Finished: Bel Canto (Patchett) A beautifully written book about a group of South American revolutionaries who break in on a party of upper class citizens from around the world who have gathered to hear the world famous opera singer, Roxanne Coss. Their goal...to kidnap the president of their unnamed country and take him hostage until the government is overthrown and their relatives freed from unjust imprisonment. The first problem? As carefully planned as the operation is, with three generals and over twenty armed young gunmen cutting off the power to the vice president's home, where the event is held, and bursting through the air ducts...the president is not in attendance! A very poor ruler, even though the event is in honor of Mr. Katsumi Hosokawa, the renowned president of the Japanese company, Nansie, who they hope to convince to build a factory in their poverty stricken county, the president of the country decides at the last minute to miss the soiree to stay home and watch his soap opera! Sadly, Mr. Hosokawa has no intention of ever building a factory there. He travels to the country only because he loves, lives and breathes opera, when he's not working, and his favorite opera singer, Ms. Coss is there to sing just for him. The book is about the powerful affect that music has on the soul as much as it is about the unfortunate circumstances that the captives are suddenly thrust into, and the perhaps more unfortunate circumstances that the revolutionaries come from. Fortunately Mr. Hosokawa has his brilliant young interpreter with him, Gen, who can speak English, Japanese, Chinese, French, Spanish, German and Russian...and he will need those skills since bigwigs from all of those countries are in attendance! When the revolutionaries realize the president is not there, they dig in their heels and decide to let the women, children and servants go and hold all the men hostage...with one catch...the opera singer stays. She is the only woman not released. A benevolent Red Cross worker, Messner, is the only person allowed in and out of the mansion. He soon comes to realize that the leaders don't plan to kill anyone and just want their demands met. Neither the revolutionaries or the government, though, are willing to give in so the hostage situation continues for over four months! Eventually, the rules in the house are relaxed and Roxanne Coss begins singing every day. One Japanese businessman, Mr. Kato, discloses that he's a beautiful piano player, and he accompanies her every day. (The original accompanist dies very early on from lack of insulin. He had not even told Ms. Coss he was diabetic in order to spare her any inconvenience.) As the weeks go by, the hostages begin to see most of the young gunmen, many of them young teens, as sympathetic people. One of the boys, Cesar, has a beautiful voice and can sing. Roxanna Coss begins giving him lessons. One of the boys, Ishmael, becomes very good at chess. Two of the boys turn out to be girls...one of whom, Carmen, Gen falls in love with, and she with him. All these businessmen who would in their normal daily lives not be stopping to smell the roses, begin to appreciate the every day things in life...cooking, sunlight, reading, and most of all the beautiful singing. Of the three generals, two are very tough and rigid, but General Benjamin, who actually has a family of his own back home, just wants to see his brother released from prison. He has a daily game of chess with Mr. Hosokawa. And, speaking of Mr. Hosokawa...despite the fact that he has a dedicated wife and daughters back home, he falls deeply in love with Roxanne Coss and she with him! His marriage to his wife was arranged and loveless but devoted until now. Mr. Hosokawa also comes to love Carmen as a daughter and Gen as a son. On Messner's last visit, it is clear that he knows something is about to happen and he begs General Benjamin to surrender, but it falls on deaf ears. Within a few days, military soldiers storm the house and shoot down every revolutionary in sight...Cesar as he is having a music lesson, Ishmael as he is gardening in the yard, and Carmen, as she runs towards the piano room when she hears the first shots. Tragically, Mr. Hosokawa is right behind her and seeing what is happening before she does, he throws his body in front of hers and they both die by the same bullet. All the other hostages make it out alive amidst the scattered young bodies of their captors and the three older generals. It's so sad, mostly to think of the young lives lost to a cause they weren't even that knowledgeable of. In any event...the end of the book is rather strange as Gen and Roxanne Coss end up getting married!! Maybe it was their way of living forever with the two people they'd fallen in love with and lost? The book is very beautifully written and truly makes you feel for each person, well almost each person, as they come alive on the pages.