Bel Canto takes place in hostage situation in a unnamed Latin American country. Rebels take over a birthday party for a Japanese CEO being held at the vice-presidentâs mansion. A famous Opera soprano is singing for the party, but the target of of the attack (the president) is not present. The hostage situation quickly clarifies into a stalemate where the female hostages (save the soprano) are released. The entire novels exists in purgatory where daily life stops for hostages and captors. The novel and characters acknowledge repeatedly that this purgatory cannot last, the situation will inevitably end with the captors, if not the hostages, all dead. However, in this purgatory we are treated to an exploration of love, romance, art, language. Every character evolves and discovers themselves in this limbo. Despite the action movie setting, this book is fundamentally character driven and not action-driven. I saw reviews that disliked the ending, however this is misplaced. The book is about the purgatory, it is not about the resolution. This book is romantic in that it meditates on the many different types of love: the loyalty of the translator to his boss, the love for a person for their art, and sexual love.
Potential Spoilers to Follow
- Importance of language in so much of life and lack of importance of language in love. The translator is a central figure (arguably the protagonist), and yet he is not needed for the relationship between the CEO and the Soprano (who speak Japanese and english respectively)
- The conflation and relation of art and love
- Theme of people finding new skills and passions for themselves once they are removed from daily life. Does daily life prevent us from experiencing love, art, and our âtrueâ passions?
Cite
- Patchett, A. Bel Canto. (Harper Perennial, New York, 2023).
Metadata
Title:: Bel Canto Year:: 2001 Publisher:: Harper Perennial Location:: New York ISBN:: 978-0-06-083872-0
Abstract
Ann Patchettâs spellbinding novel about love and opera, and the unifying ways people learn to communicate across cultural barriers in times of crisis. Somewhere in South America, at the home of the countryâs vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honor of the powerful businessman Mr. Hosokawa. Roxanne Coss, operaâs most revered soprano, has mesmerized the international guests with her singing. It is a perfect eveningâuntil a band of gun-wielding terrorists takes the entire party hostage. But what begins as a panicked, life-threatening scenario slowly evolves into something quite different, a moment of great beauty, as terrorists and hostages forge unexpected bonds and people from different continents become compatriots, intimate friends, and lovers.Patchettâs lyrical prose and lucid imagination make Bel Canto a captivating story of strength and frailty, love and imprisonment, and an inspiring tale of transcendent romance. .