This book is a thoroughly character based novel which uses the plot to condense the emotions of a lifetime into a short readible span. This is the formula for all character driven books, but Bel Canto does this especially well. Set in an equatorial country filled with the obligatory civil unrest and poverty. The idea of the story is that a powerful Japanese businessman is kidnapped along with the other guests of the birthday party that was being held in his honour. Among them is the opera singer who was specially hired for the gig. That is the entire plot of the story. It is deceptively exciting, because an extremely small number of events actually take place. From the moment the terrorists burst from the air vents onwards, it is a story solely about the people in the house (in this case, the vice-presidential manor).
This is both good and bad. It's good because its really interesting and it puts the people in a very evocative situation that makes them mature and grow very quickly for the entertainment and education of the reader. It's bad because it is unrealistic and pretty hard to believe. It is understandable that the terrorists would like to stay in the manor instead of going home to their hovels in the countryside, but it's hard to believe that this could cause so little of a stir. Most terrorist encounters last at most days by my understanding. Bel Canto would lead you to believe that this precarious relationship could go on for weeks. In the isolated narrative view from inside the manor, it is believable that only the interactions of the people are important, but if the outside world is even remotely considered it all falls apart.
Only the plot falls apart however. If you ignore the implausible nature of the scenario, it is actually an extremely well written book with rich and believable characters. The characters all have cheesy life-altering experiences (which is badly ameliorated by a disappointing ending) but the meat of the story is very intriguing.
Patchett doesn't have the technical aspects down pat - unbelievable plot and bad ending, but her characters are great.
Four Knife Wielding Terrorists out of Five
Adios
Andrew
