Rating: 
Summary: Bel book
Review: I highly recommend Bel Canto. It is a work of significant literary merit, especially given the terrors of the world we live in today. The Roxane- Mr. Hosokawa romance was a tough sell for me given that they didn't have a common language, but the writer developed their connection so skillfully that the reader somehow comes to believe that it is indeed possible to fall in love with someone that you cannot speak to directly. This story is much more than a romance, however, and should appeal to both a male and female audience.
Rating:
Summary: As Good as a Novel Can Get
Review: This is an excellent novel that flows endlessly, like a river into the sea. I was almost disappointed for it to end. In this age of radical terrorism, each of us live with the fear of being taken hostage. This is a well-written story of terrorists and hostages in a prolonged struggle for various issues within their lives. After the Stockholm Syndrome becomes a predominant factor, the boundaries of those who are good and those who are evil becomes blurred, as is often the case in reality. If you must read one novel this year, don't let this one pass you by.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Got a little bored toward the end - and must admit it ended rather abruptly, in my opinion. But overall, this was a lyrical and beautiful book with an interesting premise. Definitely recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Patchett has no knowledge of ANY of her subject matter
Review: As much as Patchett has clearly researched opera, she has not researched some basic medical facts that would have made the book more believable to me. I was prepared to read a beautifully written, acclaimed book, but the oversights were too hard to read past. I had to quit reading after the account of a diabetic dying of LACK of INSULIN, rather than what his symptoms revealed--that LOW BLOOD SUGAR killed him. I later resumed reading it in an attempt to forgive the error, only to read a lengthy internal dialogue of a pharmacist lamenting the diabetic's death, which he thinks could have been avoided if the pharmacist could had given him some of the insulin from a refrigerator back at his office. A pharmacist also would have known the diabetic didn't die from LACK of INSULIN. The death of the diabetic character is too important not to get the details correct. Because the misinformation is smack in the middle of a key plot turning point, I didn't find the rest of the book believable and had to put it down before I finished it.
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Summary: Stockholm Syndrome and boring
Review: If anyone wants to read a book about the Stockholm Syndrome in a fictional situation...this book is for you. There is nothing new in this work that any person couldn't find out over the internet about this subject and with a whole lot less analogies than this novel presents. I'm sorry to say, this is a very boring read.
Rating:
Summary: My Dinner with Andre meets Carmen
Review: What I loved about this book was the depth of characterization. When I first read the back of the book I was expecting more of a page-turner in the traditional sense. A little slow to start but I became closely drawn to each of the characters, wanting to find out how their little sub-plots would develop. I think one of the beauties of this book is that the reader, not unlike the hostages, wants the story to continue, wishes the characters were in a different story so they could go on. The reader and the characters are brought back to reality with a sharply abrupt ending which is only inevitable. Music is strong theme, clearly from the title, and the writing itself is almost lyrical, very polished in a subtle way.
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Summary: PLOT MOVES LIKE A GLACIER...ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Review: you'd think with a premise like this book has,it would be a page turner. oh my. couldn't be farther from the case. i started this book at thanksgiving, shelved it and returned to it only after my book club insisted on reading it for march. i'm STILL slogging through it. while there is technically nothing wrong with patchett's writing, it is just tedious, dull and uninteresting. the plot moves along at the speed of a glacier. save yourself a few bucks and take a pass on this novel.
Rating:
Summary: great discussion book
Review: Bel Canto is a great book for book clubs, with plenty to discuss. Patchett manages to grab our emotions, and we end up sympathizing with the terrorists -- kind of hostage-syndrome by proxy! The advantage of reading this book for a group is that the reader will persevere through the first 100 pages, which can seem a bit slow, then the characters begin to come alive. I didn't like the ending first time I read the book, but on a second reading I could see the point of it -- anyone who hated the ending might want to try reading it again. One of the best books I read in 2002.
Rating:
Summary: One word comes to mind
Review: That word would be ... bloviate.Unbelieveable, sophomorically written, and dull. Why this novel received the press it did (aside from the fact the author slyly leaked it to the press prior to its release date), I don't know. Don't waste your time.
Rating:
Summary: A poor excuse for a book
Review: If I could, I would give it a minus 5.
How can such inacurate drivel receive the reviews that it did.
I want my money back !!!!
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