This was my first Ann Patchett novel, not sure if I will trouble to read another, ever!

1.5 "overwrought, stereotypical, ridiculous" stars !!

2015 Most Disappointing Read Award (tie)

Of all the books on my reading list, "Bel Canto" was one that I was most looking forward to. You see after my faith and my loved ones the thing I most adore is Opera.

Opera has been my passion, my solace, my escape and the most direct connection to my emotional life. I have found Opera beautiful, profound, wise and affirming. I was introduced to Opera at the age of 10 and since then there has not been a day where I have not listened to it. I remember traveling through Colombian jungle (with some friends) at the age of twenty four and ran out of batteries for my discman. I was working through some obscure Russian opera at the time. My mood plummeted so severely that one of my friends took out her AA batteries from her mini-flashlight. (now that's a good friend)so that I could listen at night until we reached the next village.

I read "The Patron Saint of Liars" by Patchett in 2013 and thought it was a very good book (3.5 stars) full of psychological insight and an understanding of what disconnection does to family relationships. I was expecting this book to be even better as it won awards, was a later novel and for God's sake was about Opera.

From the get go I felt my heart sink and chapter after chapter I read in disbelief that this was the same book that others gave such accolades. The book rang so false to my ear. The melodrama and overly disgustingly sweet sentimentality was jarring, discomforting and infuriating.

I somehow suspected that Ann Patchett had subcontracted a junior writer from Disney Animation and another burned out writer from Harlequin Romance to come together and churn this out while she joined their ideas and linked them with a very few gorgeous passages. The characters were absolute caricatures with extreme gender and ethnic stereotypes. The emotions and story line were completely illogical and the whole experience left me both angry and depleted.

The only thing that will act as salve to cure my disappointment is to go and listen to Diana Damrau sing some heavy Richard Strauss songs with orchestra. Thank goodness for that.

Addendum: My partner just noted that I rated Veronica Wants to Die by Paulo Coelho higher than this. This is getting scary.

There is nothing I can say. I don't even know how.

Instead, I will veil my head, lament the deaths of each person loved since the beginning of time, and cry tears of unsurpassed desolation in the hopes that tomorrow, the sun will shine on my face and god will see me standing there.

A book centered on love, music and kindness innate in humanity. This book is a well written story by a very descriptive author. The tension builds and the love deepens. A fun and fulfilling read. There is evil in the book and there would be no tension or reality without it. Reality, for me, is an essential element of even a novel.

Great hostage situation in which individual character studies unfold. As we get to know the characters, they are getting to know (and love) each other. A reciprocity develops where the captors and captives become fond and used to one another, despite the inevitable upshot. The reader enjoys seeing these kinships develop, even though they are impossible. Opera singing, music, and languages as sub-plots enhance the story in unique ways as well. I can see why this won so many awards.

I am so upset. But not for the reasons one might expect. The fact that it was not a happy ending was expected. On the contrary, most authors would have made a happy ending out of this story, and I applaud Ann Patchett for not taking the easy way out- however much I wanted it for all the characters I became attached to. Which she did was not necessarily worse, but definitely as bad. It was not only sudden, but seemingly random. Almost as if she was rushed to meet a deadline. Almost exactly in the middle of page 310/318, Roxane Coss screams. Because the hostage situation is finally over.

In an unknown country, in the home of the Vice President, a birthday party is held for Katsumi Hosokawa, the visiting chairman of a large Japanese company and opera enthusiast. To get Hosokawa to invest in the country, famous soprano Roxane Coss is scheduled to perform as the highlight of the party. Near the end, a ",very reasonable" band of terrorists emerge, turning into a hostage situation when they realize the President is not present, as expected. (He elected, instead, to watch his soap opera, changing his mind at the last minute. After some negotiations, bring reasonable terrorists, there are thirty nine hostages kept, the rest released. Among the remaining hostages are not only Hosokawa and Roxane Coss, but an assortment of Russian, Italian, and French diplomatic types. Swiss Red Cross negotiator Messner is roped into service while vacationing. He comes and goes, wrangling over terms and demands, and the days stretch into weeks, the weeks into months.

Yes, I said months. Over four months total. And everyone is friendly and no one is shot and there are a few love affairs. Believable? Not really.

I actually was not glad to find out this was based on a true story. Somehow, it seemed, disrespectful, for lack of a better word. It was based on the 1996-1997 Lima Crisis in Peru. Yes, the unnamed country was Peru. Which was ridiculous, how far Patchett went to avoid naming the country, using all sorts of pronouns. She should have simply made one up if she was not at liberty to use "Peru", instead of making it a distracting "secret". Alas, how true to life was it? Definitely based on a true story, not a true story. Stretching the definition on that, even.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanes...)

Alas, this is my third Ann Patchett novel, and, as always, her stories are character based. This is what she does best, and does her best yet (as far as the ones I have read) in "Bel Canto". I did fall in love with many if not all of the characters. (There were a few more characters than I would have liked to keep track of throughout).

The omniscient third person point of view really catered to this book well, floating from room to room, character to character. That being said, supposedly this categorized "Bel Canto" as magical realism? I suppose that is one way to define the genre, but not mine. Magical Realism is incorporating fantastical or magical elements into an otherwise rational world, and this was more making a true life event unbelievable with overt scenarios. Not even merely sugarcoating, but making things up. The terrorists playing soccer with the hostages? Falling in love with each other, rendezvous at two in the morning in the kitchen cabinet?

Alas, here are my reasons, why Patchett's beautiful use of language, coupled with her insightfulness and my consequential love for the characters she creates ultimately outweighed the idealizing and romanticizing.

"Their eyes clouded over with tears for so many reasons it would be impossible to list them all. They cried they cried for the beauty of the music, but also for the failure of their plans. They were thinking of the last time they had her sing and longed for the women who had been beside them then. All of the love and the longing a body can contain was spun into not more than two and a half minutes, and when she came to the highest note it seems that all they had been given in their life and all they have them came together and made a weight that was almost impossible to bear."

"All of the orchestra supports her now, it reaches with the voices, lifts the voices up, the beautiful voice of Roxane Cossis singing her Gilda to the young Katsumi Hosokawa. Her voice vibrating the tiny bones deep inside his ear. Her voice stays inside him, becomes him. She is singing her part to him, and to a thousand other people. He is anonymous, equal, loved.”

Lyrically said; this is what amazing art can do to us.

"It was odd the way they never spoke but always seemed to be in communication."

Reference to the love between Hokosawa and Roxanne. Yes, love can transcend language.

"We make exceptions in extraordinary times."

At its heart, this is what "Bel Canto" is about. How we all might find out audacious, glorious, magnificent, impossible things about ourselves and each other if only given the opportunity. If only given the chance, we might do things we never thought possible. Of course, in this rendition, they are all for the positive.

My thoughts on the characters.

**** Spoilers ****

Terrorists:

Generals Alfredo, Ben, Hector. Ben is the main guy, he has a family, is very "reasonable, is proud of his terrorists, expresses regret for recruiting some of the girls. Plays chess with Hosokawa.

Recruits Beatriz, Carmen, Cesar, Ishmael. Beatriz is addicted to the Maria Soap Opera, Hosokawa gives her a watch even so she knows when it starts (one in the afternoon). Yes, the same soap opera the President neglected attendance for. She also tires confession for the first time there, a sort of coming of age. Carmen, I adored her. Vivacious young girl, torn between her duties and what she sees as noble efforts and her love for Gen. Was very good at being invisible, guided Hosokawa in his rendezvous, to get him upstairs to get room. Cesar is an unborn until now amazing Soprano, becomes a prodigy to Roxanne when he sings out loud for the first time the night after Roxane and Hosokawa's first time together, she being asleep when she typically does her daily practicing. Ishmael impressed everyone by learning chess by watching. He is small for his age, thus impressing even more in his hard work, always more than the others. If offered to live with Vice President Ruben and work for Oscar Mendoza after this is "all over". He dares to believe.

Oscar Mendoza is great friends with Ruven, often worries about his family, fearing his wife unknowingly allowing young boys to take advantage of his daughters (the way he did her when they were younger), to the point of dreaming murdering them. He is an example of an interesting character.

Simon Thibault is the French who cried himself to sleep, caressing his wife Edith's scarf, having reestablished his love for her during the hostage situation, realizing how much he loves her, before she is released.

Victor Fyordorv proclaims his love to Roxane Costs with a cute, sentimental story about how his grandmother, above all, treasured a book of impressionist paintings, used gloves to turn the pages, only took it out sometimes, teaching him to appreciate art (thus Roxane and thus gives him some "permission" to love her).

Vice President Ruben Iglesias. Thus is his place. Throughout the four plus months, he continues to serve as host, realizing how pampered he is, learns to truly appreciate Esmeralda, his maid who actually is the one to stitch a wounds inflicted during the situation, before she is released. He misses his children, his wife, wants to adopt Ishmael.

Messner seems to want to be on both sides, obviously unsuccessful in negotiating anything.

Father Arguedas holding confession with two chairs pulled aside, an arrangement everyone, terrorists and hostage alike, respect. He is the one hostage that volunteers to stay, not once, but twice.

Tetsuya Kato is the pianist, replacing Christoph, when he dies of a diabetic insulin insufficiency. He used to be a secret pianist, but was the only one there when Roxane needed a pianist. Turns out he is a maestro, had him wondering what he will do when real life returns.

First love affair. Roxane Coss, the great. Did not really like her, although Hosokawa send to make her a better person and more humbled. Christoph had shared his love for her on the plane, she had shunned him, she feels regret. Hosokawa discovers happiness for the first run. Probably the most changed character. His love for Roxane change him, shows him works and things he never imagined possible. Family and his wife were arranged, he used to see it as an obligation, time was everything. Now, in this works where tune had been suspended, he never wants to leave this was woman that does not even share his language.

Second love, which I savored so much more. Carmen the beautiful young terrorist and Gen the translator. How they shyly like at each other and how that became her asking him to teach her Spanish to studying in the kitchen cabinet to get taking him outside onto the grass under the moonlight to make love to the promise of studying English and Spanish for two hours before making love but being unable to keep that promise. Young love (in their twenties). Not only young love, but audacious, unimaginable, compelling disremembering love.

Now, the ending? Everyone dies except for Father Arguedas, Simon Thibaut, Vice President Ruben Iglesias, Gen, and Roxane? So why not wed Gen and Roxane?

So it occurred in real life. Well, it did not fit this story, in which Carmen and Gen made such a lovely story. The same goes for Hosokawa and Roxane. Totally made their stories, the entire novel, disingenuousness.

A generous four stars, although this is only by practicing my own disremembering in regards to the ending.

The year was 2003, the year that I graduated from high school. I was reading Taming of the Shrew by The Bard himself.

In the fall, I would be attending Kalamazoo College who decided hey let's stress these little college freshmen out by assigning them this book over the summer.

I dropped Taming of the Shrew, never to be picked up again, and I began reading this book. Because I am an overachiever (and Netflix didn't exist at the time), I read this book twice.

And I hated it. It reads like a soap opera but not in a good way. It was the beginning of a nearly 10 year reading slump. What would my life have been like if I hadn't put down Shakespeare?

How the New York Times thought that this was one of the best books of the 21st century beats me.

2025 Reading Schedule
JantA Town Like Alice
FebtBirdsong
MartCaptain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Berniere
AprtWar and Peace
MaytThe Woman in White
JuntAtonement
JultThe Shadow of the Wind
AugtJude the Obscure
SeptUlysses
OcttVanity Fair
NovtA Fine Balance
DectGerminal

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A novel about a hostage crisis that goes wrong -- with very sexy results, Bel Canto might have been a better read if at some point Patchett did anything to acknowledge the plot's ridiculousness. Instead, she treats the readers to vague social commentary about South America, multiple nobel savage tropes, and a crisis situation where people do have sex, but only after first taking the time to fall in love. It's also somewhat about opera, so allow me the metaphor that Bel Canto hits all the obvious notes with competence but without ever risking enough to engage the audience.

Not to be a pure hater, I did love the hell out of the cover art.

I didn't have lots of expectations when I started this book and it might have been more enjoyable if it wasn't maybe for the narration style. I didn't connect to the characters and the story overall isn't bad but the execution didn't work for me. I listened to the audiobook and I found myself often distracted when the audio was on. It's not the narrator's fault but rather the way the story was told didn't help me connect to the story.

Disappointing. Maybe it was the narration, but I didn't connect much with the story or the characters. So far, this is my least favorite Ann Patchett novel. (My favorite is The Dutch House.)

Thoroughly enjoyed this one.

Inspired by the Japanese embassy hostage crisis in Peru, Patchett has made a poignant, albeit fictitious, tale of it with a opera soprano thrown in for good measure.

Peppered with dry humor that had me laughing out loud in train stations at four in the morning, I loved every bit of this book except the ending which I have conveniently blocked out.

This is my favorite Ann Patchett novel. Her style of writing is smooth and I find some of her prose sublime. And this one just absolutely captured a certain place in a certain time with a unique mood that covered the entire like chocolate around a perfect Michigan cherry.

If I would have liked the characters just a bit more and knew what really cored the Opera obsession for one of the characters it would have been a pure 5. 4.5 as it is.