Book review
May. 6th, 2004 09:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariBel Canto
by Ann Patchett
I read this book on a recommendation from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
julianyap. I loved it, but I'm having a very hard time describing it adequately and meaningfully. It's about a group of people at a party held at the house of the vice-president of a unnamed South American country. The highlight of the party is a special guest performance from Roxane Coss, the world's most celebrated soprano. After the conclusion of her sixth song, a group of terrorists (of the S. American leftist variety) burst in and take everyone hostage. All but the 40 most important people are let go, and those remaining are held hostage for about three months. But the book is not a thriller. It's more introverted and dare I say literary, being mainly concerned with the way captivity shapes the lives of both the hostages and the terrorists, and the kinds of relationships that develop in this new situation, which becomes a kind of separate world.
The writing is beautiful, and Patchett produces some descriptions of and reflections on music and music-making that are both insightful and lovely. In a lot of ways, Roxane and her singing provide the foundation of the way of life that develops during the captivity. In the first place, it is what brings everyone to the party. Once the terrorists take over, though, Roxane's singing takes on even more significance. Her practice schedule, which she resumes after two weeks of captivity, provides structure to daily life. Her music also has different kinds of emotional and psychological significance for many of the characters.
Patchett also does a beautiful job of rendering the way the characters live their lives during those three months. Neither the hostages nor their captors just sit around, tensely waiting for the situation to resolve. Their lives are still lived, still possessed of richness and meaning, not just in spite of their circumstances but in some ways because of them.
by Ann Patchett
I read this book on a recommendation from
julianyap. I loved it, but I'm having a very hard time describing it adequately and meaningfully. It's about a group of people at a party held at the house of the vice-president of a unnamed South American country. The highlight of the party is a special guest performance from Roxane Coss, the world's most celebrated soprano. After the conclusion of her sixth song, a group of terrorists (of the S. American leftist variety) burst in and take everyone hostage. All but the 40 most important people are let go, and those remaining are held hostage for about three months. But the book is not a thriller. It's more introverted and dare I say literary, being mainly concerned with the way captivity shapes the lives of both the hostages and the terrorists, and the kinds of relationships that develop in this new situation, which becomes a kind of separate world. The writing is beautiful, and Patchett produces some descriptions of and reflections on music and music-making that are both insightful and lovely. In a lot of ways, Roxane and her singing provide the foundation of the way of life that develops during the captivity. In the first place, it is what brings everyone to the party. Once the terrorists take over, though, Roxane's singing takes on even more significance. Her practice schedule, which she resumes after two weeks of captivity, provides structure to daily life. Her music also has different kinds of emotional and psychological significance for many of the characters.
Patchett also does a beautiful job of rendering the way the characters live their lives during those three months. Neither the hostages nor their captors just sit around, tensely waiting for the situation to resolve. Their lives are still lived, still possessed of richness and meaning, not just in spite of their circumstances but in some ways because of them.
