2010-65) Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett, 495 Pages, Harper Collins, 2001

65) Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett, 495 Pages, Harper Collins, 2001
WHY I PICKED IT: Eileen Lao recommended it
ELAPSED TIME: 5 days
RATING: REQUIRED READING

Oh my.  This story is a universe unto itself.  These characters became my friends.  Their experiences were my experiences.  I will miss them.  Ann Patchett has woven a fantastic story - of terrorists and their hostages, of the bonds that are developed over the months in captivity.  Patchett's voice draws you into the minds and hearts of her characters - which would fantastic on its own - but she throws out a sentence every so often that you must simply stop and ponder.  And in some of those sentences she tells you what will happen later in the story, but you have to want to hear it.  I, like the characters in the book, refused to accept the reality of their situation, and so I was condemned to experience their fate as they were condemned to live out their fate.