Bel Canto in Around the World in 80 Books

Jan 21, 2017 Terri rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite-women-writers, favorite-books, classic-fiction, awards-nom-pen, awards-nom-orange-women, awards-nom-national-critics, writer-ann-patchett

I love the writing of American author Ann Patchett. She can write brilliantly about human relationships and how they are forged... no matter what the situation or historical context. She makes it look easy but only an experienced writer of her caliber, can pull it off so well. Ten year ago, 14 members of an activist guerrilla group captured over 600 hostages in Lima, Peru. Ms. Patchett has based her novel loosely on what she imagined happened during the intense hostage hold-out that lasted four ...more

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Feb 18, 2022 Annie rated it really liked it

A powerful dramatic story about music, violence, language, and finding common ground during a hostage situation (partly inspired by real events, a hostage drama in Peru). The international cast of characters and the passion for music made the story more interesting than just another Stockholm Syndrome narrative.

I really enjoyed Patchett’s skillful development of characters, the shifting relationships, the focus on the translator, the perfect pacing, and Patchett’s beautiful and atmospheric writi ...more

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Oct 14, 2012 Katie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This book was beautifully written by author Ann Patchett. She absorbs you so entirely into the world of the hostages and terrorists that you find yourself suffering the same delusions as they do themselves. So though the end of this book should not have come to me as a surprise, it most certainly did, nonetheless. This book speaks to the goodness of the human spirit, and the ways in which we can love one another despite extraordinary circumstances. I think this book also illustrates that one s ...more

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Oct 05, 2014 Aline Ohanesian rated it really liked it

This book cured my first & only bout of reader's block. ...more

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Jun 08, 2009 Anna rated it it was amazing

I love this book, read it a few years ago and found it again in my library. I have some heavy scary books in my TBR pile; cover by jack ketchum, open season, and just finished Skin Trade by LKH and the Autumn series by David Moody. Time for something completely different! That the nice thing about living in an abyss, every 6-8 months literature resurfaces, becoming new again!

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