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The
2003 Award
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Bel Canto by
Ann Patchett Nominated by:
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Publisher of Nominated Edition: HarperCollins ISBN 0060188731 |
| the complete A-Z listing of nominated authors. |
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ABOUT
THE BOOK
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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 honour of Mr. Hosokawa, a powerful Japanese
businessman. Roxanne Coss, opera's most revered soprano, has mesmerised
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. Without the demands of the world to shape their days, life on the inside becomes more beautiful than anything they had ever known before. Bel Canto explores how people communicate when music is the only common language. 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. |
| ABOUT THE AUTHOR |
| Ann Patchett is the author of three previous novels, The Patron Saint of Liars, which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, Taft, which won the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize, and The Magician's Assistant. Bel Canto won the 2002 Orange Prize for Fiction. She has written for many publications, including The New York Times Magazine and Vogue. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A. |
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Reader
Review
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A group of hostages, including one woman, included because she is a famous opera singer, taken prisoner more or less by mistake; a group consisting of many nationalities speaking many different languages, overseen by a group of terrorists who do not quite know what to do next and know even less as time goes on; one man who is an interpreter, who speaks many languages fluently and who can make the connections between these diverse characters. As the hostages feel more and more sympathy for their captors, especially the young ones, so does the reader. From the horror of the first violent capture both hostages and terrorists relax more and more into the sumptuous surroundings of the Vice-President's house where they are imprisoned, and time becomes meaningless in the sense of how it relates to their old lives. Gradually some of them form such intense relationships that they wish the situation could continue indefinitely and indeed it is evident that their dreams of life after they are freed are impossible, which makes the tension inherent in the situation all the more gripping. This scenario is very skilfully handled in a well written vivid novel. It is a a wonderful portrayal of this enclosed world, of the interplay of characters, of their lives before capture, entering into their minds and circumstances. The hostages and their captives become very real to us. The Vice-President, diligently keeping everything neat and tidy in his own house, which has become the stage of this drama, is a nice touch. The house and garden are lovingly described. But perhap music, as personified by the opera singer and the young hostage whom she is teaching, is the real hero of the book. I could not imagine how it was all going to end. I suppose the ending could only have been tragic but there was a heartening twist. A very interesting book on many levels. Member of Raheny Library Readers' Group |
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Find out more about the author on the following websites: |
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