Bel Canto

Bel Canto is a story about love, mostly. Love, music, language, terrorism, friendship – the book definitely doesn't fail to deliver on those themes.

Set in South America, the story (based on a true story) begins when a large roomful of mostly affluent bureaucrats and CEO's are taken hostage by terrorists during a beautiful soprano opera performance by the book's female lead, Roxanne Coss. From there, the story stays in that same setting. The hostages end up being held captive for over 4 months! During that time, relationships are formed between hostages and terrorists, friendships grow, romances flourish.

It's going to be very difficult to review this book without giving away the ending, but I'm going to try valiantly!

I have to admit, I was a little disappointed by this book. I had read and heard a lot of good things about it, so my expectations were high. There were definitely good parts! I enjoyed many passages about love and language and music. Patchett really has a flourish for colorful language on those subjects! For instance, here's a passage about music I particularly enjoyed:

“How strange his fingers felt after two weeks of not playing, as if the skin he wore now was entirely new. He could hear the softest click of his fingernails, two weeks too long, as he touched the keys. The felt-covered hammers tapped the strings gently at first, and the music, even for those who had never heard the piece before, was like a memory. From all over the house, terrorist and hostage alike turned and listened and felt a great easing in their chests....Had the accompanist played so well? It would have been impossible to remember, his talent was to be invisible, to life the soprano up, but now the people in the living room of the vice-presidential mansion listened to Kato with hunger and nothing in their lives had ever fed them so well.”

Isn't that beautiful? It's passages like that one that saved this book for me. Because of how well-written it is and how beautiful the language is, I have to give it 3 stars.

Read the rest of this review here: http://www.literaryquicksand.com/2016/02/review-bel-canto-by-ann-patchett/