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Adam's Reviews > Bel Canto
Bel Canto
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I read this book because my girlfriend--who loved it--recommended it to me. She also implied that I could stand to girly up my reading list a little, which is probably fair. Man does not live by novelizations of '70s cop movies and '80s slasher movie tie-ins alone.
Anyway, I thought it was good. The characters were all likable and the story was engaging, if wholly improbable (Bel Canto could just as easily have been titled The Lighter Side of Stockholm Syndrome). My main problem with it was the writing style, which I really didn't care for. Each sentence is perfectly crafted, and would make any MFA writing professor thrilled, but therein lies the problem. The writing is so well-crafted sentence by sentence that it ends up being somewhat characterless and a little dull in large portions. The prose in Bel Canto almost seemed as if it was written to specifically defy any editorial criticisms. It does this with aplomb, but the problem is that it never takes any risks either.
Anyway, I thought it was good. The characters were all likable and the story was engaging, if wholly improbable (Bel Canto could just as easily have been titled The Lighter Side of Stockholm Syndrome). My main problem with it was the writing style, which I really didn't care for. Each sentence is perfectly crafted, and would make any MFA writing professor thrilled, but therein lies the problem. The writing is so well-crafted sentence by sentence that it ends up being somewhat characterless and a little dull in large portions. The prose in Bel Canto almost seemed as if it was written to specifically defy any editorial criticisms. It does this with aplomb, but the problem is that it never takes any risks either.
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Reading Progress
March 29, 2008
– Shelved
April 3, 2008
– Shelved as:
pen-faulkner-award-for-fiction
Started Reading
April 7, 2008
–
Finished Reading
April 8, 2008
– Shelved as:
fiction
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Jessica
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rated it 3 stars
Apr 16, 2008 03:24AM
I appreciate your review. I also liked the novel but could not love it. I was especially un-enamored (if that's a word) with the ending. v silly ending.
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I agree with Jessica. A colleague of mine promoted the heck out of it to me, saying "it's one of the most beautiful books ever written." She has a PhD in Literature, so I thought, I'll give it a go. I was quite disappointed. I think your comment about the sentence structure being "perfect" is what she loved so much. I prefer imperfect structures with a much more engaging storyline.
As improbable as it seems, the plot of this book was based on a real event.
Yes, I know. When I said "improbable," I didn't mean that the situation was improbable, or that I think hostage-taking is improbable. I meant that I found the plot and the characters mostly unbelievable. Despite the fact that it was inspired by actual events, Bel Canto is still a work of fiction, and must be judged as such.Here's a quote from an interview with Ann Patchett: "For a long time I'd wanted to find a way to experience the things I read about in the paper, to grieve for disasters that had no immediate affect on my life. Turning a tragedy I knew nothing about into this novel was part of that process."
Thanks for the clarification. You're right, of course. It is a work of fiction and should be dealth with as such. For some reason, I did find the plot and the characters mostly believable. I liked the fantastic elements of the story, but I know some people don't care for that kind of thing. It's been awhile since I read the book, so my memory of it may be better than the actuality.
Maybe that is why the writing annoyed me so much. I could feel her writing stuff so it "sounded good," but it ended up sounding extraneous and boring to me. Not to mention that it took about 85% for me to really get into the story....
