Michael Van Cise

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett



rating: 3 of 5 stars
I enjoyed Patchett's "Bel Canto." The story is primarily character driven. Very little happens in the novel and the entire story takes place in the Vice President's home. The book could be made into a play very easily since the scenery changes little. The main props are a piano, dinner-ware, a chess set, and guns. The primary rooms are the main room of the house, the kitchen, and a closet. The ending is sad, but not entirely unexpected. I would recommend this book to others, but I'm not sure it deserves the high praise it seems to have received from critics and award issuers. It reminded me a little bit of Kazua Ishiguro's Remains of the Day in that the book is primarily presented from the perspective of a servant (in Bel Canto a translator who works for a wealthy Japanese businessman is the primary character). Unlike Ishiguro's novel where the servant is the narrator, however, Gen (the translator) is not the narrator.

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