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Bel Canto

Bel Canto

List Price: $24.95
Your Price: $24.95
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Wonderful, action-adventure-opera-relationships Wow!
Review: I don't normally read novels, but the plot outlined intrigued me - its based loosely on a kidnap in Peru a few years ago. Prachett manages to unusual event of putting opera centre-stage in a kidnap drama, and still manages to
Make the book a compulsive page turner.

To flow with the book you have to suspend disbelief - benevolent kidnappers,
Art (specifically opera) as the secret soul of a cross section of people, which humanizes an intolerable situation. Various improbable relationships etc.
But the overall affect is entrancing.
The ending, predictable at the outset, seems indefinitely suspended so that by mid way through, the reader yearns for everyone to be either left alone or released to an improved world. However the predictable, becomes inevitable but the end of the siege is described in removed, almost balletic terms. Wonderful. Read this book.

A few quibbles - the country is never named, mainly referred to as ' this place' ' this hellhole' etc. This is too cumbersome, Why not say Peru, or make up a name? Some of the international characters have names which are
Straight out of the headlines - the Russian character Lebed ( a tough general in the Yeltsin years) , the Vice President is Iglesias (reminiscent of the crooner) (, the Japanese Watanabe ( equivalent of Smith), which doesn't help with the disbelief suspension. However an excellent read.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A very good read!
Review: I resisted reading Ann Patchett's BEL CANTO because it seemed that the recommendations came primarily from readers who don't want anything more in a book than a romantic escape from today. Now I'm wondering what is so wrong with that sort of recommendation! BEL CANTO is a good read: it captures your interest, creates a microcosm, populates the pages with people you would like to know, and keeps its story confined to one place so that the afterburn of the tale can be appreciated. Patchett knows how to keep a storyline moving even though the premise of a terrorist coups taking over a birthday party in the Vice President's mansion in a South American country and holding the hostages for nearly a month seems to stretch credibility. But given the tale (some suggest this is based on a true incident in Lima, Peru????) the author seems to want to demonstrate that within the confines of a claustrophobic camp of terrorists/hostages the saving thread is music - specifically Opera at the hands of a very Renee Fleming-like singer. Being an opera addict, it is easy for me to see how whiling away the days of captivity listening to opera might be a satisfying refuge, but to stretch that feeling to a whole amalgam of types begs indulgence. Love blossoms everywhere despite the circumstances. The ending is abrupt and unexpected and a bit too tidy. One can take umbrage with the author's spoon feeding us translations of famous arias, getting bogged down in vocal techniques, overusing the concept of a translator, etc, but in the final analysis she creates a story that does have a fine moral statement about our state of being in a world surrounded by the threat of terrorism. If somehow we can remember this little book when things turn against us, Patchett will have succeeded in writing more than the entertaining book this most assuredly is.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: If music be the food of love...
Review: Spellbinding! Ann Patchett's "Bel Canto" employs a hostage-taking in an unnamed South American country as a departure point for one of the most original and affecting romances I've read since Michael Ondaatje's "English Patient." As the story begins, Roxane Coss, America's most beloved soprano, has been invited to perform at the home of the country's vice president in order to lure an opera-mad Japanese CEO into opening a factory there. No sooner is her performance over when the house is stormed by revolutionaries, who lay siege to the house for weeks and months to come. As might be expected, such captivity promotes the unlikeliest of alliances...

To say more would be to spoil what follows. Suffice it to say that, much like the character of Roxane Coss herself, Ann Patchett exhibits such facility with her art as to extract all of the beauty and insight from this ludicrous, unappealing, and frankly unromantic scenario. Upon reading the first fifty or so pages, skeptics (myself included) will doubt whether Patchett can sustain her high-concept high-wire act to arrive at a suitable finish. They needn't worry; this is altogether an amazing and amazingly-written book. Brava!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Bel Libro
Review: The novel, Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett is the story of a group of individuals that are forced together through an extremely unlikely situation, and end up learning about the truly beautiful things that life has to offer. Through this journey, the reader is pulled into the story, and this book leaves the audience pondering what matters most in their own lives. In this way, almost anyone is capable of liking and appreciating this book, however Bel Canto may be most appropriate for music lovers; opera fans in particular. I loved this book. The story is interesting and keeps the attention of the reader, and at the same time, the message that the author is trying to make clear comes through without a hitch.
There are many important characters in this novel, but the plot mainly revolves around a Japanese businessman named Katsumi Hosokawa, his assistant and translator, Gen, and a famous soprano named Roxanne Coss. They come together at a birthday party for Mr. Hosokawa, hosted in the home of the vice-president of an unidentified South American country. Miss Coss has just finished singing when the lights go out. When they come back on, the guests find that La Familia de Martin Suarez, a group of anti-government "soldiers", has taken them hostage. Over the next couple of weeks, the group of men, and three women, becomes a strange sort of family and they manage to adapt to their situation, and learn to work together.
The main focus of the novel seems to be relationships. The very beginning explains the non-existent love affair going on between Roxanne Coss and her accompanist. Later on, relationships change, and most of the men taken captive end up falling in love with Miss Coss, with the exception of a Frenchman named Simon Thibault, who rediscovers his love for his wife, Edith. Later on, even more surprising relationships develop for Gen and Mr. Hosokawa.
What I liked most about this book was that the story line was strangely unique. Stories about hostage situations are not a rarity, but the way this particular story unfolds is different than what one may expect when they first open the novel. Also, the detail is not over or under done, and the characters are developed, and keep developing new traits throughout the novel. The only complaint that I have about this book is the very end. I felt that the way that the author chose to finish the book did not fit with the rest of the story. Although most of the book is about discovering new relationships, by the time I reached the end, I felt that it would have just been sufficient for the book to end with the loss of some of those hard-earned bonds.
Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read, or is knowledgeable when it comes to opera. This book has a little bit of something for everyone, and still manages to stay true to the plot. It is deserving of both the Pen/Faulkner award that is displayed on the cover, as well as a title such as "beautiful song", and I hope that it continues to gain a bigger audience, and that others enjoy Bel Canto as much as I did.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Perfect pitch
Review: This is a beautifully-written novel, one in which the reader can empathize with all the main characters, "good" or "bad." Given the vast range of reviews here ("Fantastic!" "Boring"), it would seem that this book either hits you powerfully or totally misses its mark. For me, it worked. This book is full of so many wonderful small scenes and moments, sewn together in a beautiful tapestry, that I truly did not want the book to end. If you're looking for action, possibly pass this one by. If, however, you're interested in books exploring complex relationships forged under even more complex situations, then I suspect you'll enjoy this book.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Unusual setup, interesting characters, great read
Review: This was an unusual setup for a book, to say the least. Bel Canto takes place in an unnamed country of South America. A well-known opera singer is giving an exclusive performance for a Japanese businessman and some other dignitaries and elected officials when they are all taken hostage by some of the country's rebels. How the characters react to this situation over their three month long captivity is carefully presented by Patchett. Unlike the last book I read (the Corrections), every character here is likable in some way. Patchett looks for the dignity in each person's position and helps the reader to understand their motivations. The importance of art, especially opera, is emphasized as the singer, Roxanne Coss sings for the group everyday and in so doing transforms their lives, particularly those of the rebels. Though there are only three women left in the group (they let most of the women go), Patchett gives a lot of attention to these three women and the relationships they establish.

This book was amazing in many respects. One of my favorite characters who is pivotal to the story is Gen, the translator for the Japanese businessman. His knowledge of so many languages makes him invaluable in the multicultural milieu Patchett has created. Translators make what they do seem so effortless, yet Patchett does a great job letting the reader see the difficulties Gen is faced with that only another translator would appreciate. Another great character is one of the Russian gentlemen who falls in love with Roxanne Coss and needs Gen to translate his affections for her. He relates a great story about his love of beauty and art and how important it is to have people who appreciate and understand art, even though they may not be artists themselves. Finally, it is fascinating to watch the rebels transform from their exposure to the elites of their society - from TV, opera, the elegant surroundings of their de-facto prison. Patchett does strain credibility with one miraculous transformation after another as rebels and captives alike change and grow. Still, this is a minor fault compared with what she accomplishes with the book overall. She also stays true to the story she has told. There will be no easy way out of this set-up in the end.

Rating: 4 stars
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.


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