Pleasant Valley Library Online Book Group discussion

Please post your thoughts and comments about Bel Canto here!

"Somewhere in South America, at the home of the country's vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honor of the powerful businessman Mr. Hosokawa. Roxane 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 takes the entire party hostage. But what begins as a panicked, life-threatening scenario slowly evolves into something quite different, a moment of great beauty, as terrorists and hostages forge unexpected bonds and people from different continents become compatriots, intimate friends, and lovers."

Hi Everyone,

Have any of you been reading (or already read) Bel Canto? If so, what do you think of it?

I thought it was very good, with an interesting plot, characters and theme, and a unique writing style. I can see why it's a favorite among book clubs - it can lend itself to some good conversations among its readers.

Here's some questions to think of for discussion -

Ann Patchett has said that Bel Canto was inspired by the real four-month hostage siege that took place in Peru in 1996, and reports of the hostages and terrorists playing chess and soccer, and ordering out for pizzas. And rather than focusing on the politics of the hostage crisis, she wrote about the kinds of relationships that might have developed among the hostages and between the hostages and the terrorists. Were you familiar with this incident? Do you think the rapport between the hostages and terrorists was genuine, or a type of Stockholm Syndrome?

What did you think of the omniscient point of view, that conveyed the thoughts, feelings and motivations, as well as the actions of many of the characters? How different do you think the book would have been if it was narrated from the point of view of just one character, such as Roxane?

What do you think of Roxane's opera singing, and how it affected the people in the story? Can music be a universal language?

Because Roxane and Mr. Hosokawa speak different languages they need Gen to translate their conversations. Do you think it's possible for people to fall in love when they can't speak directly to each other ?

What did you think of the end of the hostage crisis, and also about the epilogue? (Make sure to put this under Spoilers, in case some haven't read the end yet!)

Thanks - looking forward to a great discussion!

I think that Ann Patchett did a good job in depicting a hostage crisis as the central plot of Bel Canto. I do remember the 1996 hostage crisis in Lima, Peru, but didn't know many of the details until I looked it up on Wikipedia. It's amazing to me that it went on for 4 months without a resolution. I can understand how a rapport could develop between captors and hostages over such a long amount of time. And I believe that the fictional friendships and relationships that evolved were genuine. The author showed the humanity of her imagined guerillas in such a way that I could recognize their desperate struggle to free their friends and family who were imprisoned. And she allowed her hostage characters to see beyond that to their common ground of hunger, boredom, fatigue, interest in chess and soccer, and love of opera.

I think Roxane and Gen were the most important characters - they were the ones who were essential and gave the most to the group. Gen's ability to understand and translate many languages was vital to everyone being able to communicate with each other, and to the captors being able to communicate with the Red Cross negotiator. And Roxane's transcendent singing gave the people a sense of beauty, hope and love in this tense, difficult situation - I thought of it as a magical realism touch that her opera had such power.

I believe that music is a universal language, and Ann Patchett's use of opera - that is sung in many different languages - was a great motif for the themes of overcoming differences and strength in shared experiences. And - like opera - the story had moments of beauty, drama, and despair.

I thought that the omniscient narration was interesting - it showed the complexity of many of the different characters. And also, how they thought and felt about some of the same occurrences. Messner, the Red Cross worker, gave a glimpse into what was happening on the outside. General Benjamin showed the motivations of the guerillas. And Vice President Iglesias revealed the sense of responsibility of political leadership. I think it would have been a very different story if it was told from just one point of view - like that of Roxane, or of Gen - but it wouldn't have been as effective in depicting the themes of human commonalities and connections.

As for the ending (view spoiler)[ I thought the raid was really abrupt and awful - it was inevitable in history, and also foreshadowed with several comments throughout the book. It was still terrible, and a tragedy - destroying the relationships that have been built and have given some meaning to the hostage plight. I thought the epilogue was very brief, and could have been more convincing if it had been drawn out more. But I can see how Roxane and Gen could have come together - Gen, as the translator, had a
connection to Roxane's relationship with Mr. Hosokowa, and so a deeper feeling could have grown out of it. And I think that they shared an experience that was so singular and atypical, that no one else could have ever been able relate to them as well as they related to each other. (hide spoiler)]

I also watched the movie, from 2018 - the library has it on DVD. It starred Julianne Moore as Roxane (with singing dubbed by opera star Renee Fleming) and Ken Watanabe as Hosokowa - they were very good. And Ryo Kase as Gen and Maria Mercedes Coroy as Carmen were previously unknown to me, but were excellent. I liked the movie's different epilogue ending better than the book's too. It's definitely worth watching!