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| Customer Reviews |
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Plodding...
Well, I simply can't finish is, and I'm 3/4 of the way through. I bought it because of the good reviews on Amazon (Patchett's relatives?) and I have yet to care about any of the characters or the thin plot. Feels like walking on a sticky floor. Yuck.
Rating:  - Beautiful!
"Bel Canto" is a beautifully written story of unlikely love and secret desires. Do not be put off by the barebones plot--a group of people at a party taken hostage by South American terrorists. And do not think you are in for a routine "put a bunch of strangers in a room and then learn their life stories" sort of saga. Patchett gathers together a group that spans nationalities, professions and class and reveals the hidden depths, sometimes in a few short pages, through their interactions with each other.
Take the Russian minister of commerce--portrayed as something of a buffoon who has fallen in love with Roxane, the opera singer. He screws up his courage to declare himself--which must be done through Gen, the translator. What he says to her is completely unexpected--a wonderful story of his childhood and an art book. He declares himself a man who appreciates beauty and therefore worthy to love her, and asks nothing in return. Meanwhile we see into the heart of Gen the translator, as he awkwardly acts as intermediary he realizes he has never told anyone that he loves them, not a woman, not family, not his mother--he feels as if his life has been to act as a conduit for the thoughts and feelings of others, that he has never experienced a real life of his own. Then there is the relationship of Mr. Hosokawa and Roxane, who do not share a common language. Is it possible to love a person to whom you cannot speak?
I loved the transformation of the characters that occurs--the Vice President of the country dreams of adopting one of the young terrorists and becoming a gardener, another terrorist uncovers his great gift as a singer, a buttoned up Japanese businessman becomes Roxane's accompianist, the young priest becomes a gifted and courageous spiritual counselor. The Generals become human too, worrying about their young soldiers as a close relative might worry about a child, and regretting recruiting them for this operation that has gone terribly wrong.Like the hostages themselves, we get lulled by the harmony and unreality of life within the compound, yet as time passes Patchett delicately conveys a sense of impending doom through the Swiss Red Cross mediator, who himself longs to become a hostage after seeing the community that has been created within the walls of the Vice President's house. Patchett tells us at the beginning of the story what the end will be, and yet creates an aura of suspense as we realize that dreams of the future will never be fulfilled.
There is a surprise ending here that I wasn't sure rang true, but the book stands without it--a wonderful novel!
Rating: - An unexpected study in human nature
presented in bright and lyrical prose. A gifted opera singer, Roxanne Coss, is hired to sing at an international get together for a Japanese businessman, in an obscure third world country. An unexpected terrorist attack leaves them hostages in the prestigious home of the vice-president. This is the premise of Ann Patchett's incredible study of human nature. Humans are basically gregarious animals and will search out comfort no matter what the situation. Add haunting music and the illustrious voice of an angel, and they all have something in common. The music flows through them, as the bonds grow between captive and captor. We can only imagine the ending to the pre-destined cataclysmic event that is bound to occur. Patchett's writing blossoms throughout this novel filled with unusual relationships that she is able to describe so vividly. She has taken an international group of people with differing cultures and religious backgrounds, add in multiple language skills that leave the interpreter dizzy, and what do we unexpectedly arrive a.... but harmony. Something is to be said for the ability of humans to see the good in any given situation. Her development of the characters is superb leaving little to the imagination as to their joys and frustrations. I say "Bravo" for one of the best books I have read this year. Kelsana 9/6/02
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