≫ Descargar A Long Long Time Ago and Essentially True Brigid Pasulka 9780547055077 Books

A Long Long Time Ago and Essentially True Brigid Pasulka 9780547055077 Books

Download As PDF : A Long Long Time Ago and Essentially True Brigid Pasulka 9780547055077 Books

A Long Long Time Ago and Essentially True Brigid Pasulka 9780547055077 Books

Engrossing story. I loved the way it went back and forth. There was something about how the characters were slowly introduced that made the book fascinating. Happiness, sadness, comedy, intrigue, suspense, romance, tragedy. This book had it all!


Tags : A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True [Brigid Pasulka] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The novel opens on the eve of World War II. In the mountain village of Half-Village, a young man nicknamed the Pigeon,Brigid Pasulka,A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True,Houghton Mifflin Co,0547055072,FIC019000,Grandparents;Fiction.,Krakâow (Poland);Fiction.,Young women;Poland;Fiction.,Literature & Fiction,American Contemporary Fiction - Individual Authors +,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction Literary,Grandparents,Krakâow (Poland),Literary,Poland,Young women

A Long Long Time Ago and Essentially True Brigid Pasulka 9780547055077 Books Reviews

This book took a while to get into, but it was worth the wait. A well written story of family and Poland.
Brigid went above and beyond in this novel. I laughed. I cried. I pined for more. And yet, I wasn't left wanting. It wasn't a Hollywood production. This is life. This book makes you feel as though you're hearing the first hand stories from the people who lived them. I can't give enough praise.

The strength of these people is awe-inspiring . All of which faced their own present day issues. Brigid's descriptions build the scene around you. You don't guess, you simply read. Her wit is something to marvel at. Her detail is uncanny. I couldn't put the book down. I didn't want it to end, and yet, I felt satisfied at the end.

Brigid, as well as her book, is simply brilliant.
This book weaves together two generations of a family. The developing characters feel alive and real. It tells about the poignant and terrifying struggle of these people through very difficult times. I was thoroughly caught up in story of the lives of this family. Well written!
A lyrical, magical read filled with lovely descriptions—even of ugly events that weren't uncommon during WWII. I have visited Warsaw, Krakow and Gdansk, (and surrounding places) and, more importantly, had a Polish war refugee as extended family. She shared, with me, her account of what was a nightmarish escape and life as a wartime refugee in Europe— a story that sounded, to me at the time, like an adventure. This enchanting, courageous book amplified and added more color to my understanding of this fascinating country. I highly recommend it. (I have given 5 stars to 2 books, and this one came close to being the third.)
World War II is looming, and a young man nicknamed Pigeon, from a place called Half-Village, falls in love with the most beautiful girl of the mountain village. Pigeon knows a bit about women, growing up with eight sisters of his own. To prove his sincere intentions about the beautiful, Anielica Hetmanski, he offers to transform her family's hut-like home into something beautiful. Pigeon is said to have "golden hands" and is an extremely talented craftsman. As a result, his accomplishments and sincerity win his way into Anielica's heart, and the couple falls in love. When war arrives, their marriage plans are delayed, and they eventually leave their life in Half-Village for the promise of a new and better life in Kraków.

Nearly fifty years later, their granddaughter, Beata, (Baba Yaga) follows in the footsteps of her grandparents, leaving the Village for a better life in Krakow. There, in the new Poland, she lives with acidic, yet funny aunt Irena and her flashy cousin Magda. She discovers that Kraków is caught somewhere in between its future and its past.

A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True, spans three generations, and gives the reader a good sense of the German and Soviet oppression. From the beginning, the story alternates between the grandparents life in old Poland during WWII and the years that followed, and their grandaughter, Beata's life in new Poland - Krakow in the mid 1990s. Both stories are good in their own way, but I was more drawn to the almost fairy tale like feel of the Anielica and Pigeon story, and life in old Poland.

The story was sad and even tragic at times, but I was amazed at the many times the author was able to make me laugh or at least smile throughout this novel. The characters were genuine and their struggles were realistic. I connected with the characters early on, and felt like they could have been family members from generations, now long gone. Ms Pasulka, a debut author has real talent. The way the two stories were woven together, was seamless and the love story aspect of this novel was quite touching as well. This is a novel that should appeal to many readers.

4.5/5 stars
This tale follows two young women - Anielica and her granddaughter Beata, known primarily by the rather cruel name of Baba Yaga. The two tales have very different tones. Anielica's story, the love story of Anielica and the Pigeon, is told from a distance, like any good fairy tale. It is the proper kind of fairy tale, with violence and without a perfect Disney ending, and all the more likeable for that. At its heart is the famously beautiful Anielica, who proves herself time and again to be just as strong as she is beautiful.

Baba Yaga's story, on the other hand, is told in the first person and the reader forms a much more intimate bond her. Baba Yaga seems rudderless in a way Anielica never was. Anielica lived in difficult times, but she had a close family and village to rely on through all of that. She also had the Pigeon (who, despite his less-than-dashing moniker, makes an excellent and steadfast romantic hero). Baba Yaga has her cousins Irena and Magda but, as the novel opens, she hardly knows them. She, unlike her grandmother, has many choices, but finds those choices paralyzing. Anielica's story is a love story; Baba Yaga's is a coming of age story. It is wonderful to find both handled so capably in the same volume, giving us not one but two strong and complex female characters.
Engrossing story. I loved the way it went back and forth. There was something about how the characters were slowly introduced that made the book fascinating. Happiness, sadness, comedy, intrigue, suspense, romance, tragedy. This book had it all!