Book #12 - Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

I was first exposed to the novel Bel Canto while in college, as my advisor was reading it at one point in time, and he suggested I picked it up. Well, nearly four years later, I finally read Bel Canto as a recommendation for this project from one of my supervisors.

The novel is based on the Lima Crisis, and focuses on a group of terrorists who hold high executives and people of high political standing hostage. Set in an unnamed South American country, the story begins at a birthday party thrown at the country's vice presidential home. The party is thrown for Katsumi Hosokawa, the visiting chairman of a large Japanese electronics company called Nansei. Performing is a famous American soprano, Roxane Coss.

Bel Canto explores how the terrorists and hostages cope with living in a house together for several months. Many of the characters form unbreakable bonds of friendship, while some fall in love. What's interesting about this novel, is that the relationships that form are not just between the hostages, but between captor and captive, as well.

The daily activities of the hostages and how they are forced to live for months in a strange place with child terrorists standing guard are described with such detail and care. It almost seems as if nothing really happens in the plot for pages and pages, and within the last few, all of the action takes place.

The novel meticulously reveals the human condition of survival, and allows the reader to get a glimpse of how we could all hope to act if we've found ourselves in a similarly unfortunate situation. It also demonstrates the emotions that can develop if given the chance; in a world where race, language and age aren't the first things we see. Instead, the characters are able to fall in love and appreciate their fellow housemates for who they are and what the believe in, and not based on the color of their skin or the language they speak.