Rating: 
Summary: A Beautiful Fable
Review: Bel Canto is a beautiful fable, a story of the powers of art and love over the powers of evil and hatred. It could never in a million years happen in reality, but that doesn't detract from its beauty. Roxane Coss, a talented American soprano, is lured down to a nameless South American country to sing for at the birthday party of a visiting Japanese businessman. The party, with some 200 attendees, is invaded by a group of terrorists seeking to kidnap the president of this nameless country. He's not there, they won't leave, stalemate ensues. While some prisoners leave, a group of 50 remain, including the soprano and the businessman. The situation goes on for months and during those months, many of the young terrorists become involved with their captives, the music Ms. Coss sings somehow subtly changes things. Art triumphs over terror. Yes, it is very far-fetched, but it still makes for entertaining reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing "award" winner
Review: The BEL CANTO story line is very contrived and contains far too much foreshadowing of future events. How fortunate to have so many talented individuals available to manage any situation. I prefer a story line that draws the reader in, allowing them to make their own conclusions about the events as they unfold. This story is utterly unrealistic and leaves very little to the reader's imagination. I wish I would have realized it was just another sappy romance novel.
Rating:
Summary: mp
Review: It is always a good sign when a book completely grabs the reader by the end of the second paragraph. "There were others there that night who had not heard her name, who would have said, if asked, that opera was a collection of nonsensical cat screechings, that they would much rather pass three hours in a dentist's chair. These were the ones who wept openly now, the one who had been so mistaken." Once again I was committed to reading a novel from my wife's book club simply because I was curious enough about the author's style to read a couple of pages.I had no interest in the plot described on the back cover. Terrorists taking hostages at a highbrow birthday party blah blah blah...please, I did see Die Hard. But this turned out to be no Die Hard. This turned out to be a deliberately paced gallery of character portraits and delicately sewn relationships, which develop in a story only marginally driven by plot. Of course some semblance of a plot is necessary to build the characters and relationships, and in this case that plot is the day-to-day activities of an extended captor and captee environment. Through that plot the author also develops some powerful and important themes. The desperate plight of the poor and uneducated is one. Communication is another. One character, Mr. Hosokawa's translator, speaks an absurd number of languages, and consequently is able to speak with all of the hostages and terrorist despite their disparate nationalities. Roxanne Cross, the singer, is able to communicate with their hearts, through music. Perhaps the most important theme developed is the idea that we are all human beings, and that as different as we sometimes seem, we all basically want the same things, happiness and beauty. The single complaint about this novel is that it seemed to drag some about 3/4 through. That opinion does not change my suggestion that this a highly recommended book, especially for those that have a profound love of language and/or those who know what it means to truly feel music in the depths of your soul.
Rating:
Summary: Pseudo-literary nonsense for the Oprah crowd
Review: This is a literary novel, which means: (1) a character can't move from one room to another without the author's commenting on the weather outside the window; and (2) there's a book club guide. The story involves a bunch of diplomats who are taken hostage by rebels during a party thrown by the vice president of some Latin American country (fictitious). During the long standoff, various relationships develop among hostages and between hostages and captors. None ot these relationships is convincing or even interesting. Example: one hostage, a shy Japanese translator, has secret trysts with a young female captor every night in an upstairs china closet. Among the other hostages is a world-famous opera singer whose beautiful warbling brings out the best in one and all. After pages and pages of plot stagnation, author Patchett imposes a Rambo ending that brings the whole misguided mess crashing to a spectacularly ludicrous conclusion (did she get as tired of it as we did?). I think Patchett can write. She just has to pick a better story and devote fewer paragraphs to describing fog and flowers.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrorists Fall in Love with Opera???
Review: I admit that I read this book only because of the recent hype, especially because support for this book seems to have been spread by word of mouth. The plot of the book centers around a group of terrorists in an unnamed Latin American country that storm into a party honoring a visiting businessman. Their aim is to kidnap the president of the country in order to help further their cause (the usual freedom, equality, no poverty, etc.), but fortunately for him he's skipped the party. That leaves the terrorists with a house full of people and nowhere to go. Very obviously modeled after Tupac Amaru's takeover of an embassy in Peru in the late 1990's. I really haven't given too much of the book away because all of that happens very quickly at the beginning. The rest of the book is about the relationships that develop while waiting for an end to the standoff. The strength of the book is in how the author has used this situation to show how the characters (hostages and terrorists) grow in different ways because of the extreme situation they find themselves in. The long period of idleness and the forced captivity prompts the hostages to reassess who and what they are, and helps them identify what is important to them. The terrorists increasingly became more comfortable in their new surroundings and relationships. The factors that caused them to be terrorists start breaking down, and they start to view their little temporary oasis as a false utopia. I enjoyed the first part of this book. I thought the character development was well done, and I liked the author's writing style. You can't help but be envious of the skills of several of the characters (especially the absurdly good translator and the world class soprano singer). But here is where the story started losing me. The characters and situations became a bit too extreme and unbelievable. I also think the epilogue was completely unnecessary and unbelievable. Even though I didn't enjoy this book as much as I expected I would, I can see how some people would enjoy this book. I can see the emotion and self-discovery as being appealing to some readers, but it wasn't appealing enough for my taste.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: 'BELL CANTO' is not the type of novel that I would typically read, much less enjoy, however when I purchased it I was expecting something completely different. What I was expecting was the story about political leaders and prominent businessmen being taken hostage by a terrorist group and the way that they are overthrown (sort of like 'Die Hard'). Well....it is a story about political leaders and prominent businessmen (and one of the worlds most talented opera singers) being taken hostage. But it was also a story about love and relationships and the bonds that can be formed between people regardless of race, class, gender or even language. Okay, I'll admit that it did take me while to get into this book. Maybe because it wasn't what I what I expected or maybe because I didn't quite know where the story was going. But once I did start getting into it I fell in love with the story and how the hostages related to their captors, how the hostages formed friendships with one another despite speaking completely different languages and how they all created their own little world which everyone, hostages and terrorists alike, truly began to enjoy. I read many of the other reviews of 'BELL CANTO' on this site as I always do after I finish a book and noticed that there were many that were less than flattering. And I must say that it is very unfortunate that a few misplaced commas can ruin some peoples experience in reading a story. I enjoyed Ann Patchetts novel for the beauty of the story not for the grammar or editing. Admittedly these are important aspects of a novel but, for me, they do not make or break story, which is why this is one time that I am definitely glad that I did wait until after I was finished with this book to read its reviews. I would not have wanted my experience ruined by searching for grammatical errors!
Rating:
Summary: Trashy romance novel disguised as literature.
Review: What a disappointment this book is. It starts out promising, the premise is interesting, but it soon deteriorates into something on the level of Jackie Collins. Even if you can ignore the numerous grammatical errors, as the plot develops it becomes increasingly implausible and unbelievable, and the Soprano herself is not even a likable character. But ultimately, what really destroyed the book for me was the incredibly *ridiculous* Epilogue. I have read Ann Patchett's other books, and I do admire her writing style. And somehow, even in my disappointment I felt compelled to finish the story. I suppose if one goes into the book liking and expecting nothing more than a cheesy romantic fantasy, this book would be fine. It just did not meet my expectations in the least.
Rating:
Summary: Bittersweet and unusual story about life, love and music.
Review: "Bel Canto" is a style of operatic singing characterized by full, even tones and a brilliant display of vocal technique. It is also a whimsical and entertaining novel by Ann Patchett. The book takes place in an unnamed country in South America. A birthday party has been arranged for a prominent Japanese businessman named Mr. Hosokawa. The only reason that Mr. Hosokawa has agreed to come to this party in his honor is that Roxanne Coss, a world famous soprano, is there to sing for the assembled guests. Ms. Coss does sing brilliantly and all seems to be going well. Unfortunately, the party turns sour quickly when a band of revolutionaries breaks into the house and holds the guests hostage. Patchett, in a display of literary virtuosity, brings the characters in "Bel Canto" to brilliant life. With wit, humor and pathos, the author shows how living in close quarters with strangers sometimes brings out the best in people. Mr. Hosokawa, who is usually a businesslike automaton, blossoms into a sensitive and caring individual under the influence of Roxanne and her lovely music. Gen Watanable, who is Hosokawa's translator and secretary, falls in love with one of the female revolutionaries, and his life also takes off in unexpected directions. Patchett touches on many themes in "Bel Canto," such as the power of glorious music to touch our souls and the importance of seeking beauty and romance in our lives. Since the world we live in is sometimes a barbaric place, it is not always possible for peace and love to flourish. Therefore, Patchett seems to be saying, it is vital to seize those rare moments in our lives when we can enjoy everything that is wonderful and amazing around us. "Bel Canto" is marred by a pace that is a bit too leisurely and by a somewhat unsatisfying conclusion. However, overall it is an entertaining novel that is notable not only for the author's development of character, but also for her imagination, originality and wonderful use of language.
Rating:
Summary: Wish I had read the customer reviews first
Review: I was so glad to read Laura Harvey's comments on this book (and some others) because quite frankly, I have heard nothing but great hype for this book; that it is so wonderful, etc. and I definitely did not "get" it. Honestly? I thought it was boring. I started to hope the so-called terrorists would start killing some of these people. I agree with Ms Harvey that I could not think of anyone to recommend it to because it is impossible for me to imagine someone that would enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Sweetly Sings
Review: Bel Canto's long lyric passages don't grow monotonous even when they don't advance the plot, but are instead as melodious as a passage of bel canto written by Bellini and sung by Callas. They are the strongest part of the book. The characters are touching even endearing at times. Unfortunately many of the great operas that endure such as those of Verdi and Puccini have great music, strong characters and a powerful plot even when the premise requires a stretch of the imagination. Ann Patchett doesn't seem to believe that plot matters and without giving away any detail of it I must say that the plot of Bel Canto is unconvincing and the ending is completely pulled out of nowhere. It's as though at the end of a grand and tragic opera the players simply walked off the stage or began singing musical comedy. There is also a sameness to the way the characters interact which seems more the result of the author's lack of vision than the way the characters she has written would behave. The production of opera just by meaning of the word, great work, requires many talents besides that of the singers. A conductor pulls out the large character of the music. Directors, stage managers, choreographers also help to pull the plot forward to its inevitable usually tragic conclusion. A good editor can help an author to see a book's larger pattern. From the many , sloppy errors throughout Bel Canto (viles for vials of insulin) is but one example. It would seem that no editor was at work here. This is particularly ironic in a book that is largely about language (sung or spoken) and communication. Doesn't a reader deserve a author's most precise communication? This might not be worth saying from one reader were it not for the enormous amount of praise the book has received. Much of it is deserved, but definitely not all.
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