Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

Bel Canto was our May book club choice. It was a reread for several of the members, but for me it was my very first time. I'm now wondering why on earth I left it so long to read.

Bel Canto is a glorious story about the power of song to soothe the beast within us all and to bring us together, regardless of class, culture, language or education.

I had no idea what to expect from this story initially; I knew nothing about it at all. I thought, perhaps, that it was a story about the opera. Imagine my shock when the the story begins with a dramatic hostage situation in a South American vice-presidential home one night in the middle of a private party for a Japanese delegation.

The bel canto reference is for the opera singer, Roxane, engaged to sing at the party. Her voice personifies the musical definition of 'full, rich, broad tone and smooth phrasing'. She has the entire party in her thrall, including the future terrorists hiding in the walls waiting to spring out and begin the hostage drama.

Patchett subtly explores the Stockholm syndrome that ensues. In psychological terms it is an alliance between the hostages and their captors designed to act as a survival strategy. Patchett shows us, that in this particular story, it can work both ways as the terrorists also become attached to their hostages. According to wikipedia, Stolkholm syndrome is seen as an irrational and possibly dangerous situation. Patchett shows us the logic, the necessity and the naturalness of this syndrome. It is simply a matter of one human being reaching out, responding to and connecting with another. It becomes inevitable.

Bel Canto is about humanity and what makes us human. It's about the things that bring us together, rather than tear us apart. It's the power of music and beauty to save us all.

First published 2001

Favourite Character: Carmen - brave, smart and caring but caught up in a situation out of her control.

Favourite Quote: "When I hear Roxane sing I am still able to think well of the world," Gen said. "This is a world in which someone could have written such music, a world in which she can still sing that music with so much compassion. That's proof of something, isn't it?"

Favourite or Forget: I will never forget this story.

Facts:

• Based on the Japanese embassy hostage crisis (also called the Lima Crisis) of 1996–1997 in Lima, Peru.
• Winner of the 2002 Orange Prize for Fiction (now the Women's Prize).
• Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.
• I was in a choir for several years - we called ourselves Bel Canto.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to get my thoughts together about The Song of Achilles, but sitting down to write about my response to this amazing story is probably a story in itself!

It was during my early high school days that my love of history developed. My first history class took me into the fascinating world of Tollund Man - the mummified bog body found in 1950. I was amazed at what scientists and historians were able to deduce from these remains about the world and times he lived in. There was even a Seamus Heaney poem - my first (very young) adult experience of seeing how we have always made up stories and songs to help us interpret and reinterpret our history and give meaning to our present day experiences.

Some purists and classicists may disapprove of this mode of story telling, but retelling old stories with modern sensibilities helps to keep the old stories alive. Old ideas such as hubris can be brought to life for contemporary audiences to ponder about how it might present itself now.

That's what Madeline Miller does so well here.

Using the well-known, very masculine, very war-like story of The Iliad and turning it into a romance between Achilles and Patroclus gives this old story a new lease of life. This is still a world of men and war, but Miller gives a us a chance to see this world through the eyes of Achilles goddess mother, Thetis and through the ideas of a captured Trojan girl, Briseis.

The first half of the story that fills in the childhood back story of both young men is the most interesting part to my mind. It shows the human side of Achilles before he gets caught up in his prophecy and god-like fate. I also found their first love scene to be one of the most tender, beautiful moments I've ever read.

Once we moved into the world of The Iliad proper, I felt less involved until Briseis turned up. Seeing the camp though a female lens while being reminded of how the lives of women and children were affected by this long siege was a nice touch.

I also enjoyed the scenes between Patroclus and Achilles that showed their relationship at work - how they influenced each other, how they debated, argued and compromised, how they knew each other so well that they knew what to say and how to say it to appease or enrage each other.

It is these contemporary humanising additions that allow a modern reader to reach into the old story again to find deeper meaning. Reading between the lines and filling in the gaps is the realm of all artists. Reinterpretation is a continual process, dependant on the era and experience of those doing the reinterpretation.

Homer's Iliad was just one (and possibly the first) interpretation of the events that happened on the plains of Troy to explain to those left at home and those who came after, what happened. We all seek meaning and purpose in our lives. We want to make sense of big world events. Our search for understanding, knowledge and insight is perennial.

Revisionism is a natural, organic process that occurs during, and for, every generation. The Song of Achilles is a stellar example of how that can work.

Favourite Passage:

But fame is a strange thing. Some men gain glory after they die, while others fade. What is admired in one generation is abhorred in another....We cannot say who will survive the holocaust of memory.

Favourite Character: Briseis - she is brave, loyal and inclusive.

Favourite or Forget: Favourite, but not likely to be a reread. Highly recommended to lovers of historical fiction, Ancient Greek retellings, or for those looking for LGBTQI themes.

Facts: Winner of the Orange Prize 2012

Poem: The Song of Achilles

The Adventures of Miss Petitfour by Anne Michaels

I read Fugitive Pieces around about the time it won the Orange Prize for Fiction (which is now the Women's Prize).

I fell in love with Anne Michaels ability to weave magic with her words. I remember being completely under her spell for the entire story. I felt bereft when it finished.

When I recently spotted that Michaels had written a children's book, I swooned with anticipation.

How could I not fall instantly in love?

Cats, delicious food, magic flying tablecloths and lots of gorgeous wordplays littered the pages of this illustrated chapter book. It all looked and sounded so promisingly delightful.

But something didn't zing for me.

Each chapter had lots of fun wordy digressions,

Some words are like a hailstorm during the middle of a picnic, or a flat tyre on a lovely journey, or a fallen tree across a path, and these words stop a story immediately and swivel it off in another direction entirely. Words like BUT, HOWEVER, IF ONLY, SADLY and UNFORTUNATELY.

Sadly, for me, these wordy digressions were more exciting than the actual story. The adventures were not the right size for me (see pg 11), they were even decidedly, ho-hum (see pg 18).

Which is such a pity.

The back cover has a lovely quote that says,

Five utterly captivating stories of gentle adventure, delicious edibles (with cheese for the cats), occasional peril and heart-zinging warmth.

Which helped me realise that what this book was missing was the emotion.
I felt no peril, no zing or glow of warmth. In the end I didn't care what happened to Miss Petitfour or her cats.

I really, really, really wanted to love this book, which is why I have spent so much time trying to work out what went wrong.

This is now my second attempt to get into the story.
I gave it up a few weeks ago thinking my life was too busy and hectic to appreciate it properly.

I have now had a lovely relaxing, soothing summer holiday. But this quaint, gentle tale still failed to capture my imagination or my heart.

Unfortunately, I need more drama than this story offers up. I need more character development. I need a reason to go along for the ride.

And Emma Block's sweet, charming illustrations have not been reason enough.

Orange you glad I joined the party?

Call me crazy, but I've joined another challenge. The Orange Prize Project.

Crazy!!

If reading 75 classics in 5 years for the Classics Club wasn't enough to keep me busy, I'm also reading Booker, Nobel, Pulitzer and now, Orange prize winning books!

But I figure that it wont be that hard for five reasons.

1. a number of the books appear on several lists.
2. my four new challenges have no time limit attached to them.
3. I've already read quite a few of the titles but just haven't blogged about them all.
4. I need to read a number of these award winning titles for work anyway.
5. I want to read more women writers and the Orange challenge in particular will help me with that.

In January, the Orange prize changed it's name to The Women's Prize for Fiction.

The longlist for 2013 is due out on Thursday.

Of the list below, I've only read one title - Fugitive Pieces from 1997.

However, when I scan the shortlists I can see another 8 books to tick off. There are many more titles on the longlists as well as all the books from the six year 2005 -2010 where they also awarded a prize to new writers.

So many books, so little time!
Time to stop blogging and time to get reading.

Past Winners of The Orange Prize for Fiction

1996: A Spell Of Winter, Helen Dunmore

1997: Fugitive Pieces, Anne Michaels

1998: Larry’s Party, Carol Shields

1999: A Crime In The Neighbourhood, Suzanne Berne

2000: When I Lived In Modern Times, Linda Grant

2001: The Idea Of Perfection, Kate Grenville

2002: Bel Canto, Ann Patchett

2003: Property, Valerie Martin

2004: Small Island, Andrea Levy

2005: We Need To Talk About Kevin, Lionel Shriver

2006: On Beauty, Zadie Smith

2007: Half Of A Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

2008: The Road Home, Rose Tremain

2009: Home, Marilyne Robinson

2010: The Lacuna, Barbara Kingsolver

2011: The Tiger’s Wife, Téa Obreht

2012: The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller

Children's Book Council Shortlist 2012

Well, here we again folks...nomination time.

The Pulitzer came and went with no winner for fiction. The Costa Book Award was won by Andrew Miller for his book 'Pure'. The Indie Book Award went to Anna Funder for 'All That I Am'.
The shortlist is out there for the Orange Prize for Fiction, and the Miles Franklin long list is waiting to be whittled down. And in Australia, we have the Prime Minister's Literary Awards plus various State Premier's Literary awards waiting for their big moment too.

Naturally there is also a site that will keep you informed on all these awards and many more called Literary Awards.

But today we focus on the Australian Children's Book Council Awards.

Nominees for the Older Readers Shortlist are:

Ishmael and the Hoops of Steel by Michael Gerard Bauer
A Straight Line to my Heart by Bill Condon
The Golden Day by Ursula Dubosarsky
The Dead I Know by Scot Gardner
Ship Kings: The Coming of the Whirlpool by Andrew McGahan
When We Were Two by Robert Newton

Younger Readers Shortlist:

Crow Country by Kate Constable
Brotherband: The Outcasts by John Flanagan
Nanberry: Black Brother White by Jackie French
The Truth About Verity Sparks by Susan Green
Bungawitta by Emily Rodda
The Golden Door by Emily Rodda

Early Childhood Shortlist:

The Runaway Hug by Nick Bland
Come Down, Cat! by Sonya Hartnett
That's Not A Daffodil by Elizabeth Honey
The Last Viking by Norman Jorgensen
No Bears by Meg McKinlay  (R)
Rudie Nudie by Emma Quay

Picture Book Shortlist:

Look, A Book ill. by Freya Blackwood
The Dream of the Thylacine ill. by Ron Brooks
For All Creatures ill. by Rebecca Cool
A Bus Called Heaven by Bob Graham  (R)
No Bears ill. by Leila Rudge  (R)
Flood ill. by Bruce Whatley  (R)

Eve Pownall Award for Information Books Shortlist:

The Little Refugee by Anh & Suzanne Do  (R)
One Small Island by Alison Lester & Coral Tulloch
Surrealism for Kids by Queensland Art Gallery
Bilby Secrets by Edel Wignell  (R)
Frommelles by Carole Wilkinson
Playground by Nadia Wheatley

Each year I try to read as many of these nominees as possible. Happily I've already read and reviewed 6 of the nominees - only 24 to go!!

Watch this space.

(R) read but not reviewed