Will I love Bel Canto?

I didn’t get around to this page-turning best seller for quite a while but when I did, I was mesmerized. Its reputation is well deserved: engaging, provocative, heart-breaking.

“She sang as if she was saving the life of every person in the room.” This quotation. This is why I love this book. The character in reference, Roxanne Coss, is a world-famous soprano caught in a hostage situation, but for me, it was impossible to read that line without realizing—without immediately understanding—that, oh, this is what makes a singer truly transcendent.

Not vocal range or records sold, but their willingness to sacrifice themselves on stage, momentarily, for our pain. It’s perfect. Heartbreaking and perfect, as is the entire novel. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Reading this, at one point, I thought, “I’ve done that,” and felt a rush of shared humanity. After a botched kidnapping, a group, including a famous opera singer, become hostages. On the first night, one of the guards reaches out to touch her arm and she lays still and lets him. She knew, as I have, that this gentle longing would keep her safe. 

I am grateful for how Patchett understands the art of being human in a deep yet familiar way. During the prolonged stalemate, the singer sings and organically seeds the compassion, creativity, and curiosity of captors and… show more.

If you read one book in your life, read Bel Canto. 

Ann Patchett’s writing is always sublime but her characters in this book are unforgettable. She stages a hostage situation in an undisclosed South American country. Over time, the young terrorists and the group of international strangers find a way to live and even thrive together. 

The novel revolves around the one female hostage, a beautiful opera singer. Her singing charms the most hardened terrorists and most skeptical politicians.

Any book that begins with a hostage situation cannot be put down! An adored opera singer has been hired to entertain diplomats only to be interrupted by terrorists. Tension keeps the reader glued to the page and all the while, we glean the viewpoint from all those involved. This allows us to immerse ourselves in a narrative that communicates how unlikely bonds could occur between diverse groups of people.

In an unnamed South American country, a Japanese businessman has been lured to a party by the promise of a private performance by an American opera star. As she finishes her last aria, the lights go out and the partygoers are taken hostage by armed guerillas. Working within the claustrophobic confines of a prolonged hostage situation, Patchett acts as a masterful conductor, taking turns highlighting and blending together the voices of characters divided by nation, language, class, power, and more. She brings individual voices into conversation (and sometimes romance) with others, while keeping the whole symphony moving with control and… show more.

I was assigned Bel Canto when I “went back” to college at 40 years old (I barely “went” to college the first time) and it was my first Ann Patchett book. I was nervous and felt grossly out of place among my younger classmates, but this book reminded me of why I wanted to be there in the first place – to become a better writer. To maybe even become as good a writer as Ann Patchett (hey, a girl can dream). The story takes place in an embassy in an unnamed South American country, where guerillas attempt to assassinate… show more.