Bel Canto

It's been 15 years since I first read this and fell in love with Patchett's writing. Since then I've read all of her work and rereading this one was a treat. A birthday party for a Japanese business man in South America takes an unexpected turn when terrorists take the group hostage just after a performance by an opera singer. It's a surprisingly tender story, less about the hostage situation than about the human connections that can be made in the most extreme situations. It's beautiful and will break your heart. The details, like clandestine Spanish lessons in a china closet, a young chess player, the power of music, and the fastidious vice president's efforts to maintain some calm in the chaos, are what will stay with me. A perfect show more place to start with the work of one of my top-five living authors. show less

What a book! Five stars doesn't do it justice. The setting is an impoverished South American land. The reader is taken to a lush home of the Vice President of the country. The President is home watching a soap opera, while in real life a soap opera nightmare unfolds as poverty-stricken, gun-wielding renegades burst into the home, interrupting the lovely, beautiful singing of a world-class opera diva.

With the overarching, beautiful story of the power of music and art, the tale unfolds as it becomes difficult to sort the good from the bad. As the hostage situation drags on long after the initial group of women and others were left go, the remaining people slowly learn about each other, and, in a wonderful poignant writing style, the show more author draws us into the the psyche of both the captors and those holding captive.

Strong character development (perhaps a little too over drawn), leads us to understand the intentions of those who are beaten down to the point of wild actions. And, we grow to understand those who, while they may be rich, have their own crosses to bear.

Throughout the story of the have and have nots, the overriding differences of each group and each person, the reader remains captivated, savoring each and every word.

An incredible story line, a exquisite writing style, strong character development, and the power of music which captures all souls and transcends the evils of life, renders this a must read. show less

I haven't felt so captivated by a book in a long time! When it began, I thought the hostage situation would be the catalyst for a larger story, but by the end of chapter one, or maybe it was two, I realized the hostage situation was the story.

I loved how different aspects of different characters are slowly revealed throughout the novel. I loved how the author wrote in such a way that even the terrorists are sympathetic, round characters. I loved the amazing balance of delicate foreshadowing that so subtlely hints at the ending but still leaves you with hope for a fairy tale ending. I loved how natural and logical certain plot and character details are woven into the story so that they don't seem contrived, even though they are show more necessary for the story to work (for eg, a translator who speaks so many languages). Most of all I love how the story pulls you in to its world so that you wish you were part of it -- that is ultimately what makes the book so great.

A note on the reader for the audiobook: at first I thought the voice sounded like a computer, but as I got used it, I realized how amazing the reader actually was -- the intonations are exceptionally good and really add to the telling of the story. They are so fluid and meaningful that it seems they were written into the story itself, and therefore probably influenced my positive experience of the novel. show less

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett is a book that I have had on my Kindle for more than a few years, meaning to get to it someday. I now have finally gotten to it and can only kick myself for not reading it sooner. I loved this beautiful, emotional story set in an unnamed country in South America where a rag-tag group of revolutionaries take over the house of that country’s vice-president.

The country, in hopes of gaining his business, holds a birthday party for Mr. Hosokawa, a rich Japanese industrialist. It is held at the home of the vice-president and a famous opera singer is brought in as entertainment. The guests are a multinational group of the rich and powerful but the terrorists had their eye on getting the President. The President show more failed to come so they were left to now settle in and start making their demands.

In reading the story we get to know the many characters, both the terrorists and the guests. The author developed her characters fully from Roxanne, the famous opera singer to Carmen, the young terrorist. Issues of culture and politics are part of the story. Eventually the dividing lines between the captors and the captives begin to blur as the situation goes on for months. Even romantic love is developed and enchants us. At the back of my mind was always this feeling of dread, knowing that tragedy was on the horizon. A wonderful read and well deserving of the awards it received and the hype surrounding it. show less

I loved the premise of this book: a bunch of people who don't know each other (and don't really want to) stuck in a bizarre situation in which they have little choice but to form bonds with the most unlikely people among them. Finding themselves tied together through their love of opera and the opera singer trapped with them, the people become even more bonded together. Patchett's writing is beautiful here and she manages to make opera into a vital element of the book. The characters seem realistic and the way that they become friends and unlikely lovers seemed believable. [POSSIBLE PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD] I loved this book up until the epilogue, which left me puzzled. Of course, given the situation and the mounting stakes, there's little show more way that the book could have a happy ending, but I was perplexed by the marriage at the end. The characters involved in the marriage were not those that I'd wanted and hoped would end up together, but I suppose that part of Patchett's point here is that difficult and traumatic situations sometimes bring people together in unusual ways. Recommended. show less

As I turned the last page of this book I let out a huge exhale which was followed by my girlfriend whining because I woke her up (it was midnight, I hadn't put the book down in hours). I think I held my breath for the last ten pages of the book.

I fell in love with every character. I fell in love with the writing. I fell in love with the unique and odd plotline.

I hate to give away spoilers so I can't write more, but yes... read this book. Everyone.

I picked up this book from the library after seeing multiple LT readers state how good it was. I must not have fully read the reviews properly as I thought I was picking up a book about a dignitary being kidnapped from a birthday party ... I figured a kidnap story should be good entertainment on a night off from work.
I had no idea I was picking up a captivating story about life, the power of music, and a little bit of stockholm syndrome.
When I finish a book I usually have a couple stickynotes marking some quotes I like, this book is riddled with stickynotes! Definitely worth picking up if you haven't read it yet. (5*)

"He believed his daughters were not old enough to date and yet clearly by the standards of this country they were old show more enough to be members of a terrorist organization."
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"Wearing shoes in the house was barbaric. There was almost as much indignity in wearing shoes in the house as there was in being kidnapped." (haha I feel the same way, no shoes inside!)
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"Some people are born to make great art and others are born to appreciate it." show less