Cornflower Book Group - Bel Canto

   

    Ann Patchett's Bel Canto won the Orange Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner award, and having read it now I'm not surprised at its success.

    What did I most love and admire about it? There's the tone, for starters, the lightness and the humour used to tell a story about a dark and dangerous situation. The author doesn't take herself or her tale too seriously, but instead has a quiet smile over so many details. Then there's the intensity or compression of the narrative: one location, one almost unchanging group of people, a long series of days of boredom, of routine, of sameness, and yet what could have been tedious to read, had it been written in a blunt, unsophisticated or heavy-handed way, is light and airy and 'lifted'. And in a clever play on the old 'pen is mightier than the sword' adage, the masterly pitting of music and musicians and the power of the voice against terrrorists - albeit a rather unprofessional bunch of them - with guns ("... no one was going to shoot a soprano."). All this done by means of a shrewd sense and keen eye for detail, and clever, beautifully crafted lines.

    The juxtaposition of the mundane and the grandiose - the small but pressing personal concerns seen against the dramatic scenario and the principles-motives-actions chain of events ("... he longed for a hot compress almost as much as he longed for revolution."); the stripping away of façades and habitual behaviour, thoughts and beliefs, by a state of affairs which causes transformation and true colours to be revealed ("He was not himself. He was no-one he had ever imagined."); the shifting of loyalties and the gradual emergence of Stockholm Syndrome; the surprising ending, all these things showed Ann Patchett's gift for ideas and for working so creatively with her raw material that the end product is superb.

    A book about a group of hostages and their captors in a vice-presidential residence in a South American country would not, on the face of it, be something I'd be drawn to, but in Ann Patchett's hands this is marvellous stuff - beautiful, fanciful, funny, knowing. I loved it, and I could go on, but I've said enough, except - if you haven't read it already - to recommend Ann Patchett's most recent novel State of Wonder (there's a post on it here).

    Now over to you.

(Later: the Bel Canto cake is now here.)

Comments

[Ruthiella]

I first read Bel Canto two years ago. A good friend gave me the copy with her recommendation, but when I read the back cover, it didn’t sound like something I would enjoy. A hostage situation? Not really my cup of tea. But then my sister read it and also loved it, so I gave it a shot and I am so very glad I did. This is not the tense, gritty, violent book the back cover led me to believe it would be. The story is so soothing at times and often magical, and this lulls the reader, as well as the characters, into a false sense of security so that the ending really shocks.

To me the book is about potential, both realized and lost. Every character has secret hopes, secret fears, secret ambitions, and secret abilities of which they themselves were perhaps not even aware. I am pleased that it held up under re-reading. The fact that one knows what will happen does not detract at all on the second read; the pleasure is in the details, getting to know the characters again, what brought them there and their new awareness and growth in an unconventional, brief, intimate micro-society.

I know a lot of readers on goodreads lamented the inclusion of the epilogue. It didn’t bother me, but did anyone here feel it was unnecessary or did you like it? I does give the book a sense of closure, I suppose.

[Dark Puss]

Reading the opening chapters of this book, which overall I enjoyed, I thought that the author had really hit upon something quite special. The idea is certainly a good one and the opening page is arresting. The terror of the initial occupation is I think conveyed plausibly as is arbitatry assault and subseuqent serious facial injury sustained by the Vice President. The "Stockholm Syndrome" that follows is also plausible, thought whether it would occur in such a large group I wonder, but it was in the second half of the book that I began to feel that what I was reading was stretching plausibility to its limits (not in principle a problem) but more seriously I found the cast of characters and their actions a little to contrived. That Roxanne and Hosokawa wish to have sex is plasuible, that so many people contrive to make it happen nightly within a siege is not. Other relationships, individually, might have worked for me, but by the time we had a chess-playing General, a teenager learning Spanish from a Japanese translator (and making love beforehand so as not to disturb the enthusiam for the lesson), another terrorist gang member who turns out to have the voice of an angel, a hostage enthusiastically cooking up dinners etc. my enthusiasm dimmed. The ending, with all the gang wiped out, sadly did strike me as potentially realsitic, but it was also a rather convenient way of elliminating some of the characters too. The epilogue I could have done without, it seemed to spring from nowhere. I liked the theme of redemption through music and also the intoxicating effct of music and the fact that it crosses both social and linguistic barriers. The author captures desire, both earthly and spriritual, well and with a little less implausibility and a touch more darkness this would have been a much more powerful book rather than purely an enjoyable read.

[Dark Puss]

Hello Ruthiella

I hated the epilogue and wondered why it was included. The ending I would have found shocking except it seemed so obviously on the way as the "resolution"; I found it a weak aspect of this book.

[Cornflower]

I'm writing this very quickly as I'm about to dash off for the day, but just wanted to respond to your wish for a little more darkness and plausibility. I'd cite my first point about tone, and even suggest that the book's very title is a clue as to what is to come and how light or dark it is to be. If you'll excuse the pun, I felt AP got the pitch exactly right.
More later ...!

[Cornflower]

Yes, potential, the 'other road' we might have taken, the gifts we put aside in favour of other things - a very powerful theme.

[Susan in TX]

Dark Puss could have written my thoughts up until his last sentence. I differ in that I wouldn't call it a purely enjoyable read. The first half of the book, yes. But the second half got so far from being something I could believe that it became tedious to read. The ending, while perhaps being very realistic, felt more like the author had carried on the Stockholm syndrome so long that she didn't know how to wrap it up and resorted to the abrupt ending for ease of dealing with everybody. That said, I've heard from others that didn't like Bel Canto that they did like most of Patchett's other work, so I'm not giving up on her based on this one. The glowing reviews of State of Wonder have me really curious about it. And, of course, I always enjoy exposure to authors I might not pick up on my own.

[Dark Puss]

Susan, I absolutely agree with your feeling that the author was left wondering how to bring the book to a conclusion, although I have every likelihood of being wrong and that ending was intended from the first concept. I'm still baffled by the epilogue so I hope those who loved it will enlighten me (and Ruthiella etc.)

[Anji]

This is not a book I would have choosen either based on the reader lines on the back cover, a hostage situation, far too dark and violent and yet I am glad that it was chosen.

I had borrowed the audio edition, voiced by actor Anna Fields and spending time in traffic was quite delightful. I found myself continuing to sit in my car on my driveway just to listen to a bit more of the story.

I knew from the start that this would not have a happy ending, hostage situations never do. It was always there in the shadows, as we were getting to know a little bit about all the characters caught up in this situation. I thought that she got the right tone of boredom and routine in which everyone was waiting for something to happen, living in the moment.

So when the end came, it came so unexpectedly and yet you knew that it was coming. As I was listening and not reading I couldn't flip ahead and I was so surprised by the epilog. Maybe there needed to be an aftermath explaination, but I did not see that one coming and I wanted to know more. If there was to be an epilog why not include a few sentences about a few of the other characters as well and a how did that happen between Roxanne and the translator.

That for me was unsatisfactory and I see I am not the only one who feels this way. Like Dark Puss and Ruthiella I would like a little enightenment just in case I had miss the point too and it was about Roxanne and Gen all along.

[Ruthiella]

I agree that the book isn’t a realistic account of a hostage crisis, although it is not something I thought about while reading it. And to be honest, while I enjoy opera occasionally, being forced to listen to it every day for four weeks is my idea of torture. However, if stories were always plausible, I don’t think I would read as much as I do. :) What did come across to me as authentic were the human connections that were made. And in the end, the shock isn’t so much who is killed; one can read about this sort of thing in the newspaper and then turn the page to the comics without giving it too much further thought. The shock came from how much I cared.

[Anji]

Yes, I agree. You do find yourself liking and caring for these characters.

[Joanne]

This is my first time commenting here, although I've enjoyed your blog for some time.

I didn't take Roxanne and Gen's marriage as some happily ever after. Like the anxiety the women and the men felt almost immediately when separated for just a short time, the marriage is, IMO, an after effect of the trauma.

As for the rest of the book, I enjoyed it while also finding it to be unrealistic. The ending seemed inevitable.

This is the event that seems to have inspired the book, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_embassy_hostage_crisis.

[SusanP]

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and am now inspired to read more Ann Patchett. It seemed me early on that the book wasn't meant to be realistic, so I was never disturbed by the lack of it. I took it to be a kind of adult fairy tale, and judging it by that standard the book was a success for me. I found some parallels to science fiction, when a disparate group of people are forced to flee Earth and found their own colony. But the situation Patchett put them in-- no lack of food, clothing, and shelter-- allowed her to focus on more internal and emotional needs. I was fascinated that she put people in a situation designed to bring out the best in people.

At first I disliked the epilogue but then I realized that Roxanne and Gen had tasted a kind of Eden and they needed to cling on to each other to try to keep it alive. So it made sense with the rest of the book.

Terrifc choice, and thanks again for turning me on to Patchett's novels.

[michi]

Most Japanese people including me still remember the Japanese embassy hostage crisis ( the Lima crisis) that happened 16 years ago. It happened in the Japanese ambassador's house in Peru where the party was being held to celebrate the Japanese Emperor's 63rd birthday. Although I forgot some details, I strongly remember watching the tense situation reported on TV. So when I read Bel Canto, I was surprised that the novel which is based on the hostage crisis, turned out to be such a beautiful story. 

But I found the Japanese characters are not realistic, for example, Gen's genius  at languages is a bit over the top. He speaks Greek, Spanish, French, English, Russian and more...(where could he learn Greek in Japan?! ) And Kato the pianist...hmm, I like him though. I just couldn't stop spotting unlikeliness in the Japanese characters. But I appreciate the author's research, I was wondering if she had lived in Japan before.

About the ending, I felt it was a bit abrupt too. I wanted some explanations for Gen and Roxana's marriage. As Anji writes, I wanted some sentences about the characters such as the vice president and Mr Kato in the epilogue.

I enjoyed this book. It was beautiful, powerful, moving and quite funny sometimes. I'd definitely like to read other Ann Patchett's books.

[Dark Puss]

I have no problem with implausibility per se (after all I am a great fan of Murakami's writing); perhaps there was too little for this book to work for me in the way in which it clearly did for Cornflower.

[Cornflower]

Interesting that you found it so markedly a book 'of two halves', Susan. Clearly plausibility is a greater requirement for some readers than for others, and it looks as though that is the factor in this book which will divided those who loved it from those whose response was more mixed or decidedly negative.

[Cornflower]

The epilogue surprised but didn't disappoint me.
As to the ending, I saw a snatch of an interview with Ann Patchett in which she was talking about her latest novel, State of Wonder, and she said something like "oh, it's much better than Bel Canto", so no doubt she would be the first to recognise any flaws or weak points.

[Cornflower]

Maybe that epilogue was just too clever or too pat - I think I'll have to re-read it!

[Cornflower]

I cared too - Ann Patchett has done her job well there.

[Cornflower]

Many thanks for the link, Joanne, and yes, I agree the marriage could well be a perfectly plausible effect of the trauma.

[Cornflower]

You're welcome, Susan, and I very much agree about the fairy tale nature of the book.

[Cornflower]

Lovely to have a Japanese perspective - thankyou, Michi.
Gen is certainly gifted! I liked the passage (p.157 in my edition) about the way his brain might work: "Carmen wished that she could see inside his mind. She wondered if it would look crowded with words, compartments of language carefully fitted on top of each other. Her own brain, by comparison, would be an empty closet."

[Mary]

I wonder if the story line in Bel Canto could be taken as a commentary of day to day lives. We are often a people held hostage to the expectations of our jobs, our marriages, our families, and society’s expectations in general. The group (like many of us) has its basic needs met, but when faced with a crisis all are left to their own devices to figure out how to live their lives in a new construct; to determine what is most important.

The characters must face the fact of death early on (the accompanist who has no name) which is a reminder that we all face death in the end. The most interesting characters step out of societal expectations and begin to discover themselves, discover what it is they truly want to be/do and explore those parts of their nature. And, then death comes abruptly at the end. We are left to wonder whether those who lived through the crisis went back to their old construct, or chose a new beginning.

The epilogue gives a glimpse of the choices made by a few, but as with many of life’s decisions, they don’t necessarily prove to be tidy. How did the characters choose to live out their lives? We can only contemplate their choices. And ours, too.

[Barbara MacLeod]

I didn’t 'enjoy' this book. Yes, it is well written and is a clever idea for a plot but you just know it is not going to have a happy ending. We read along wondering how events are going to unfold. Like the subject of the book it went on a bit. I finished it but it was not what I would call a pleasurable read. (I’m sure it wasn't meant to be!)

Also I like a book to be believable. This just wasn’t … and how could it be? We were seeing the story through the eyes of a small group of people. Wasn’t someone irritated by Roxane? Apart from finding the sleeping guard Beatriz at the bedroom door, there wasn’t the messiness of life getting in the way of the ‘best laid schemes’, say, in the style of Thomas Hardy.

Quibbles: Intrusion of the author’s voice: “Gen translated it into French …. careful to say their people outside. Something a translator should never do.” and “So to rejoin the story ….”

Nice bits:
Sharing of the music. Mr Hosokawa and Roxane: “He had always thought of himself as a private man, but … now he saw there was something that was strictly between himself and one other person, that it was so completely their own that it would have been pointless to even try to speak of it to someone else.” This happens when music is shared; it’s nice.

So basically I could have done with a little less ‘love’ and a little more ‘realism’!

[Mr Cornflower]

I really enjoyed the book but can appreciate why some might have found that especially in the later stages of the siege it became a bit spun out. However I have to say that if you really want to read about visiting dignitaries under siege in a shady South American country, try Alexander McCall Smith's "At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances".

[Rose]

A most enjoyable read, thank you Cornflower