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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.… (más)
the_awesome_opossum: Both novels are about human connections formed in the face of unusual crises. Very competent and well-written, both books had much the same vibe about them
I got this book many years ago when it seemed that everyone I knew was reading and loving it. Then (as usual for me) I hesitated to read it because everyone I knew was loving it. It has sat untouched in my ereader library ever since. Now it seems everyone I know is reading and loving Patchett’s latest book. So I decided it was time for this one.
A birthday party is taking place at the Vice-President’s home in an unnamed South American country. It’s for a wealthy businessman and planned as a way to woo him to doing business in the country. A performance by his favorite opera singer is what got him there. The party is interrupted when a group of terrorists takes everyone hostage. The ensuing standoff lasts for months.
It seems odd to describe a book about terrorists and their hostages as lovely but that’s the most accurate description of this story. Over the course of the standoff the relationships that develop among the characters are wonderfully depicted. These characters will stay with me for a long time
On the off chance that I’m not the last person on the planet to read this and you also haven’t read it, you should. ( )
I usually just use goodreads to track what I've read/don't write reviews, but I hated this so much so just want to say, this book is a very badly written apology for imperialism and I wish I hadn't read it.
Bel Canto is a quiet story told with a sense of inevitability. The characters are detailed and poignant; the end, when it comes, is sad but not shocking. The author makes it clear that the hostages and terrorists are suspended in a soap bubble of time together; the question is not whether it will end, but how and when. ( )
''Bel Canto'' often shows Patchett doing what she does best -- offering fine insights into the various ways in which human connections can be forged, whatever pressures the world may place upon them.
Although this novel is entirely housebound, at the vice presidential mansion, Ms. Patchett works wonders to avoid any sense of claustrophobia and keeps the place fresh at every turn.
Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
Fonti e colline chiesi agli Dei; m 'udiro alfine, pago io vovro, ne mai quel fonte co 'desir miei, ne mai quel monte trapassero
"I asked the Gods for hills and springs; They listened to me at last. I shall live contented. And I shall never desire to go beyond that spring, nor shall I desire to cross that mountain."
-- Sei Ariette I: Malinconia, ninfa gentil, Vincenzo Bellini
Sprecher: Ihr Fremdlinge! was sucht oder fordert ihn von uns? Tamino: Freundschaft und Liebe. Sprecher: Bist du bereit, es mit deinem Leben zu erkämpfen? Tamino: Ja.
Speaker: Stranger, what do you seek or ask from us? Tamino: Friendship and love. Speaker: And are you prepared even if it costs you your life? Tamino: I am.
-- The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Dedicatoria
Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
For Karl VanDevender
Primeras palabras
Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
When the lights went off the accompanist kissed her.
Citas
Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
Vissi d'arte, vissi d'amore, non feci mai male ad anima viva!
Americans have a bad habit of thinking like Americans.
It's easier to love a woman when you can't understand a word she's saying.
Gen saw there could be as much virtue in letting go of what you knew as there had ever been in gathering new information.
If what a person wants is his life, he tends to be quiet about wanting anything else. Once the life begins to seem secure, one feels the freedom to complain. (p. 56)
"Diabetic!" she cried, a word that had to be more or less the same in any language. Those medical terms came off Latin root, a single tree they should all understand. (p.80)
Angry with nothing but a small red plus sign strapped over his upper arms to protect himself from a roomful of guns. (p. 87)
No ohe was quite willing to lie, but they tugged down the edges of truth. (p. 97
A great wall of darkness came from those who could now reasonably assume their fate and it pulled them away from the lucky hilarity of the others. On one side, men deemed less important were going back to their wives, would sleep in the familiar sheets of their own beds, would be greeted by children and dogs, the wet and reckless affection of their unconditional love. But thirty-nine men and one woman on the other side were just beginning to understand that they were digging in, that his was the house where they lived now, that they had been kidnapped. (pp. 102-103)
Conversations in more than two languages felt awkward and unreliable, like speaking with a mouthful of cotton and Novocain. No one could hold on to their thoughs long enough and wait their turns. (p. 113)
Fondness often prevented one from doing the most effective job. (p. 137)
What she prayed for was nothing. She prayed that God would look on them and see the beauty of their existence and leave them alone. (p. 156)
A kiss in so much lonliness was like a hand pulling you up out of the water, scooping you up from a place of drowning and into the reckless abundance of air. (p. 207)
Not everyone can be the artist. There have to be those who witness the art, who love and appreciate what they have been priviledged to see. (p. 219)
Últimas palabras
Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
Thibault was sure there had never been such beautiful women, and the beautiful women came to them and held out their arms.
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.
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Reading Bel Canto (no spoilers yet please)
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