Rating: 
Summary: The Power of Music
Review: "Bel Canto" is a beautiful book and one that I enjoyed very much. It is clear that Patchett took inspiration for this novel from a real life incident--the taking of the Japanese Embassy by Tupac Amaru guerrillas in Lima, Peru in 1996. Patchett does not even use the word "Peru," in her novel, but the fact that the book was inspired by this incident simply can't be missed. (She speaks of a fog that envelopes the city as "more than mist and less than drizzle." This is clearly Lima during the winter.) The fact that this is not a factual work, however, does nothing to negate the book's wonderful qualities...in fact, I think it adds to them. As the book opens, a birthday party has been arranged for a Japanese electronics tycoon. In order to make the party all the more enticing, he has been told that his favorite soprano will be on hand to sing for him. There is trouble brewing, however. A group of guerrillas has decided to use the birthday party as an opportunity to kidnap the president. The president, however, has other plans and the guerrillas end up taking the most important party guests as their hostages instead. The important thing in "Bel Canto" isn't whether or not the hostages escape to freedom. Instead, it is the far more interesting and complex psychological interactions among the guerrillas and the hostages and among the hostages themselves. Perceptions change; complex love relationships develop; surprises of all kind are in store. Of course, the soprano takes center stage in this book as she well deserves. She's a wonderful character. Much to Patchett's credit, she makes these psychological complexities completely believable. "Bel Canto" is Italian for "beautiful singing," and this book is about beautiful singing and the power of music but it is also about so much more. It is about the power of love as well as the negative influence of political and economic upheaval. The characters are fully-realized and quite believable even if the plot does slip into melodrama in a few spots. Some readers might even enjoy the bits of melodrama and, for them, the book would suffer with their absence. "Bel Canto," while taken from a factual incident, is fiction. It is, however, beautiful fiction and a book I think most readers will thoroughly enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: A Lyrical Study of Stockholm Syndrome
Review: Bel Canto is based on an actual 1996 hostage situation in Lima, Peru. That crisis in Lima also lasted many months, provides inspiration for many of the book's "true life" touches (like the president's love for soap operas) and ended in the same dramatic way. Through this, Bel Canto becomes a study of how a hostage crisis can change lives. On one level, the characters begin to experience "Stockholm Syndrome" where hostages develop sympathetic relationships with, and even love for, their captors. This documented syndrome (many real life hostages even maintain relationships with their captors long after the crisis) provides an interesting vehicle for exploring interpersonal relationships. It's hard for those of us who haven't been through something like this to imagine developing friendships with captors, which makes this all the more interesting. On another level, the book asks the question, "If you were imprisoned with something you loved so much, and brought you so much happiness, would you really want your freedom?" Would you want to leave if something/one you loved so much (and would likely never have access to if you were "free") was right there with you? For some characters, this love is for each other. For others, Opera provides the object of affection. This even extends to the captors, for whom the house they have taken over is so much more comfortable than their jungle habitat. This is contrasted against two interesting characters, one whose true love is outside the walls, and another who as a Red Cross volunteer can come and go as he chooses. Interestingly, of all the characters, this man who can actually leave at any time feels the most "captive." On top of all this, Patchett writes lyrically. This is a short read and worth your time, especially if you know the context and inspiration for this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Hope, Possibilities, and Beauty
Review: "It makes you wonder. All the brilliant things we might have done with our lives if only we suspected we knew how." Although this simple sentence appears near the end of Ann Patchett's beautiful and brilliant "Bel Canto", it aptly sums up the whole of this excellent story. With the daunting task of setting the entire story in the sometimes-home of a South American Vice President, Patchett breathes wonderful life into a cast of characters put into unusual and tense surroundings. When the birthday celebration of a Japanese businessman becomes the hostile battleground for a group of renegade terrorists, the party's attendees become the unwilling cast which Patchett moves deftly through their paces. Although the claustrophobic setting of this story would seem off-putting, Patchett takes this chance to explore the endless possibilities of the human heart within the strict confines of its captive surroundings, giving her novel the illusion of breathtaking expansiveness and of being totally boundless. This is one of those rare books which one is loathe to put down, yet reluctant to read quickly, for the pure joy of reading the poetically written emotions and perfectly worded sentences. I found that I could only read one page per sitting, so badly did I want to savor it's exquisite flavors. Count me in as a new advocate of Ann Patchett!
Rating: 
Summary: novel trivializes terrorism, political unrest, and art
Review: Even before September 11, I would have found this novel--with its stock characters (South American terrorists, Japanese businessman, banana republic politicians) somehwere between offensive and dull. Though the author is a wonderful writer, her use of stereotypes and central casting characters and settings ultimately trivializes what could have been an interesting fictional meditation on the power of art. The smugness, insularity, and the connotative shortcuts could only have been written by an American for whom issues such as beauty, justice, and culture are not life-and-death (literally or figuratively) issues.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible ending
Review: Good, beautifully written book. You can almost hear the opera in the background. Weird ending. Where was her editor?
Rating:
Summary: Read It!!
Review: This is an absorbing story of the evolution of relationships between hostages and captors. That simple description, however, fails to capture the page-turning quality of the story which explores the dynamics of a hostage crisis in compelling yet subtle terms. What a trick THAT is! The current state of affairs may lead a reader to think that certain features here may be idealized. For instance could we dare presume today that terrorists could be so nonspecific? Or would any actual terrorists OR hostages be so incredibly fortunate as to have the amazing multilingual Gen available? What is likely and what the writer skillfully leads her readers to understand, is that any actual situation would likely produce group members parallel to those in this book: the powerful, the brutal, the order givers, the order takers, the star, the facilitator, the helpful, the lonely, the dignified, the beloved, those sure of their talents, those surprised at their own abilities, AND Messner. Ah, these characters! Weary Messner, the one character who never chagnes his perspective and the one person who has a foot in both worlds...how the reader feels his frustration AND sometimes wants him to just go away. Using a backdrop of language and cultural barriers to reinforce universal fears of isolation, this writer allows the characters to seamlessly evolve while retaining their recognizable essence. The careful crafting of this story beautifully illustrates the subtle and surprising ways people alter their perception of their environment to meet their most fundamental needs. This would be a great book to discuss in a book club. One can easily imagine it being made into a successful movie knowing, of course, that any such attempt could never measure up to the power of the book.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting plot, great writing
Review: Bel Canto is a near-miracle of a book. Surprising and engaging plot. Very well developed characters. Beautiful writing. Sometimes the writing is so lyrical that it feels like music. The narration is so sympathetic to all parties that it transcends the situation. And the reader of this book on tape is excellent. She has the diction and tone of a poet reading her own works but manages to make each speaker different. Great work.
Rating: 
Summary: Bel [Whato]
Review: I'm sorry, but I am a serious reader of good books and this is definately not one of them. [...] it is shameless to trick people into thinking this is literature because it has opera as its backdrop. This is not literature; but rather a long version of a predictable hollywood movie script, complete with overly-dramatized characters and a ridiculous plot. While I do admit that basing a novel on a hostage scene in South America is a somewhat exciting idea, the actual plot is ludicrous. Opera-loving jungle terrorists! A country's president who skips an important dinner to watch his favorite TV show......gimme a break Ann Patchett! The writing is technically fine and there are some mildly interesting characters, but the plot is so unbeleivable it makes the book utterly unenjoyable. If your idea of art & creativity is daytime soap operas and cheesy made-for-TV movies, then you will probably like this work. If you are seeker of good literature, then don't waste your time on this silly book.
Rating:
Summary: Captivity lead to love
Review: If you are interested in this book you are probably already aware of the plot - group of people taken hostage in a South American country after they come together for a dinner and performance by an American soprano. In the hands of many other writers, this could have been written (badly) as a hostage drama/action/thriller. Luckily, it was written by Pratchett, and instead is a wonderful exploration of the human condition. While it is billed as a romance (and there is some romance in it) what I thought it most focused on was how people are formed by their surroundings. All of the characters in the book are taken out of their familiar surroundings and this changes them - among the examples is the vice-president who becomes the concierge/maitre de of his own home which is being used as a prison for the hostages; beautiful Carmen, who outside the jungle living in luxury has a chance to develop her keen intelligence; Kato, the vice-president to the guest of honour at the dinner - known only for his business position and ability with numbers, he is revealed as a professional-level pianist, which soon elevates him to a position of importance.
While this is not quite 'literary fiction', it is not a pulpy read either. It is an easy read, and all the better for it. I think this would be perfect holiday reading for anyone who is looking for an interesting diversion that has a fascinating situation and characters that you can really care for.
I have not read Ann Patchett before, but on the basis of this book I will be looking for her work in the future.
Rating:
Summary: A Waste of Time
Review: Initially, I didn't know if I was in a bad mood or this really is one of the silliest novels ever written. In retrospect, I know the latter was true. I am an opera and music lover but I found it precious and preposterous. The "terrorists" seem to let these people act on their own and treat the diva as a goddess as if they are benign captors. Perhaps the events of 911 make the entire premise unbelieveable but I suspect I would have the same reaction prior to this event. Terrorists have no interest in music, art, and singers; they are not sensitive, cultivated, or civilized, as these laissez-faire terrorists are in the book. I know people who have been held captive by terrorists and it wasn't the "party" this author depicts for the reader. I was aghast at the silliness and pretension of it all, and sexual interaction is the last thing on people's minds in a real situation like this (consider the passengers on one of the flights that crashed into the WTC towers on 911 thinking of liasions, and you get an idea of the absurdity of this "story"). Everyone here acts as he is in a Proustian salon (except for the VP's butting to the head with a rifle at the beginning) and they seem to easily and gladly forget their past lives because they are having such a wonderful time. I cannot muster one star for this book but had to cast one in order to post; I am angry at being conned into thinking this great literature and significant because it touches the world of opera. Read Franzen if you want a look at reality and literature. I wouldn't even give away this book because it would constitute an endorsement. Shame on those who publicize it as literature. It's closer to the junk romance paperbacks, which isn't my idea of good reading. I threw my copy in the garbage after reading because I hoped to the end one word or thought would transform what went before it. If this is an "aria," I wonder what composers that writer has listened to?
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