Rating: 
Summary: I have 2 "X" chromosomes and still didn't like it . . .
Review: I purchased this (book) at a non-profit org's book sale. I thought I was getting such a deal for a book that was being called one of the best of the summer. But no. Most important to note, this book was, stylistically, horribly written. If you enjoy having the obvious stated to you over and over (and over) again, please read it. However, if you don't need your hand held for 300 pages, find something else. I almost felt like I was being patronized. An editor would have helped. In addition, the improbability of the entire story, especially the ending, is beyond reason. It is just plain ridiculous. I thought for sure I would get to the end and find out it was all a dream because there was no way Ms. Patchett expected me to digest this plot. I certainly believe in an artist's license, but it just wasn't art. I'm giving it 2 stars because the character development was very good (unbelievable but well done). I wanted the best for these people since I felt like I knew them. That was one of the only reasons I finished "bel canto." If you want contempory storytelling with substance and heart, read J.M. Coetzee, Toni Morrison, even Dave Eggers or Nick Hornby - but don't expect to get it here.
Rating: 
Summary: A beautifully sung novel
Review: What a beautiful story, musical from beginning to end! Ms. Patchett's writing is lyrical, her characters completely believable (albeit full of surprises), and her ability to spin a story exemplary. The task she has assigns herself, managing a large, diverse group of characters involved in complex interactions in a confined space, is not an easy one; yet, she carefully differentiates each character from the others-even the terrorists, who could easily have become generic villains. As the story develops and relationships emerge among the various captives and captors, the boundaries between them begin to blur, as do their roles in the adventure. Odd to relate, but the boundaries between the fictional characters and me began to blur as well. Long before the end of the story, the covers of the book had disappeared and I had become part of the story. This was one of my favorite novels in 2001. Like a beautifully sung aria, it spread its wings and took flight, carrying me along with it, making me wish it could go on and on and on.
Rating:
Summary: Like Reading Music
Review: Ms. Patchett's book is one of the most beautiful literary works I have read in a long, long time. She has the gift of drawing a wide variety of characters, of weaving them into a coherent story, and of making what in lesser hands might seem like a pretty melodramatic situation into a realistic and gripping one. What a wonder this book is! It is, as always with the best of literature, music in its own way, and affects a reader as if she had been listening to some great piece of music.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting Topic & Good Writing
Review: The first thing to note about Bel Canto is that you don't have to be a lover of Opera or be interested in a terrorist plot to take something away from this novel. While neither opera nor terrorism are appealing reading topics for me, I am glad that I read this book. The writing is excellent. In summary, Mr. Hosokawa is given a birthday party by an unnamed South American Country. His favorite opera singer Roxane Coss will perform. During the party, consisting of numerous international guests, terrorists take over and keep a group of 59 men & one famous opera singer hostage for many months. This novel explores how people, who can't speak the same language nor have much in common in the outside world, come to bond and care about one another. You can't help but imagine how you might behave or feel if put in the same situation. The author also asks the question, is the life we live day to day, true of who we really are? Once the characters are put in a hostage situation, it seems that some traits they do not allow in the "real world" are allowed to come forward behind the walls in which they are being kept hostage. Though many of the events that transpire seem unrealistic, Patchett's excellent writing makes most of it believable. The only disappointment was the ending, which still has me puzzled.
Rating:
Summary: Explaining how we live our lives
Review: Bel Canto is a marvel of a book, and I will be haunted by it for years, will reread it often, will give it as gifts to my favorite people! It delineates the way we manage to sustain hope, the things we must forget in order to experience joy, and the very human pursuit of happiness. There isn't a didactic passage in the book; it is pure discovery, and everyone who reads it will come away with a different conclusion, I imagine. I thought the ending was absolutely brilliant and also heartbreaking. It was inevitable, as well, and the fact that some people were disturbed by its conclusion only speaks to the amazing artistry of the book. I'm grateful to Ann Patchett for having given me the chance to live the life of this book while reading it, and for giving me something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Wonderful, Except for the Epilogue
Review: This is one book definitely deserving of the high praise it is receiving. Breathtakingly well written and characterized I read it in a few hours because it was so compelling;at least to the end of chapter ten. I cannot understand how the epilogue comes to be attached to this book which is so believable until then. It is almost as if another writer took over for the last three pages. Since the book is based on real events it is possible that this is what actually occurred. It is not believable. The first ten chapters are sublime and worth the disappointment of the ending. Even a person with no knowledge of opera will enjoy this wonderful story.
Rating:
Summary: Breath-taking
Review: Bel Canto is a remarkable novel of complexity and illusion. Patchett allows the reader to empathize with each of her characters, each exquisitely developed. Lyrical, heart-breaking, and inspiring, the narrative brings to the forefront the lives of fictional characters more vividly than any broadcast news anchor could manipulate the circumstances of real people.
Rating:
Summary: Hungry for more than food
Review: It isn't necessary to like opera to find something personal in this story, not only about why we like music (and why for many of us it is a need, like air to breath), but how we connect to one another. While I feel the story reinforces the randomness of living, there is a subtle joy in its constant theme of acknowledging the wonder of accidents. Though at times there is almost too much story being told (if you love action, this book is not for you), it's not a navel-gazer either, and there is room for the reader to consider what he or she might do within the same frightening and yet freeing circumstances.
Rating:
Summary: A first rate production
Review: Ann Patchett so skillfully and nicely crafted the story of Roxanne Coss, Mr. Hosakawa, Gen and the others that I was there. As a bel canto fan myself, I didn't think it was possible to experience exquisite music while reading its description. Her descriptions are so vivid, her prose is so magical, this is a book I didn't want to finish. While the resolution of the plot seems inevitable from the first few pages, Patchett makes it unexpected and very satisfying. I want her to tell me more about Gen, about Roxanne, and about the lives of those I met in that bittersweet confinement in that unknown country (reminiscent of the Japanese Embassy takeover in Peru a few years back.) All I can say is that Ann Patchett brought me there. While most books I want to rush through to find out how it turns out, her prose is such that I enjoyed reading every word. The book is built like a great opera -- it is the journey as much as the destination which is entertaining. I have recommended this book to anyone who would listen. I hope Patchett has the heart to bring me back to this world of exquisite music on future books.
Rating:
Summary: Boring, Boring, Boring
Review: If you have a "Y" chromosome this book is not for you. My wife liked it (she IS a soprano); however, couldn't relate at all to the characters and thought the ending was completely contrived and illogical. Very much in the vein of "what are your really thinking" and "share your feelings with me." Budding juvenile chess masters and choir boy opera singers and the translator that just happens to speak every language known to man (with the possible exception of aramaic) strain credulity.
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