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Summary: Stayed up all night!
Review: The Bronze Horseman is the first book in a long time that has kept me up until the wee hours of the morning. I flew through the book. Generally I don't read romance but this book is a riveting mix of outstanding, "real" characters and beautifully written language. It has tons, and tons of depth. In addition to the heart rendering love story and the well crafted personalities that dominate the story, it paints a meaningful and truthful picture of life under the communist "ideal". The ending has me not wanting to leave the characters and hoping that there is a Part II coming soon!
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Summary: One of the best books I have ever read
Review: The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simon's is truly one of the best books I have ever read. I literally could not wait to get home from work each night due to the intense desire to know what happened next. The Bronze Horseman is an intense love story set in Russia during WW11. As well as learning heaps about Russia(and now wanting to go there) and learning heaps about WW11, I fell unbelievably in love with Tatiana and with Alexander. I have not stopped thinking about them since I finished the book. There are many twists and turns throughout the story and many, many emotions are experienced by the reader, from love to hate to anger, envy, annoyance, happiness, desire, betrayal, extreme sadness (and lots of tears) and a heart wrenching empathy for what Russian people went through during the war.
Every women will fall in love with Alexander and every man with Tatiana. Oh, what it would have been like to spend that summer in Lazerevo with Alexander. Rarely has a book affected me so much. I recommend this book to anyone who loves a good read. Well done Paullina Simon's. May you write many more books and especially a sequel to this one.
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Summary: Get out your Kleenex box, girls...
Review: ...because this one will smash your heart again and again. This story was painfully beautiful from the beginning, and I ached the whole way through. I can honestly say this is one of the most beautiful love stories I have ever read. The dialogue was ingenious. This book brings living and suffering and freedom into fresh perspective. It brings fresh meaning to the word sacrifice. The author brings so much pain and sorrow, so much complexity and wisdom, so many layers of meaning and love in this novel. I would like to read more of her books, but I hesitate. It's not that I don't want to read another right away, it's that I don't think I CAN.
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Summary: Riveting!
Review: I loved this book, and would recommend it to anyone. A very rich romantic novel set in a turbulent time in the history of the Soviet Union. If you are a Simons fan, don't miss it! I would also recommend "Tully" and "Red Leaves" to anyone that is new to to her work. Paullina Simons is a master storyteller, and has created a work of art with her latest novel.This story is reminiscent of "Dr. Zhivago", but I prefer "The Bronze Horseman". I saw "Dr. Zhivago" recently after reading this book, and wondered what all the fuss was about! Her books would do quite as well as movies. I'm very glad to have come across this book and this author. The only one of her books that I did not like was "Eleventh Hour", more for the subject matter than anything else. It's hard to make a story about the kidnapping of a pregnant woman upbeat or inspirational. That is the only Simons book I would not recommend. If you only read one of her books, make it "The Bronze Horseman"!
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Summary: The Bronze Horseman
Review: THE BRONZE HORSEMAN The love and denial and pain endured against the harsh brutal environment of Russia was incredible. Magnificent! The depth of feelings this book evoked was a wonderful ride. Blossoming love under white nights hypnotised me. Unrelenting love seduced me. Self-sacrifice tormented me, denial frustrated me, and the hardship and destruction just overwhelmed me. I was stunned. Tragic. Russia. She broke lives and spirits from the beginning to end. It was was entwined in her peoples very existence. It was inevitable. It was believable. It is the only book I have read, just to start again at the beginning. I was enraptured. I can pick it up and read chapters because it is such great writing. I love the tormented passionate characters and the continuous development of the story. What a ride! Please let there be a sequal.
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Summary: Never Again!
Review: I have read a number of good works about life in the Soviet era. Unfortunately this wasn't one of them. I found this work tedious, droll and lacking literary value. This book was recommended to me good human interest story set during the siege of Leningrad. What I read was page after page of narrative prose almost entirely lacking in any imagery. This book was so poorly written, that even many of the shocking events that took place in the siege failed to evoke any emotion. Even more frustrating was the author's insistence on cataloguing every lovemaking event that look place during the protagonists' honeymoon which,in itself, comprised about a quarter of the work. I found many reasons to dislike this book, from the incredibly thin plot to the cardboard cutout characters. The end was as merciful as it was predictable. Never again will I touch a work by Paullina Simons.
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Summary: A Great Book! Must READ!!
Review: The Bronze Horseman is a sweeping epic of vast proportions. Set in 1941 war torn Leningrad, Russia, we meet the Metanovs and their tale of survival in a city under siege. The book focuses on two sisters, Tatiana and Dasha, who both love the same man, Alexander, a soldier in the Red Army. The book spans the coarse of the war and heartache and pain that accompanies it. Simons beautifully tells a story of woe and love with poetic sentiment and a smooth flow. When I first picked it up, I thought, "Here I go, another mushy love story." In fact, it is, but not so much you want to gag. I thought I'd give it a chance and it captured me from the git go. There was only one part that was just a little long, but otherwise, I was pleasantly surprised, I couldn't put it down! I was surprised at how Simons was able to put actual feelings and actions that one would actually do or say. You can't miss a page or you'll miss out on something important!!! GO AND READ THIS BOOK!
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Summary: A Book To Cherish
Review: I have just finished this wonderful book and feel exhausted and emotionally drained. Meal times were a huge inconvenience whereas bath time allowed me to escape to war ravaged Russia and characters , whom I still can't stop thinking about, days after the book has ended. I wonder how it is possible to become so obsessed with fictional people but can only say it is the power of the author's writing. We touch people in our daily lives often just scratching the surface, but not so in this book where we can share their innermost thoughts and questions. Nor did I have any trouble picturing the desolate streets of Lenningrad or imagining the very real hunger of the starving population. Rarely have I read a novel so beautifully sensual. I have to say thank you Paullina and can only hope that a sequel will bring these wonderful people to life again. I usually start another novel immediately, but as yet I am still dwelling pleasantly on The Bronze Horseman.
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Summary: Gripping and affirming novel of hope amidst ruins
Review: I've just finished rereading this book and am more taken with it the second time than the first. The historical detail is accurate and ever-present, but Simons' work never loses its focus and it is obvious the author was intent on providing a story about human emotions: love, frailty, honesty, passion, etc. She also crafted a story which provides the reader with a constant reaffirmation of the value of human interaction and freedom, and does all of this with a uniquely Russian cultural bent (one that can seem pessimistic and Romantically obsessed with failure and doom, but ultimately sets the real-to-life hardships of the Russian people right next to the joys and beauties of their lives as reflected in their culture). Set in Leningrad and the Soviet countryside during WWII, the main characters, Tatiana and Alexander, find themselves falling in love despite the many forces which would not have it so. As these characters get to know one another, the reader falls in love with them as much as they do with each other. At first read, some of the detail in the love scenes seemed excessive (for my tastes) but after rereading the entire novel, I see that the author allowed the reader so much intimacy with the characters in their pain and difficulties, that she thinks she ought to allow the reader to share in their enjoyment and love of one another too. This is one of the aspects of Simons' gift for character craft-- she allows them to become who they are, fully and almost 3 dimensionally. Far from being over-wrought, as some published reviews have suggested, these characters (not just Tatiana and Alexander, but others as well, including her family and Alexander's childhood acquaintance, Dimitri) and the way that they behave, think, act, etc.) vividly reflect a humanity which is both endearing and unnerving. Their dialogue is not stilted but is convincing, retaining many Russianisms (yes and yes, the use of a person's full name in speech, etc.) mixed with contemporary English in a way that is neither distracting nor difficult to follow or understand. I would highly recommend this book, and though it isn't Dr. Zhivago or War and Peace, I don't think I would want it to be either of those novels. Instead of comparing it to "the greats" of Russian literature, I think it is best read without judgment of that kind. I have read that a sequel has been published in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. I hope that it is soon published in the US as well.
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Summary: One of the best books I've ever read
Review: The Bronze Horseman", by Paullina Simon. It is a novel that takes place during the horrific times when Germany was fighting the Russians in the Crimea , the streets of Moscow and on the outskirts of Linengrad (now once again called St. Petersburg) during the 2nd-world war. Though it is fiction, it reads like an historical novel, and gives you some insite into the severity, cruelty and punishment the Russian govenment meted out to their own citizens. A real eye-opener! It also has a remarkable and fateful love story, and explains the struggle the lovers had to endure just to survive. It has a twist to it that will lure you on to the final destiny of the two free spirits. The story is filled with deceit, lies, despair, lust, longing, love and finally hope for a new begining. This is a new author and her emotional depth and understanding of human nature is remarkable. I thouroughly enjoyed this book.
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