Rating: 
Summary: Too much fluff
Review: There's been a tremendous amount of buzz around this book which initially peaked my interest. This book lacks any realism in many aspects. To comes across more as a fairy tale than an event that would actually happen in reality. One of my main desires to read is to emerge myself in lived experiences presented by the author that would otherwise allude me. I wanted to read and understand what it is like to be a hostage, to fear for my life and wonder if I'll ever survive. Rather than focusing on these aspects, this story quickly evolves into a love story between the hostages and terrorists. Plotting avenues of escape never occurred to the hostages. I would think that foreign diplomats and CEOs of multi-national corporations would not become so complacent in their present circumstances. In all honestly I couldn't wait to finish this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Lord of the Butterflies
Review: What an unmitigated pleasure to read this elegiac celebration of opera. Packett's novel is a wonderful tribute to the healing and uplifting quality of music and its ability to bring people together. The lightness and humor that underscores the plot gives the story a buoyant quality even as it hurdles the reader to the inevitable tragic denouement. Unfortunately the postscript rings a littel false. Also, wouldn't it be wonderful if a recording were made available of all the operatic music cited in the book.
Rating:
Summary: Good.
Review: The novel opens with a scene from a birthday party in honor of a Japanese business tycoon. The party is hosted by an unnamed country that is trying to woo the businessman into opening a factory and stimulating economic growth in the area. The host country hires the businessman's favorite opera singer to perform for his birthday. Terrorist highjack the party in an attempt to kidnap the President of the host country; however their plans are thrown into disarray when it becomes apparent that the President is not in attendance. Left with a room filled with highly influential guest from around the world, the terrorist lockdown the party and are forced to reevaluate their original mission. "Bel Canto" has all the elements of a truly riveting suspense story. The fact that the author has wrapped those elements in a canvas of romance and operatic tradition is probably what made this Pen/Faulkner Award Winner stand out. Unfortunately for me, that same canvas distracted from what I thought would be a great story had the author focused on the tensions and politics behind the attempted kidnapping. Instead, Patchett centers the story on the relationships that develop between hostage and kidnapper - some parental, some romantic, some platonic. As the author explores the various relationships that develop among the characters, she maintains a musical undercurrent that influences every aspect of the hostage situation. Music, opera in this case, not only soothed the "savage terrorist" but also spurred love and friendship. Although I can appreciate the author's use of music throughout the novel (very creative), I am certain that this will be a more enjoyable read for opera enthusiast, which I am not. The best parts of the novel for me were the beginning and the end. Although everything in between is well written, it's not always well paced. For those who encounter the slow parts of the novel I encourage you to stick with it. I have no regrets about investing the time and I doubt you will either.
Rating: 
Summary: Truly, a work of genius and inspiration : delightful
Review: At long last, we have an award winning novel you could recommend to a friend without hesitation or fear that it might fly above their heads, for far too often the literary awards circle has tended to recognise portentously serious works in favour of more accessible titles of equal merit and distinction in their annual awards. Without a doubt, Ann Patchett's "Bel Canto" is this year's novel to rave and die for. It is truly a work of inspiration and genius that celebrates life and brings hope to humanity. Patchett uses the occasion of a state party in some unnamed Latin American country to stage a hold-up and then watch how the hostages and their kidnappers, a randomly flung together cosmopolitan sample of humanity from opposite sides of the track first test the boundaries of trust with each other, then gradually loosen up and shed their skin as they discover their inner selves through the joys of music, love and beauty to become totally transformed - even transfigured - by the end of the story. Not surprisingly, Roxanne Coss, the glamourous opera singer, being the only woman hostage, becomes the central figure of obsession for the male hostages. More instructively, she is the catalyst for their transformation. Through her, some relive the memory of their former lives, rediscover their passion for their wives or put to test their latent culinary talents, others (from even among the terrorists), their thirst for knowledge, or talent for chess or singing. The longer the hostages and the terrorists remain an isolated community - we never venture beyond the gates - the more completely their worldly resolve weakens. As an idyllic calm settles upon their unreal existence and the barriers between hostages and terrorists dissolve to the point we're almost unable to tell them apart, it dawns upon us that nobody really wants the siege to end. Neither the hostages nor their kidnappers, because subconsciously perhaps they realise that the real enemy - the enemy of humanity - lies beyond the gates among the politicians and the military, and they don't want back their former existence. The seige had taught them that freedom isn't necessarily about physical space - the hostages accept the privilege of using the courtyard cautiously and joylessly - but about the heart, the mind and the soul. Even as we bask in the glow of this strangely threatening paradise, the discerning reader is never in any doubt of the final outcome. No matter, for by then we're so much in Patchett's spell no downbeat ending can spoil the experience for us. "Bel Canto" is contemporary literature at its finest and most delightful. If there's only one book you have time for this season, let it be "Bel Canto". You won't be disappointed !
Rating: 
Summary: Opera Lite
Review: Based loosely on the takeover of the Japanese embassy in Peru by the Tupac Amaru group in December,1996 which lasted four months, it attempts to delve into the characters emotions. Written in a lyrical and light style, it imagines all the sweetness that can arise when terrorists and hostages are thrown together over an extended time. The center is the opera singer, Roxanne Coss, and her voice is the pied piper making the terrorists and hostages dance in an extended utopian fantasy. Vice presidents find love of gardening with the peasant terrorist, one other terrorist shows great potential for opera, love affairs, love of cooking, singing and endless description of nothingness. If it is a romantic fantasy, I give credit to the imagination on what may develop over time. Her chess descriptions are ludicrous. However, there is very little to engage the reader over the long haul. Cotton candy for the soul. How this won any prestigious awards is beyond me. no fire, but it is a best seller, go figaro.
Rating:
Summary: A Magical Literary Experience in the Operatic Tradition
Review: While opera creates its magic with music, Ann Patchett's Bel Canto does so with words. A highly original novel, the beauty of this gem lies in the interactions of its characters and in the author's writing style. The plot is relatively simple. Both terrorists and captives become hostage to the prolonged impasse that develops following a botched kidnapping attempt on the President of a developing South American country. The ensuing stalemate allows for the development of camaraderie, bonding , affection, and even romantic relationships to develop as familiarity grows between the benevolent terrorists of the Familia Suarez and their unintentionally obtained international array of captives . As the stand off continues, Ann Patchett has our complete and undivided attention. We eagerly read on to see a resolution to this highly charged situation. Patchett's sense of irony adds some comic relief to what would otherwise be a very tense dramatic situation. For example: she attributes the absence of the country's President for his kidnapping to his obsession with the country's favorite soap opera . Realistically we know some of the captives would have sought escape opportunities,. We know that not all the terrorists would have universally have become instantaneous opera fans. Despite the odds, not every single man in the room would be inclined to fall in love with the opera star. It's ok if this novel's a bit unrealistic. If you think about it- so is the book's subject, opera.- but both provide a gratifying entertainment experience in its highest form.
Rating:
Summary: Refreshing & unpredictable
Review: This book had a very unusual plot and unexpected ending. I loved getting to know the characters and observing how they reacted with each other. What happens when a group of people from all walks of life are forced into a situation where all of their roles, status, money, and skills are turned around. The poor have the power. The rich, sucessful are deamed powerless. And in a "hopeless" situation, people find love for each other and for the beauty of music and their own individual talents. I really enjoyed reading this book and would highly recommend it to others.
Rating:
Summary: incredibly dull, repetitive portrayal of stockholm syndrome
Review: i just managed to force myself to finish 'bel canto' a few minutes ago and while i still have the completely senseless ending in my head, i would like to write my review: many a novel has been written and many a movie filmed about kidnappers, their victims and the special bonds that can end up forming between the two. the well-documented 'stockholm syndrome' is given another go-around in 'bel canto', but the most surprising thing about the novel is that it offers absolutely nothing unexpected. who couldn't have foreseen, more or less, the relationships that would form, the friendships that would grow, the two or three possible outcomes? during the whole read, i was just aching for something to sneak up out of the woodwork and grab my attention, but the author found nothing out of the ordinary. i must admit that she describes the completely predictable events in beautiful detail, but that detail becomes absolutely exhausting after the first few chapters. i can't imagine anyone, even music lovers, enjoying the umteenth description of roxane coss and how incredibly amazing she is to everyone around her... just when you think that concept is down, ann patchett throws in ten more descriptions of her voice, her beauty, her character, her giving nature, her compassion... by the end of the novel, i didn't care what happened to her as long as i never had to hear the pretentious lauding about her once again. like many novels in english about other countries, there are insultingly simple mistakes in the spanish that could have been weeded out by any native proofreader (who could commit such a simple error as "poco esperanza"? what animal is the "cabayo"..is it a horse with a common spelling mistake or guinea pig ("cobaya") commonly eaten in peru? how many people in the spanish-speaking (or anywhere) world are named ranato? i couldn't stop thinking the same thing time and again while curled up with 'bel canto': "the reality must have been far more interesting than this dull, repetitive fiction." because 'bel canto' is so obviously inspired by the takeover of the japanese embassy in lima, peru, why didn't ann patchett just research what happened there and give us a documented account of the real events? i'm sure fujimori is a much more fascinating character than the telenovela-watching president in the novel. i'm sure the actual dignitaries and personnages trapped in peru were much more complex than the depthless figures in the novel (creating depth in a character doesn't mean describing one or two facets of their personality ad nauseum). and, most of all, i'm sure the terrorists in the real hostage situation didn't run a summer camp like the one depicted in the novel. maybe that is the greatest flaw of 'bel canto': you never feel like the victims are in the slightest bit of danger, and you KNOW that no terrorists like this have ever existed in the history of terrorism... in nearly five months of captivity, TWO acts of what could be called physical violence take place, whereas there is constant love-making, game-playing, opera-singing, chit-chatting, meal-cooking, cigarette-smoking and TV-watching, all made nice and smooth by a clearly fictional interpreter, gen, who (unbelievably) speaks wonderful english, french, spanish, german, russian, japanese, polish, italian and danish (and those are just the nine mentioned in the book)! come on. the author should be ashamed of herself for glamorizing and sentimentalizing a situation that could never take place.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Beautiful Novel
Review: Wonderful book, very well written with wonderful nuances throughout. An absolute joy to read.
Rating:
Summary: Complex, twisting, and gripping
Review: I read between three and four books a week while I am commuting to my job. Usually, I can mentally leave behind the book that I am reading, at least while I am working. This book, however, had me thinking about it while I was writing emails, picking up phone calls, working on projects. It was a classic 'can't put it down' and I had to. I kept trying to figure out ways to sneak a few pages at work. The plot is unusual and the finale is surprising. Much better than The Magician's Assitant, for those who have read it.
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