A review by shutupdivs
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

adventurous emotional funny reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

while i am very much in love with the central themes of this book, i do not however think it accounted for a very pleasant reading experience. much of the book passed by without anything really happening, but i do understand that was the point. i thought the main characters (hosokawa, gen and roxane) were well fleshed out and i genuinely developed an affinity for gen as the book progressed. i couldn't connect with the seemingly bewitching effect of opera that enveloped the entirety of the book but that's just because i don't listen to opera myself, lol. i really liked reading about the hostages' reflections throughout the course of their captivity, though. fyodorov's story about his grandmother's big painting book, thibault's new found love for his wife, father arguedas' devotion towards christ, gen's insights on the mysteries of language - these were some of the highlights of the book for me.  
although it is repeatedly implicated in the book that it won't end on a happy note, i found that i had grown so accustomed to the security/monotony of the hostages' life under captivity that the ending took me by surprise. even though i knew that carmen would die, i couldn't process her death. i guess the hostages' stockholm syndrome started rubbing off on me too. kudos to ann patchett for that.
some people have bashed the epilogue but for me it made perfect sense. two people united by a common sense of loss.