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A review by swaggle
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
3.5
If you care about a story being believable you will not like this book, as every step the book takes makes it feel more fantastical and romantic until the epilogue. A failed terrorist plot thriller which transforms from Lord Of The Flies into a love story. A lot of the characters are only mentioned briefly and hardly feel relevant to the story, and we get marginally more depth and background for the main characters, primarily Gen, Roxanne Coss, Mr. Hosokawa and a few peaks at the Generals of the terrorist cell who have the place occupied.
The plot is a fun sort of thought experiment and makes for an enjoyable enough read. The characters all get sucked into this fantasy world they've created and this builds a very creeping and hardly noticeable tension before the ending smacks you in the face with it.
Patchett doesn't spend a lot of time on the ending which some might argue makes it feel rushed. The ending makes sense to me, and the groundwork was layed out several pages before the twist or surprise. The epilogue is kind of funny because it gives the perspectives of the main characters as well as some background characters, and tells you the main characters have an easier time transitioning back to a "normal" life whereas the background characters end up never wanting to be in the country again because of their memory of the events. It's a pretty interesting part of the book if you think about it from a psychological standpoint of the characters.
The book didn't blow my mind or change my life as far as I'm aware, but it was fun and absurd and I'd recommend it. Pretty easy to read as well, you never have to strain to understand what's going on.
The plot is a fun sort of thought experiment and makes for an enjoyable enough read. The characters all get sucked into this fantasy world they've created and this builds a very creeping and hardly noticeable tension before the ending smacks you in the face with it.
Patchett doesn't spend a lot of time on the ending which some might argue makes it feel rushed. The ending makes sense to me, and the groundwork was layed out several pages before the twist or surprise. The epilogue is kind of funny because it gives the perspectives of the main characters as well as some background characters, and tells you the main characters have an easier time transitioning back to a "normal" life whereas the background characters end up never wanting to be in the country again because of their memory of the events. It's a pretty interesting part of the book if you think about it from a psychological standpoint of the characters.
The book didn't blow my mind or change my life as far as I'm aware, but it was fun and absurd and I'd recommend it. Pretty easy to read as well, you never have to strain to understand what's going on.