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Summary: Made me listen to opera!
Review: This is a wonderful, different, slow paced, story. Even though it seems so unrealistic throughout, it just works. I was captured by the relationships developed, especially between Gen and Carmen. I wanted it to go on and on. Even if you are not an opera fan, you will have to listen to at least one performance during the reading of this book. I just wish I could have listened to "Roxanne Cass".
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Summary: A beautiful harmony
Review: Ann Patchett's novel is full of surprises because, despite its plot summary, it is not a thriller. Yes, the story is propelled by a terrorist attack on the Vice-President's home in an unnamed South American country. But Patchett is quite clear very early in the story about how the hostage-taking will conclude. The novel is actually a love story, but not a conventional one. True, people fall in love, in very convincing and very achingly beautiful ways. But the love story in this novel is about the love of music. Roxanne Coss, the world's pre-eminent soprano, is the pivot around which the plot moves. She captivates the rich Japanese businessman Hosokowa, but she also entrances the other wealthy industrialists, the politicos, the terrorist generals, and even the uneducated peasants who comprise the terrorist troops. What's fascinating about the book is that Patchett does not try to describe Coss's singing. Instead, she marvelously describes the impact of the music upon the listeners. Eventually, we are engrossed by these diverse characters, so convincingly alive have they become. Patchett even manages to draw us into their fervent desire for outcomes that cannot ever occur. And the novel's ending comes as abruptly as it must, breaking the spell of the beautiful song Patchett has been singing. I loved this novel. The depiction of the Stockholm Syndrome that develops between captives and captors is utteringly convincing, and the role played by music is memorable. The book is one of a kind and perfect for book group discussions. Brava, Ann Patchett!
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Summary: Bel Canto: A Tedious Musical Journey
Review: Let me begin by saying I am an Opera Buff. I am also a singer. So for me to tell you this book is one, long, tedious read is quite a departure from what you might expect. I kept on reading it, bored as I was, because so many people had recommended it I just kept looking for something compelling to happen. For more than 300 pages, nothing much happens. There were some interesting moments at the end, but you shouldn't have to read an entire book to finally discover something compelling. So,unless you like wishful, fantastical plots, stay away from this one.
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Summary: Touching and lyrical
Review: A birthday bash held at an impoverished Latin American country in the honor of Japanese Electronics magnate Mr. Hosokawa is abruptly interrupted by a terrorist siege. Amongst the international array of hostage is celebrated Opera chanteuse Roxanne Coss, vice-president Iglesias, a priest and others of Russian, French and Swedish origins with a Swiss Red-cross negotiator Jochaim Messner. Bel Canto is hence a story on the incarceration and the interaction of the motley group of terrorists with the hostage. And what a story - told with lyrical prose and grace under Ann Patchett's observant eye. It is boldly imaginative of Patchett to use opera arias as the language that bridge the diverse group and transform the grisly labyrinth into a humane heaven of love and kindness. She treads desire and passion between the translator Gen and terrorist Carmen, fatuation in Hosokawa for Roxanne and kindness when Roxanne coaches Cesar in singing. The different myriads of romance and love are scripted with emotional delicacy and a sweeping magical realism that knits you to the forgotten community and haunts you with a shattering finale. Infinitely touching, Bel Canto is a gorgeous symphony on the transcendance of love and kindness.
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Summary: Not so perfecto Canto...
Review: By the time I finished this novel, I was disappointed. Patchett's writing is good through about two-thirds of the story, then takes a deep dive into the melodramatic. I disagree with the cyber-critics who claim the story should be thought of as "magical realism". It's neither "magical" enough to be magical realism (and Patchett writes with none of the sardonic wit of a m-r master like Garcia-Marquez), nor real enough to be realistic. A beautiful magnificently talented soprano whom everyone falls in love with upon hearing her sing, an uneducated country boy who might be the next Pavarotti, an uneducated (of course) possible genius who teaches himself to play chess just by watching - all these characters together by chance in the same hostage situation?? - it's not "magical", just unbelievable. There are some memorable scenes, though, like the one when the hostages are all of a sudden confronted with pounds of fresh food that they have to cook for themselves. The French Ambassador, who appoints himself chef, and the revolutionary general suffering from shingles, are the story's best characters.
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Summary: Nectar for the soul
Review: Easily one of the most beautiful and engaging books I've ever read. (And I almost didn't read it -- did I really need a novel about a black-tie dinner party held hostage by band of terrorists?) It is enchanting, insightful, tender, charming...and above all, exquisitly written.
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Summary: Boring, mis-directed and a realy snoozer
Review: I've read thousands of wonderful fiction books in my life and this has to be one of the worst ever! The book just drags on and on -- I kept reading, hoping that I would come upon a good part, but never did. Don't waste your time.
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Summary: Disappointing Ending
Review: In all honesty, I probably never would have chosen Bel Canto off the shelf. I ended up reading the book through a book club I am in with some of my friends, because it was recommended to us by another book club.
It took awhile for me to get "caught up" in the book. It had a slow beginning and didn't really spark my interest until well into the middle. One thing I really enjoyed in this book was the detail in the realtionships between the characters. All of the characters interacted on different levels, and I thought the author did a nice job of making most of the characters seem real. In that respect I really liked the book. However, this was all destroyed by the ending. I am not going to ruin the ending for anyone, but for those that have read the book, I think they would agree that the ending comes out of nowhere. It left me with a very unhappy feeling. When I put this book down I was extremely disappointed and to be honest, confused as to why the author would choose to end this story in this way.
If I were to recommend this book to someone else I would tell them to read the book up until the last 10-15 pages or so, and then quit reading and make up their own ending. In this way they may get some satisfaction out of the story.
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Summary: Soap Opinions
Review: Though the President of the South American country Anne Patchett's "Bel Canto" is set in never makes an actual appearance, his shadow is cast heavilly across the surface of the novel. His disdain for the Vice President (a very likeable character) and the obvious neglect of his own duties (he is not present at the birthday galla invaded by terrorists for which he was intended to be the primary hostage) instigate indirectly the plot of the novel. Instead of being abducted himself, the President is at home watching his favorite soap opera. In fact, this same soap opera serves as a kind of character in itself. The children terrorists watch it, everybody knows about it, so they all must have something in common, all these South Americans. All these people in fact. What's left for the terrorist to deal with in the President's absence is a long slow battle with obstinate negotiators, and a mish-mash of differently cultured hostages playing along at life on a small scale. The results could have been amazing. In fact, many might find it amazing as it is. For me, however, the soap opera pall becomes all powerful. The characters behave melodramatically (no pun intended), and dialogue is romantacized and contrived. Patchett surely intended language to be a sub-subject, as the primary character is the translator Gen: the only one able to communicate freely with everyone, but unable really to express himself. "Bel Canto" falls into a similar trap. It reads like a soap opera with something serious behind the scenes. But isn't there always something serious behind the scenes? The realistic counterpoint at the end is abrupt and intended to be painful, but it isn't. None of the characters were ever real. Like soap stars dying of brain cancer... inevitably, they come back to life.
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Summary: Lives up to the hype!
Review: You will be tempted to pass this one up. Don't. If you do, you will miss a beautiful story and even-handed writing. This novel is filled with delicate characters who have to make bold choices. I love novels and movies in which the action is very gradual, even slow-moving, but the results are monumental and life-changing. Bel Canto reminds us that heroism is often a gesture as small as an offered handkerchief, that love begins with a glance, that life changes on a dime, that living for art is not only a possibility, but sometimes necessary. It has been weeks since I finished this one, but I still think about what it would be like to be held captive in that living room, with only beautiful music to contemplate.
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