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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
One of the very few books I've ever bothered to re-read, Bel Canto remains one of my favorite books of all time. It holds up over the twenty years -- and five renditions -- of our acquaintance. It holds up over all I've come to understand about the world. Certainly I can quibble with Ann Patchett over some of her 30-years-younger injustices to women on the whole, but it would hardly interrupt my appreciation for this remarkable story of knowing and being known, through love, music, and most of all language.
This annotated edition is a special treat, allowing me to feel as though I'm in direct conversation with Ann herself on the ways in which she could have made this masterpiece even more compelling.
This annotated edition is a special treat, allowing me to feel as though I'm in direct conversation with Ann herself on the ways in which she could have made this masterpiece even more compelling.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I think this would be a good book club book. There are developing relationships, stressful moments and an interesting ending. This book hums along for quite a while with a pleasant relationship-development kind of story and then, there is a sudden ending. I, like many other reviewers, did not care for the epilogue. Not necessary or believable. This was a PG rating with the exception of one XXX scene (graphic language and sex).
Read this long ago but I remember being moved by it.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
What sticks out to me in this book was a conversation about love between Roxanne and Gen. They speak to the idea that it is better to be loved for who you are rather than what you can do because to love a person for who they are means you have to understand each other.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma
Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Physical abuse
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
I read this a long time ago and remember feeling trasported to this place and situation. Would like to reread...possible for Book Club
I saw an Ann Patchett interview where she said all her books are about a group of people thrown together becoming a community. Bel Canto is both an idealistic and a tragic version of that story.
Idealistic parts: People are decent at heart. Art, beauty, and music connect us all. You can find love in a hopeless place. Many of us can do extraordinary things if given half a chance. To be sequestered from the rush of daily life can be a gift (in this book the sequestration is because of a hostage situation, but it definitely had pandemic lockdown vibes for me).
Tragic parts: Love does not conquer all. War is not good for children and other living things. Some people live in splendor and some in squalor.
Something I really liked about the story was how meta-operatic it was. There were parts that were kind of boring (I'm sorry, but some people find opera boring for a reason).
The part where the Russian man tells the story about his grandmother's art book was like when they give a character a song that doesn't advance the plot but they want to give the performer the opportunity to show off a little.
There were star-crossed lovers (two sets!). It was a little surreal.
And to top it off, there was a telenovela that many of the characters were obsessed with. Lest we forget the soap opera!
This is not my favorite of Ann Patchett's books, but it's a good one. The audiobook narrator was great. She had to do quite a lot of accents.
Idealistic parts: People are decent at heart. Art, beauty, and music connect us all. You can find love in a hopeless place. Many of us can do extraordinary things if given half a chance. To be sequestered from the rush of daily life can be a gift (in this book the sequestration is because of a hostage situation, but it definitely had pandemic lockdown vibes for me).
Tragic parts: Love does not conquer all. War is not good for children and other living things. Some people live in splendor and some in squalor.
Something I really liked about the story was how meta-operatic it was. There were parts that were kind of boring (I'm sorry, but some people find opera boring for a reason).
The part where the Russian man tells the story about his grandmother's art book was like when they give a character a song that doesn't advance the plot but they want to give the performer the opportunity to show off a little.
There were star-crossed lovers (two sets!). It was a little surreal.
And to top it off, there was a telenovela that many of the characters were obsessed with. Lest we forget the soap opera!
This is not my favorite of Ann Patchett's books, but it's a good one. The audiobook narrator was great. She had to do quite a lot of accents.