Bel Canto Book Report

Bel Canto is a novel published in 2001, and written by American author Ann Patchett.  With Bel Canto being the fourth out of eleven novels written by Ann, it by far exceeded any expectations I once had before diving into the 318 pages of emotional ties, and reckless love.  What one doesn’t know before exploring the mystery within , is that this book will shock you with every turn of the page. It tests the limits of love, family, national security, and just about everything you thought you knew about hope. It captivates the meaning of one love, and makes you think about what you would do if the possibility of death were mocking you with every breath you took. But more then anything this book proves that love is stronger then anyone thought.

            I think what really makes this book truly phenomenal is the way it intertwined so many different people, languages, countries and customs to illustrate a story in your mind that one could only hope to never experience. It shows how greed can make you full of regret, and how in the strangest of times you realize what’s truly important to you. Katsumi Hosokawa only agrees to attend a party being thrown in his honor, a party he had declined over and over, because of the presence of one woman, and his greed for hearing her voice lift out of her mouth and fill a room with pure bliss. That woman is Roxanne Coss. He never intended to endanger the lives of hundreds of innocent people, all he wanted was to see Roxanne Coss, and to hear her sing in person like he had when he was once a child. Still, even when things go worse then anyone expected, and a terrorist group from a small South American jungle village takes the party hostage in hopes of kidnapping the president and over throwing the government of the host country, the only person Katsumi cares about is Roxanne.

As time goes on we have to watch as people make decisions that could either make or break their life. You experience  the over powering pain of pressure, and through the deep descriptions Ann Patchett gives through each of the characters perspectives, you come to fall in love with the most unlikely of people. Your heart will bend this way and that as the story comes to a close, and with each word bringing you closer to the end, you will be shock at how people act to protect the ones they love.

            This novel will make you feel things you did not think possible, and all though slow at times, you come to realize how everything happens for a reason. Bel Canto is a book that almost everyone will come to love, and if you give it the chance, you will make connections and realizations about your own life that you didn’t know existed. Ann Patchett is a beautiful author, and after experiencing what Bel Canto had in store, I am very excited to see what other journeys she has created with in the pages of her other stories.