Rating: 
Summary: Bronze Horseman
Review: Very interesting, you feel as if you are right there with the people fighting and surviving the ordeals of war , love, and with out, something most of us have not had to endure.
. I would highly recommend this book, it would make a wonderful movie.
Rating:
Summary: Surrender
Review: When I started 'The Bronze Horseman' I figured it would read as most other novels on my bookshelf. Maybe a chapter or two or three a day, inbetween my other responsibilities. But after a day of reading, I could no longer fight the compulsion to surrender to the magic of this book and, specifically, to the two lead characters. Alexander and Tatiana have been forever stamped in my psyche and in my heart. When I finished the book, just three days after starting it I felt such a connection to these people that I even noticed a sense of disillusionment with my own present life and longed to be in 1941 war ravaged Leningrad, of all places! Anything to feel closer to these characters and to understand their experiences. Yet, for all the soaring emotion this book invoked in me, I also strongly appreciated the honesty which kept Alexander and Tatiana rooted to one another and to reality. The fact that their lives converge during a time of war leaves no room for pretenses and the need for sincerity as strong as the hunger that killed 2 million of Leningrad's inhabitants during the siege of that city. The descriptions of a starving Leningrad and it's fiercely patriotic "comrades" unfold WWII Russia to me in a very personal and powerful way. This book is truly an inspiration and should not be missed!!
Rating: 
Summary: Self indulgent and overrated
Review: The book commences with Dasha telling her sister Tatiana, in great excitement, that she's "met someone". War is declared that very day, and Tatiana meets (the same) someone at a bus stop. He helps her shop for goods to hoard against likely future rationing. Within only a few pages, they have become the star-crossed lovers whose secret can't be revealed for fear of awful consequences, because Tatiana won't break her sister's heart, and Alexander's friend knows his terrible secret. None of the characters is well developed - Tatiana is, as it suits the plot, a scattered teenager, an intrepid young woman, the frail beauty who keeps the family going through the harsh Leningrad winter of 1941, family punchbag, doormat, or sex-kitten. Alexander, on the other hand, is a cliche directly out of a bodice-ripper. Dasha is selfish and shallow, and Alexander's evil friend Dimitri is purely villainous - there is no subtlety in the depiction of either. Some of the depictions of the Leningrad blockade winter are undeniably good and moving, so I did get some enjoyment from the first part of the book, but after that I had great difficulty in plodding through the turgid and excessively lengthy remainder. Even the denouement lacked credibility, and in the final analysis it was a relief to get it over with.
Rating:
Summary: Haunted...
Review: THE BRONZE HORSEMAN took me to Stalin's Russia as Hitler's invading. With WWII as a constant presence, Ms. Simons introduced me to two most compelling leads, Alexander and Tatiana. Alexander and Tatiana meet near a bus stop. It almost seems like love at first sight. But, their love will have many problems. Not only do they have the war to contend with, but two other individuals, as well. They are Dasha, Tatiana's sister, and Dimitri, Alexander's comrade and a keeper of Alexander's secret past. Because of these other individuals, Alexander and Tatiana will keep their relationship a secret, through most of the book. And as illicit would-be lovers, they will do things that will seem, at times, not admirable. However, Alexander will prove himself in many ways. His presence will protect and help Tatiana and her family while war wages on. And, he will prove his love and strengths many times throughout the book. Tatiana will protect all she loves, and remain just as strong in her love for Alexander. They seem made for each other. THE BRONZE HORSEMAN carried me to another time and place. It introduced me to two wonderful leads, who still haunt me. This will never be a "happy" book. And, the scenery, with the ravages of war, are hard to take. Yet, this is a book that shouldn't be missed.
Rating:
Summary: Obsession
Review: The Bronze Horseman is the first book in a long, long time to completely take over my concious activity. I picked it up on Saturday and didn't put it down until finishing it on the bus this morning.
Leningrad under the Nazi siege is something I studied but I never saw it with a human face until reading Paullina Simon's latest book. Numbers and statistics of a city's population (3 million falling to 1 million over a winter) can numb the student. Reading instead of the effects of hunger and cold and the hope of love are quite another.
The affection Ms. Simons shows to her native city is obvious and she has convinced me that a walk through the summer garden must be taken before I die.
Shura and Tatia give each other so much. Thank you, Paullina for sharing their story with us.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely enthralling...
Review: The Bronze Horseman was my first experience in reading a Paulina Simons creation. This was truly an epic story which drew me in right from the start. I felt myself hoping desperately for Alexander and Tatiana to find a way to hold on to each other. I'm a sucker for a happy ending and the traumatic conclusion to this story devastated me. Especially since Paulina's skillful writing had me really feeling like I knew this couple well; like I was right there with them. Is it too much to hope for a sequel in which we might discover that Alexander was really not lost...
Rating:
Summary: Destined to become a classic!
Review: The Bronze Horseman is an emotional tour de force. I could not put it down. The characters and setting leapt off the page and transported me back to war-torn Russia. The relationship between the two main charcters, Tatiana and Alexander, is tender and passionate, heart-breaking, and yet, triumphant. Add to this the amazing histoical detail and you have a novel of epic proportions that you will always remember.
Rating:
Summary: The Bronze Horseman
Review: I picked up this book while on vacation. I could not put it down the entire time. What I found in its pages was so moving that I cannot forget it, nor do I want to. The family dynamics that are illustrated are tender yet disturbing--the stresses of war-torn, occupied Russia during WWII between parents and their children living in impossibly close quarters, the faults and breakdowns of communism, and the love between 2 sisters and the selflessness shown by Tatiana. The love story in this book is incredible. With every turn of the page you never know whether this couple is going to be united or not even though the tension between them is so palpable it comes off the pages. Finally, the dedication shown between Tatiana and Alexander during his fighting at the Front is heartbreaking. For all of us who have ever been in love and especially to those who have loved in wartime, this book should not be missed. It will not soon be forgotten.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful!!
Review: I have read all of Paulina Simons works and, believe me, this does not disappoint her fans, and I am sure that it will earn her a new legion of loyal readers!! I actually had a headache after reading "Eleven Hours" because I was so engrossed in the action and fast moving, exciting plot line. When I finished "The Bronze Horseman" I was stunned with the power of this love story. Shura and Tatia's story stayed with me for days during and after the reading of the book--I could not wait to pick it up and become entangled in the web of their fictional lives. The reach of Simons writing was such that they actually became real life flesh and blood beings for a time in my imagination, and I feel that is the mark of a true writer. Congratulations, Ms. Simons, on the best book that I have read in a long time, and I am an avid reader. Can't wait for your next one!!
Rating:
Summary: Sleepless nights and tiring days
Review: Having purchased the book on sale, I must truly say that this is the best bargain I have ever found! I started reading and was immediately enticed by the build up of atmosphere that Simons so cleverly depicts. From moments of intense suffering, momentary happiness, and finally to tragic loss, a inner emotion is constantly evoked from the reader. It is almost as if the novel is meant to be some form of self realization of our intolerable human condition. In the awakening of this powerful novel is a love that exists between two wonderfully created characters that will twilight in your memory forever. A great lesson in history and a definate must read! Can't really ask for more in a novel!! (believe me, I had the book finished within 2 days despite the huge size of it) However, I must warn those people that have a problem of letting things go.. (OBSESSION..that is!). This book just refuses to leave your memory and you might find yourself re-reading it just as you have finished it.
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