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A review by liaannee
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
lighthearted
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
A book about hopeless romance- from the guérillas and the hostages alike- and how love persists in captivity and in grief.
Patchett writes as if completely removed from the situation, as if we’re watching a telenova and doing housework at the same time, which balances out how sentimental everything might feel otherwise. It’s slowly paced with a million vignettes. There’s even the sliiiightest hint of magical realism here, if we consider opera and music to be magic. In the end, I didn’t feel as much of an emotional gut punch as I expected. It was a bit more like waking up from a dream, or a nightmare, and everything blurring together as I forget reality, as the characters all do.
Patchett writes as if completely removed from the situation, as if we’re watching a telenova and doing housework at the same time, which balances out how sentimental everything might feel otherwise. It’s slowly paced with a million vignettes. There’s even the sliiiightest hint of magical realism here, if we consider opera and music to be magic. In the end, I didn’t feel as much of an emotional gut punch as I expected. It was a bit more like waking up from a dream, or a nightmare, and everything blurring together as I forget reality, as the characters all do.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, and Gun violence