ShelfLook
Tools About
Cover of Bel Canto

How long does it take to read Bel Canto?

Ann Patchett, Oristelle Bonis

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, Oristelle Bonis takes about 6 hours 10 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.

About 6 hours 10 minutes

A weekend read

First published 2001. 336 pages, about 92,400 words.

13 days at 30 minutes a day

Estimate based on 275 words per page.

At other speeds

Slow, 150 words a minute 10 hours 16 minutes
Average, 250 words a minute 6 hours 10 minutes
Fast, 400 words a minute 3 hours 51 minutes

The page count is the median across 42 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.

About the book

PerfectBound e-book exclusive: "Friendship and Love," an interview with Ann Patchett.A prolonged hostage crisis in the lavish home of a South American politician turns into something quite different as terrorists and hostages forge unexpected bonds and passionate, ill-fated love blooms. Winner of the 2002 Pen/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the 2002 Orange Prize for Fiction.Somewhere in South America, at the home of the country's vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honor of Mr. Hosokawa, a powerful Japanese businessman. Roxanne Coss, opera's most revered soprano, has mesmerized the international guests with her singing. It is a perfect evening -- until a band of gun-wielding terrorists breaks in through the air-conditioning vents and takes the entire party hostage. But what begins as a panicked, life-threatening scenario slowly evolves into something quite different, as terrorists and hostages forge unexpected bonds and people from different countries and continents become compatriots. Friendship, compassion, and the chance for great love lead the characters to forget the real danger that has been set in motion and cannot be stopped.

Subjects: Fiction, psychological, Fiction, romance, general, Psychological fiction, Embassy buildings, PEN/Faulkner Award Winner, Opera

More by Ann Patchett

Popular books of similar length