What is Bel Canto (by Anne Patchett) about, and is it an appropriate level for a 14 year old?

Question

The same question applies to these other books...
1. Pride and Prejudice
2. Summerland
3. Brave New World
4. I am the Messenger

Any summaries and level appropriate answers are welcome =]

Answer 1

On Bel Canto (from Amazon.com): In an unnamed South American country, a world-renowned soprano sings at a birthday party in honor of a visiting Japanese industrial titan. His hosts hope that Mr. Hosokawa can be persuaded to build a factory in their Third World backwater. Alas, in the opening sequence, just as the accompanist kisses the soprano, a ragtag band of 18 terrorists enters the vice-presidential mansion through the air conditioning ducts. Their quarry is the president, who has unfortunately stayed home to watch a favorite soap opera. And thus, from the beginning, things go awry.

Among the hostages are not only Hosokawa and Roxane Coss, the American soprano, but an assortment of Russian, Italian, and French diplomatic types. Reuben Iglesias, the diminutive and gracious vice president, quickly gets sideways of the kidnappers, who have no interest in him whatsoever. Meanwhile, a Swiss Red Cross negotiator named Joachim Messner is roped into service while vacationing. He comes and goes, wrangling over terms and demands, and the days stretch into weeks, the weeks into months.

With the omniscience of magic realism, Ann Patchett flits in and out of the hearts and psyches of hostage and terrorist alike, and in doing so reveals a profound, shared humanity. Her voice is suitably lyrical, melodic, full of warmth and compassion. Hearing opera sung live for the first time, a young priest reflects:

Never had he thought, never once, that such a woman existed, one who stood so close to God that God's own voice poured from her. How far she must have gone inside herself to call up that voice. It was as if the voice came from the center part of the earth and by the sheer effort and diligence of her will she had pulled it up through the dirt and rock and through the floorboards of the house, up into her feet, where it pulled through her, reaching, lifting, warmed by her, and then out of the white lily of her throat and straight to God in heaven.

Joined by no common language except music, the 58 international hostages and their captors forge unexpected bonds. Time stands still, priorities rearrange themselves. Ultimately, of course, something has to give, even in a novel so imbued with the rich imaginative potential of magic realism. But in a fractious world, Bel Canto remains a gentle reminder of the transcendence of beauty and love.

Bel Canto is probably more adult in terms of language usage and content (concerns adults, not young adults).

Pride and Prejudice is great for a fourteen year old. It has a very clean approach to what is essentially dating, unlike kids today.

I don't know summerland.

I read Brave New World when I was sixteen. It's a classic, but it is a difficult book. A science fiction reader would enjoy it the most.

I don't know I am the Messenger.

You can find summaries on Amazon.com. Just search for the book and scroll down to the editorial reviews. They usually give you the setting and some of the plot so you can decide if you want to read the book. Good luck!

Answer 2

To say that this book is right for all fourteen year old is wrong. Some books are not right for any age but that is my way of thinking. There is the problem, some people are trying to push their way of think on to others. The parents should know and approve what the fourteen year old is reading.