally come to the conclusion that, patterned after Greek tragic opera or not, I can't forgive Ann Patchett for the climax of this novel. Much of that has to do with the beginning of the novel; I'd have been inclined to be more forgiving had the first hundred pages not moved at a snail's pace. But the book finally picked up, everything was going along swimmingly, and then, suddenly, bam-the most predictable possible climax. The story is based on accounts of the guerrilla takeover of the Peruvian embassy in 1992, but Patchett moves the action to another, unnamed, South American country and adds a few extra ingredients into the mix. In Patchett's story, opera singer Roxane Coss has been lured to the embassy for the birthday party of a wealthy Japanese industrialist whom the country hopes will build a factory there. During the festivities, the guerrillas invade, and a hostage situation begins. It drags on, and soon the strict militarism with which the siege begins evolves into a more relaxed system, where the line between terrorist and hostage begins to blur. It's after that line begins to blur that the book really takes hold. The original three chapters, that describe the scene and introduce us to most of the main characters, are painfully slow. Patchett hits her stride, and the book takes off. For the middle two hundred pages, it's easy to see why the book won the Orange Prize and was shortlisted for so many others. Then comes the climax. My initial reaction is that it was the biggest letdown I'd had in a novel in a number of years, and that's saying something. After some discussion, I tried to accept it as the pace and events of the book being modeled on Greek tragic opera (where such clichés as the climax of this novel were coined). I don't know enough about Greek tragic opera to really make a judgment one way or the other as to the accuracy of Patchett's patterning. I do know that in modern reinterpretations of older works (think Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres for an excellent example), what we often change is what has become clichéd in the years since the work was originally written. Such is not the case here, and it certainly kept me from enjoying the book as a whole as much as I otherwise would have. Great middle. Mediocre beginning. Awful ending. Still, the hundred pages that are worth saving are remarkable, and worth the price of admission. ** ½
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Summary: Before you begin, tear out the epilogue
Review: Bel Canto is kind of schizophrenic: The story can be a a beautiful version of life transformed by the power of music; characters discovering the rewarding gifts possessed that they had previously not known. To play devil's advocate, it can also be perceived as a concocted Utopia, where everyone is delighted to be taken hostage by terrorists who, of course, are not what they seem to be. Not to go any further, Bel Canto is a very enjoyable read, exploring areas that were unknown to me, namely opera. The epilogue may have been the author's way to tie things up neatly, but it makes absolutely no sense in terms of the character development in the previous chapters. It detracts from the book rather than sums thing up.
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Summary: Poetic and engaging
Review: This is an excellent novel that is written with a great deal of flair and originality. The plot is intricate and imaginative, with a lot subtleties and nuances. It's downright suspenseful and exciting too. A terrorist abduction may not sound like too unusual of a plot, but there is more than meets the eye here. Plus the characters are very interesting and well developed. The quality of writing is also extremely high, as well as somewhat eccentric in a pleasing, poetic kind of way. Overall, the novel is excellent on a number of levels that I've mentioned, and I recommend it highly. Avery Z. Conner, author of "Fevers of the Mind".
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Summary: The unabridge cassette tape version
Review: A co-worker recommended the book and I bought the cassettes as I had an automobile trip ahead of me. Surely this will be a movie soon? It was wonderful. For those of you who already have read the book, but also might like hearing it, I highly recommend the unabridged version. The narratora - mimicking all the accented voices of the characters - is masterful and a joy to hear. Now, the most important question: Does Roxanne sing the words you readers saw on the page? Dare I answer? I wholeheartedly recommend Bel Canto on tape! Just READ, Florida!
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Summary: Why didn't they put Fabio on the cover?
Review: It seems like Ms. Patchett tried soooooo hard to make this book touching, that it ends up being a jumble of boring sentimentality. She obviously trying to say something about life, and more specifically love, but really just throws out clich' after clich' after clich'... sex, music, cooking, chess, poverty vs. wealth, and people of all races getting along. It's as if she took these themes out of a book on how to convince someone that you're deep. The people who like this book are those same people who though Titanic was a great movie... keep clear of this one.
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Summary: Bel Canto
Review: The book is mesmerizing. Although it may appear that not much is happening, a LOT is going on. An exotic, erotic, highly evocative book, which manages to use only one four-letter word. Excellent, very descriptive writing tells a compelling story which, while not exciting, is hypnotic. We're lulled into a certain peaceful acceptance of the conditions described in the novel, until they change dramatically. I was sorry when I finished the book, and found myself wondering how the characters were doing in their very unsual world.
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