How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
When the lights went off the accompanist kissed her….Not only was everyone there certain of a kiss, they claimed they could identify the type of kiss: it was strong and passionate, and it took her by surprise….Or was it that they wanted her too, all of the men and women in the room, and so they imagined it collectively. They were so taken by the beauty of her voice that they wanted to cover her mouth with their mouth, drink in. Maybe music could be transferred, devoured, owned. What would it mean to kiss the lips that had held such a sound? (1.1)
Look out, ladies and gentlemen. This is right at the beginning of the book, and it's letting us know that art is going to be a major force in the story. Look what a little opera does to the audience. They're all falling in love with the singer's voice, so much so that they may even have hallucinated a kiss. Patchett is letting us know that art will pretty much dominate this book. And yeah, as you know, it's mostly opera.
Quote #2
Tiny people, insects, really, slipped out from behind the curtains, opened their mouths, and with their voices gilded the walls with their yearning, their grief, their boundless, reckless love that would lead each one to separate ruin. (1.8)
Maybe your average eleven-year-old is more interested in a Batman birthday party than an opera one, but opera sure made an impression on Mr. Hosokawa way back then. And it hasn't stopped now: he seems like a pretty stable kind of guy in general, but here he is, far from his home and his family on his birthday, in a place where he has no interest in doing business, just to listen to one opera singer. It sounds like that's his version of the sort of reckless stuff he saw in Rigoletto. Plus, "boundless, reckless love" isn't a bad description of what Mr. Hosokawa will have by the end of the novel. As for "ruin," well, we'll let you decide.
Quote #3
It was soaring, that voice, warm and complicated, utterly fearless. How could it be at once controlled and so reckless? (1.12)
A driver's ed teacher probably doesn't think something can be controlled and reckless at the same time. But then again, a skilled stunt driver can do pretty crazy things that are still under control. Opera's a bit like that too: crazy, over-the-top, and completely unafraid. But it also takes hours of practice and tons of control to make it sound that way. Is Patchett telling us something about art in general here? Is art meant to be incredibly under control and incredibly unafraid?
Quote #4
He [Mr. Hosokawa] had never sought her [Roxane Coss] out or made himself to be anything more than any other member of the audience. He did not assume his appreciation for her talent exceeded anyone else's. He was more inclined to believe that only a fool would not feel about her exactly how he felt. There was nothing more to want than the privilege to sit and listen. (1.13)
Whether your Roxane Coss is Sting or Beyoncé or someone else, you might have some mixed feelings if you got to meet your musical idol. Some folks just want to worship from afar. Or put another way, sometimes all we want is the privilege to be in awe. That's how Mr. Hosokawa feels about Roxane Coss' voice—at least at this point in the story.
Quote #5
"I'll sing in the dark," Roxane Coss called out, "if someone will get me a candle." (1.20)
Oh yeah, Roxane Coss is a great performer. She knows how to fill the stage even when no one can see her (maybe because she's a singer, and music doesn't have to be seen to be enjoyed?). But also, symbolism alert! Singing in the dark sure looks like a metaphor for what everyone in the novel is about to be doing. Once our characters realize they're part of a terrorist takeover, they're going to feel like the lights have gone out permanently. And they'll have to decide between singing—making something beautiful out of the experience—or just being afraid of the dark.
Quote #6
The girl, Esmeralda, was coming down the stairs now with a square wicker box held under one arm. She would not have stood out among so many woman dressed in evening wear. She was a country girl in a uniform, a black skirt and blouse, a white collar and cuffs, her dark, long braid, as big around as a child's fist, sliding across her back with every step. But now everyone in the room looked at her, the way she moved so easily, the way she seemed completely comfortable, as if this was any other day in her life and she had a moment to finish some mending. (2.85)
Showy art like a flashy dance routine or a bold opera aria may be what gets most of the attention. But this passage might be telling us that there are other ways to be an artist. Esmeralda is about to stitch up Ruben Iglesias' face. Sewing is a kind of everyday art, and it also makes Ruben's life better. Do everyday arts like sewing and cooking do something a bit like opera, if not on quite as dramatic a scale?
Quote #7
Father Arguedas took his small, perfunctory penance and said each prayer three times as an offering of joy. He did not have to give up his love [opera]. In fact, after that he changed his mind completely and decided that such beauty would have to be one with God. The music gave praise, he was sure of that, and if the words too often focused on the sins of man, well, did Jesus himself not explore this subject exactly? (2.112)
Father Arguedas has a hard time giving up opera when he thinks it's a sin. Sure, your average teenager could give up opera in an instant, but to Father Arguedas this this is what giving up Harry Potter would be to people who own Hogwarts costumes and collector's edition wands. Luckily, an older priest tells him opera is not a sin. In Patchett's world, opera isn't just not a sin; it's a gateway to the transcendent (something out-of-this-world amazing), just like religion is for many people in the book. It's no accident that the priest character in this book is in love with opera. He finds something transcendent in religion, but also in opera, which is why he's confident that opera gives praise to God.
Quote #8
There was one other person there who understood the music, but she was not a guest. Standing in the hallway, looking around the corner to the living room, was Carmen, and Carmen, though she did not have the words for it, understood everything perfectly. This was the happiest time of her life and it was because of the music. (5.205)
Patchett seems to be saying you can fall in love with art even if you're on a completely different mission, even if opera is 100% new to you. You don't even need fancy training about what an aria is or who wrote The Magic Flute (it was Mozart). Art can invade your life and change it the way that love invades and changes things.
Quote #9
"Every now and then she wouldn't bring out the book at all. She would say she was tired. She would say that so much beauty hurt her. Sometimes a week or even two could pass. No Seurat! I remember feeling almost frantic, such a dependency I had come to feel for those paintings. But it was the rest from it, the waiting, that made us love the book so madly. I could have had one life but instead I had another because of this book my grandmother protected," he said, his voice quieter now. "What a miracle is that? I was taught to love beautiful things. I had a language in which to consider beauty. Later that extended to the opera, to the ballet, to architecture I saw, and even later still I came to realize that what I had seen in the paintings I could see in the fields or a river. I could see it in people. All of that I attribute to this book." (7.122)
Not just every kid can't go a week without seeing a French impressionist painting. Fyodorov really was completely transformed by art in his childhood: it taught him to see beauty, and then he learned to see it everywhere, in nature and in other people. Patchett is reminding us here that if we can learn to appreciate beauty in one place, we can see it everywhere, and that's what's happening to most of the characters in the book as time passes. The characters learn to see what's beautiful more clearly, even while they're stuck as hostages.
Quote #10
"My brothers and I were all excellent observers. Some people are born to make great art and others are born to appreciate it. Don't you think? It is a kind of talent in itself, to be an audience, whether you are the spectator in the gallery or you are listening to the voice of the world's greatest soprano. Not everyone can be the artist. There have to be those who witness the art, who love and appreciate what they have been privileged to see." Fyodorov spoke slowly. He gave long pauses between his sentences so that Gen would not have to struggle to keep up, but because of this it was difficult to tell whether he was finished speaking. (7.122)
Maybe shouting crowds don't carry somebody around on their shoulders for being a great listener of music or a great observer of paintings. But the novel seems to be telling us that Fyodorov is right: it takes a special talent to appreciate art. And it's even better because anyone can learn the talent of learning to notice things and appreciate them. It's just getting in the mindset to do it that counts. Like being stuck in a house for months, for these folks.