Rated of 5
by Gavin
Even thou the premise of the book is predictable and some what under developed, the charcter interaction and communication is enjoyable. The author has the ability, albeit for a short period of the book, to make forget that the hostage situation goes for over a month, with the reader feeling some empathy for the characters and sometimes smiling with them as well. But generally the book trades on sentimentality with no substance.
Rated of 5
by Michael
Although this book is based on a true event it is too unbelievable. A famous opera diva, a brilliant piantist, a child prodigy, a translator who speaks twenty languages, a friend of a priest who has all the sheet music known to man and terrorists who play soccer with their foe on the front lawn. I was waiting for the flock of pigs flying south for the winter to pass by. They can probably sing too.
Rated of 5
by Cheryl P.
The interaction of the characters was riveting. After page 100 I couldn't put it down. I very much enjoyed the way the author went from one character to another and told their background story and their side of the event. It gave the reader multiple perspectives and allowed you to see what drove the characters to act the way that they did.
Rated of 5
by Michele
Ironically, the novel is rather comical. Ann Patchett is able to take a tense frightening situation and turn it into an entertaining situation in which the reader can take pleasure and giggle while reading. Without the comedy in this book it is nothing more than childish prose containing boring stories about an unreal situation happening to characters to whom the reader feels no connection or interest to what-so-ever. Many people do not see the comical way in which the author writes, making the experience of reading the novel painful and giving the reader a sick sensation of the author's seemingly disreguard for hostage situations. The only reason this book is assigned in English classes is so the Teachers/Professors can feel like they are being diverse and cultural.
Rated of 5
by Lisa
I thoroughly enjoyed this lyrical and wonderfully written novel. The theme of music is transmitted through the content and the form of Patchett's prose. The characters were well-developed, surprisingly so considering their number. Of course, a certain suspension of disbelief must be maintained when considering the plot, but (here's the music theme again) just act like you're at the opera (no one goes around singing their life story, right?). In the interview with the author, she describes this book as "operatic fiction" (not completely realistic). I think if you keep that in mind while reading you will be able to enjoy this novel as much as I did!
Rated of 5
by Julie
I agree that the picture of radical terrorists being won over by one woman singing a song from an opera (weeping, forgetting their mission, falling in love with her) is almost offensive. The political cause of the terrorists certainly is insipidly painted by Patchett - their committment to it is almost non-existent. Of course, we should remember that when Patchett was writing this, it was pre-9/11 and the idea of terrorists might have a more threatening quality now. What is shocking is how close to the actual events Patchett kept the story line - the hostage-taking, the long period of "negotiating" for a release, the involvement of a less radical group of Peruvian terrorists than some political groups there, the sympathy of the hostages for their captors, the participation in the terrorist group of two teenage girls, and the final outcome (at least, before Patchett chose to add that incongruous epilogue...Why do Americans continue to require such reassurances?) Patchett herself said that this book was "operatic fiction" - meaning, she did not try to make it entirely realsitic, she heightened certain elements into melodrama. But I thought it was a little saccharine. And the idea that only one person could speak English in a group of well-educated international businessmen and diplomats is just silly. You can't get out of high school in most countrys now without having taken a few years of English language instruction. You wouldn't get a good job in today's globalized business world without being fluent in it. Still, the book generated a good conversation among our book group members.
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of 5
by Gavin 
of 5
by Michael 
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by Cheryl P. 
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