Bel Canto: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Engaging
Review: I read this book in two days. The alternating claustrophobic and safe feeling that the unusual setting offered was a joy to experience. I still think of the characters like they are people I met.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful novel
Review: This is a beautiful and startlingly original novel. A party of 200 people in a South American country is taken hostage by rebels, but things don't go as planned and the rebels/hostages are locked inside the house for an extended period of time. Unexpectedly, relationships develop between some of the hostages and their captors, and the dynamics within the house change. Patchett draws you into the book with interesting, sympathetic characters, and I found myself completely carried away by the story.

Rating:
Summary: incredible writing
Review: I loved this book. I couldn't wait to get to it in the evening and then was sorry when it was over. I re-read parts to keep it going in my mind. The character development was convincing and I equated Roxanne with Sarah Brightman and the impact she might have on a group of hostages, placing myself in the room. The ending was shocking to me although I ended up thinking it was logical. Afterwards I could not imagine any other ending making better sense, and that's the kind of book I quite enjoy. It was well worth the read and highly recommended. I only gave it a 4 instead of 5 because there were some slow parts that dragged on a little. However, loved the book.

Rating:
Summary: A beautiful story-- along with a complaint
Review: First off, I want to say that I adored this audiobook -- I also read the paperback version. It is a most unusual story, and so very compelling. I felt I truly got to know every character in the story, and am eager now to read Patchett's other works. As for the ending, I thought it made perfect sense, and it was rather satisfying in my opinion.

However, my complaint... is with the reviewers who have come before me. What on earth makes you think that it is okay to reveal endings in the reviews? I am SO thankful I hadn't read any of your reviews! It is outrageous that a reviewer would spoil a "surprise" ending in the manner some have done here. Very selfish indeed. If you want to talk about the book, then subscribe to an email book club -- I can refer you to many! But for crying out loud, don't do it in a review!


Rating:
Summary: power of music???
Review: I love romantic stories with detailed fine writings. However, this book really disappointed me. This was fully convinced that the main idea of this book was that imprisonment turned everyone into stupidity and insanity. 4 and half months, if I remember it correctly, they had 4 and half months to negotiate... if only one of them still had his mind! Even the one who was deeply in love with his wide did nothing???? Isn't this funny, when the Red Cross guy saw the hopelessness of the situation, the VP saw nothing. The VP wanted to adopt the terrorist, which showed his looking forward to the future but did nothing besides entertaining his guests. He should be the one who understood those hostage stories. After all, he is the vice president of the country. Highly amazing, isn't it? The ending was even more amazing... Gen married the soprano???? For what??? Gen said he could not live without music any more... Anyway, I was totally confused... Either the characters were too stupid for me to understand them, or something wrong with me that I could not understand the "power of music". (If the music has power to turn everyone into "insane" dreamer, I would rather I never understand it).

Rating:
Summary: Excellent read
Review: It was so easy to become part of this book and feel everything the characters do.

This was one of the best books I've read all year and I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: O Brother
Review: I'm making a list of the works of fiction that are about the redemptive power of music. On it so far are two novels, Bel Canto and Cold Mountain, and two movies, O Brother Where Art Thou and The Song-Catcher. Wait! Think about it! O Brother is supposedly a hillbilly retelling of the Odyssesy, but really it's music that saves the characters. Same thing in Cold Mountain. In Song-Catcher it's obvious.
It's also obvious in Bel Canto. Music is the elixir that turns enemies into lovers, brutes into poets, and a terrifying situation into the most wonderful thing that has ever happened, even to people who have led lives surrounded by comfort and beauty.


Rating:
Summary: something other than the plot
Review: all i have to say is that the people who rated this any less than 4 stars do not know what they are talking about. fact is, this book was incredibly written. I am not going to write anymore aobut the plot because clearly in the fisrt 421 posts it has been said. i don't even think this book deserves any less than 5 stars. incredible book. look into the meaning of bel canto, also what the operas that she speaks about in the book..they all relate to what is happening. i read somewhere that somebody had written that "this just isn't true." Clearly, it is a work of fiction; it is abstract. One who cannot understand fiction is one who cannot understand the content of this book. read this book with a mind that is more open than it has ever been and look deep into it becuase there is a lot of symbolism and parallels. bon voyage.

Rating:
Summary: wonderful
Review: I loved this book. The relationships that are forged between the kidnapped victims are amazing. Certain scenes in this book seemed to slow down, and each word within these scenes is beautiful and entrancing. This would have been my favorite book of the year if not for the last two pages, which I found to be unbelievable.