Sunday, April 09, 2006

Bel Canto

A book about opera and terrorism, you say?

It's good, really!


I lent
Never Let Me Go to Amanda not just because of its amazing story, but because of its beautiful prose. She turned to her bookcase and handed me Bel Canto by Ann Patchett.

It was nice to read something so refreshingly different and at the same time so beautiful. Patchett's writing is addictive and pulled me in to the story, the characters, the themes, and the settings. While the story moves rather slowly at times, I never gave up on the book. In fact, I sometimes found myself wishing that my morning commute was a little longer just so I could finish a page or a chapter.


While I've never been one for opera, Patchett seemed to anticipate this. She made the music another character of sorts. You don't have to "get" opera to enjoy this book -- just think about the way that your favorite music makes you feel, and you'll understand.


A Japanese businessman is invited to celebrate his birthday in an "unnamed South American" country at a party hosted by the Vice President. This country is poor, and its leaders are hoping to convince the businessman to open one of his factories there. They lure him there with the promise of a performance by the famed American opera singer Roxanne Coss. It works. But the party is quickly interrupted by terrorists hoping to kidnap the President - but he's not there.


What follows is a story of survival, politics, and love.
Bel Canto is wonderful.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Puke on Amanda's "English Lit" books. I have got a real interesting read waiting to jump off the page at you if you like a little non-fiction every now and then. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell gives intriguing insight into how "epidemics" such as fashion trends, fads, and even crime waves can spike or decline suddenly based on small, sometimes insignificant elements.

Heather said...

That sounds interesting - I have at least 10 unread books on my shelf (including the awesome FDR biography that Laurel gave me for my birthday - oops!), but I'd like to check out that book.

Anonymous said...

Shane is just bitter about the quote from A Passage to India that I sent him that he didn't appreciate as much as I did.