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| Plot Summary of Bel Canto |
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"In an unnamed South American country, opera singer Roxanne Coss peforms at the vice-president's mansion. It is the birthday of a wealthy Japanese businessman, Katsumi Hosokawa, and the vice-president throws a party in Hosokawa's honor, hoping that he will bring business and investments to the country. Hosokawa is uninterested in the country however, and only attends the party because he is a fan of Roxanne Coss.
During the party, terrorists take over the mansion and keep the party-goers hostage. The terrorists are lead by a few older men, but most of them are very young, teens to early twenties. The terrorists hoped to capture the country's president, but he was unable to attend the party because he stayed home to watch his favorite soap-opera.
All of the female hostages are released except for Roxanne. A stand-off between the terrorists and the government occurs, and the hostages and terrorists are forced to stay in the mansion for months. To relieve the boredom and to keep her voice in top form, Roxanne practices every day. Romance blossoms between Roxanne and Katsumi Hosokawa, and between Gen, Hosokawa's translator, and Carmen, one of the young terrorists."
E. J. McDonald, Resident Scholar
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"Famous international businessmen and heads of state have gathered in a Latin American mansion to listen to the performance of Roxanne Coss, a world-renowned opera star. As Coss finishes her final aria, the building is overtaken by a band of revolutionary terrorists.
In the ensuing four months in which they are held hostage, the prisoners form relationships with the terrorists (two of whom they are surprised to discover are young girls). These relationships and the beauty of Coss' singing begin to make hostage and terrorist alike feel glad for the time they are trapped together.
Coss develops a love affair with the head of a Japanese electronics company; a translator falls in love with a terrorist. Hostage and terrorist begin to learn from each other and play with one another.
The terrorists begin to learn that they are more than who they believed themselves to be. They learn new languages. They learn to cook and to sing, to play games and to garden.
Eventually, the lines between hostage and terrorist blur entirely until no one wants this time together to end and they fear the outside world more than they fear one another."
Jennifer Martin-Romme, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Bel Canto |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- thoughtful
Time/era of story
- 1980's-1999
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
War/Revolt/Disaster on civilians
Yes
Conflict:
- Revolution, general
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- actor/actress/producer
- musician
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- an organization
Age:
- a teen
Profession/status:
- infantry soldier
- champion of justice
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- an average amount
- throughout most of the book.
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 3 ()
The Americas (not US):
Yes
The Americas:
- South
Misc setting
- fancy mansion
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
- moderately detailed references to deaths
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references
Unusual Style:
- No single main character?
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
- significantly more descript than dialog
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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