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Bel Canto

A Novel

By Ann Patchett

(62)

| Paperback | 9780060934415

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Book Description

Somewhere in South America, at the home of the country's vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honor of Mr. Hosokawa, a powerful Japanese businessman. Roxanne Coss, opera's most revered soprano, has mesmerized the international guests with her singing. It is a perfect evening -Continue

Somewhere in South America, at the home of the country's vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honor of Mr. Hosokawa, a powerful Japanese businessman. Roxanne Coss, opera's most revered soprano, has mesmerized the international guests with her singing. It is a perfect evening -- until a band of gun-wielding terrorists breaks in through the air-conditioning vents and takes the entire party hostage. But what begins as a panicked, life-threatening scenario slowly evolves into something quite different, as terrorists and hostages forge unexpected bonds and people from different countries and continents become compatriots.Friendship, compassion, and the chance for great love lead the characters to forget the real danger that has been set in motion and cannot be stopped.

Critics

  • 'Bel Canto' by Ann Patchett

    I liked the premise of the story and the way it avoided turning a hostage situation into an all-action drama, but it needed more than just good characterisation (of which there is plenty) to sustain me for all of its 318 pages. Opera buffs may disagr ... (read full critics)

    readingmatters published on Mon, 27 Sep 2010

  • Danger arias

    Bel Canto Ann Patchett 318pp, Fourth Estate, £10 Transfixed by the hijack of the Japanese embassy in Lima five years ago, Ann Patchett decided that it lacked one thing - an opera singer. In this ensuing rendition of life under siege, she corrects the ... (read full critics)

    guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

7 Reviews

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  • A great story with a disappointing ending, in fact for me the epilogue was a complete let down. Although I do appreciate it was a difficult story to write an ending for! Up until about the last ten pages or so it was a beautifully told story of the bonds that developed between the hostages and their ... (continue)

    A great story with a disappointing ending, in fact for me the epilogue was a complete let down. Although I do appreciate it was a difficult story to write an ending for! Up until about the last ten pages or so it was a beautifully told story of the bonds that developed between the hostages and their terrorist kidnappers, despite the many differences in race, culture and language.

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    Lindyloumac said on Sep 4, 2009 about the Audio Cassette edition | Add your feedback

  • I loved this book... absolutely beautiful writing.

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    Kim said on Mar 28, 2009 | Add your feedback

  • Bel Canto

    A beautifully written story about a group of people who, thrown together by a terrorist kidnapping gone awry, find out they have more in common than they would initially have expected.

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    Readingrat said on Jan 30, 2009 | Add your feedback

  • Boring, flat characters to match a boring, flat storyline. The ending was so completely random I'm still stunned. I can't believe I fell for the 'reviews' on the back of this book saying that it would be my new favorite book and I would tell all my friends to read it. Why do I always fall for mar ... (continue)

    Boring, flat characters to match a boring, flat storyline. The ending was so completely random I'm still stunned. I can't believe I fell for the 'reviews' on the back of this book saying that it would be my new favorite book and I would tell all my friends to read it. Why do I always fall for marketing lies? Skip this snooze of a story.

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    Deanna Kyre said on Dec 6, 2008 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

  • A bunch of diplomats and wealthy people are at a party when terrorists break in and decide to hold them hostage. Among the hostages is a famous opera singer who had been hired to sing at the party, and her music really moves the terrorists.
    ----------------------------------------------------- ... (continue)

    A bunch of diplomats and wealthy people are at a party when terrorists break in and decide to hold them hostage. Among the hostages is a famous opera singer who had been hired to sing at the party, and her music really moves the terrorists.
    ---------------------------------------------------------
    The plot line was pretty good. At times it seemed a bit boring because the hostages were way more complacent about being there than I would've been. The end of the standoff would be how I expected it to end, but the last chapter... I just have to say RANDOM. It doesn't even fit with the story line, and makes no sense. I gave it a so-so rating because of that.

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    Heather Landry said on Nov 21, 2008 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

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