LPL Book Club Reads Bel Canto

The LPL Book Club met yesterday to discuss Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. Overall, the group enjoyed the book and gave it a 4.5 on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being "hated it!" and 5 "loved it!"

This book is based on a true story. Terrorists took over the Japanese embassy and held over 70 men hostage for 4 months. In Bel Canto, the group has gathered in the Vice President's house to celebrate the birthday of Mr. Hosokawa, a businessman from Japan. The guests have a variety of motives for attending the party. The government of the unnamed country where the story is taking place hopes that Mr. Hosokawa will begin doing business there. Mr. Hosokawa, however, has no intention of doing business in this country and is only attending the party because opera singer Roxanne Coss is performing and he is a huge opera fan. During the party, a group of terrorists, 3 older and a group of much younger boys and girls, enter through the air conditioning ducts and take everyone hostage. Many are let go, including all the women except for Roxanne Coss.

Throughout the story of their long imprisonment the relationships between the hostages and their captors change, and the hostages themselves change. It becomes difficult for them to envisage a world and a life outside of their present situation. Mr. Hosokawa and Roxanne Coss develop a relationship, as do Gen, Mr. Hosokawa's translator, and a young girl, one of the terrorists. The story of how these relationships develop keeps the reader interested and wondering how things will turn out in the future.

Opera is a recurring theme throughout the book. Roxanne practices every day and the hostages and terrorists eagerly await her performance. One of the terrorists is found to have an extraordinary talent and she begins training him. She has big plans for his future, after this has ended, with seemingly little thought to the consequences of the kidnapping. Several other hostages and terrorists develop relationships of varying types, and make plans for "after" forgetting that things might not happen as smoothly as they would like.

There are several surprises at the end of the book that are somewhat jarring. Despite that, it's well worth reading.

The LPL Book Club meets on the 4th Thursday of the month at 4:00 PM. The next meeting will be July 25th and we will be discussing Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi. This group is open to all.