Part II. «The Master of Fates» are shocking stories about those who imagine themselves to be God: perverted maniacs and quite on their minds cold-blooded and prudent killers commit crimes without a twinge of conscience. The authors incredible ability to penetrate the mind of maniacs culminates in the chilling, purely Hitchcock-like story «Cranberries» and strikes the reader on the spot, causing him to fear not only the swamps, but also the cranberries!
Part III. «Restless Souls» contains mystical stories in the spirit of Edgar Allan Poe about ghost apparitions, each one strikingly unpredictable in its plot. The geography of phenomena is vast: London, Paris, Rome, Prague, Moscow, New York Wherever the ghosts appear in modern offices or in condemned houses, whether they are walking in the park near the Louvre or unwinding in a seaside resort in Italy they are looking for an opportunity to complete some unfinished situation during their earthly lives, which haunts them after death, or they come to the aid of still alive relatives and beloved ones. The stories are so touching that they will not leave the reader without empathy: he involuntarily seeks a way of salvation for the main characters, finding it together with them and for himself. And here is another masterpiece a heart-warming story «The House by the Station» about an abandoned wooden house, in which more than one generation of ghosts gather to drink tea, play chess and relive happy moments of the past. It is the third (central) part of the book that is the doorway to Another Reality.
Part IV. «Nostalgia for the Body» and Part V. «The Land of Mists» contain stories of the inhabitants of the Subtle World: souls not yet incarnated, but preparing for incarnation; disembodied, but longing for physical, as well as stories of other creatures, for example, like the Black Raven, who serves as a Guardian in the Land of Mists, and characters of fairy tales and other thought-forms. Here the influence of H. Chr. Andersen and E. T. A. Hoffmann, O. Wilde and A. S.-Exupery is captured, and the pearl of this collection, in my opinion, is the fairy tale «Water Lily», by the way, reprinted three times and beloved by readers. The story «A Guest» explodes ones mind with a trivial tea-party with Death.
The book «Tales of Ghosts» includes both new stories and previously published ones (from the books «Do You Believe in Ghosts?» and «Water Lily»), which received positive reviews from literary critics even after their first publication. The famous poet and writer Alexander Karpenko19 rightly compared Kryuchkovas short stories to the mystical thrillers of Edgar Allan Poe (Poetograd, No. 12 (113), 2014).
The stories from the book «Tales of Ghosts» got the following literary awards: «Shadow of a Bird» after Edgar Allan Poe and «Case No» 2021 in the nomination in honor of A. Hitchcock (the Moscow City Organization of the Union of Writers of Russia, NP «Literary Republic», 202120), H. Chr. Andersen and E. T. A. Hoffman «Tales for adults» (Open Literary Club «Response», 202221), «Literary Olympus» (League of Eurasian Writers, 201222).
A striking feature of Kryuchkovas prose is the complete absence of a line between earthly and the Other Realities: while reading, we sometimes dont even notice that the hero or heroine has already passed into the Other World! And all the characters decisive and not so much ones, romantic and prudent, loving and hating, smart and naive, happy and unhappy, rich and poor have one thing in common: they are mortal and, basically, suddenly.
The mystical spirit is masterfully matched by the author with the daily routine and real events of the era. Thus, behind the plot of the «The City of Rains» there is an ominous panorama of the crash of the twin towers in New York on September 11, 2001. The story «Stuck Pluto» is about an epidemic of coronavirus. In the story «Disembodied» we hear an echo of the Great Patriotic War. The ghost of a woman, a member of an intelligence network settled in Italy during the war years, with motherly persistence for half a century, has been looking for her son, evacuated to Siberia with an orphanage.
The short novel «Good Night» recreates a picture of the frantic rhythm of life and rotation in the business circles of Moscow in the sinister 1990s, when there was a demand for such unscrupulous people as Sackman, who robbed the owner of a furniture company, and the lovesick Oksana, ready to do anything for money, who easily sold her friend to the customer of the murder.
The image of Mr. Piggins (in the story «A Photo film») is also quite remarkable, convex and brightly drawn by the author with obvious sarcasm. We see a state official, who has successfully moved from the Soviet era into the era of radical changes: as he received his «tips» in the form of interest, bribes and kickbacks, so he continues to receive them. And he will never die, because the Piggins are immortal
It is surprising that many of the works gathered in this book were created by Alexandra when she was a teenager, they are so well «faceted». Written in pastel colors, they are lyrical, tender, they contain a slight sadness and a non-childlike understanding of the world beauty, in which Divine Love prevails over everything. A considerable portion of it is produced by the author herself, as if she remained to live on Earth at the age of a teenage girl. However, the character of her «Farewell to Childhood» is right,
«Time doesnt exist. It is conditional and relative. You will learn to manage Time when you realize that it doesnt matter how old you are on Earth, the main thing is who you feel you are»
Yes! To look at the world through childrens eyes, being an adult, is a gift from the Creator. After reading the book, one gets the feeling that the author is constantly and intently watching his characters and even the reader! not from the side, but as if from Above, from different heights, now approaching them, then moving away, but never leaving them like a guardian angel.
However, answering the question «Do you believe in ghosts?», I will quote the wise «A Letter from the Astral Tablets», included by the author in «Tales of Ghosts»,
«Certainly, my dear friend in my life, there have been also other inexplicable cases related to those who passed into the Other World, but I should confess to you that most of all I have always been concerned about the relationship of living people, because it is what turns some of us into ghosts»
Dmitry Nemelstein,
poet, writer, historian,
member of the Union of Writers of Russia,
laureate of literary awards
The magazine «CHILDREN of RA» No. 1 (194), 2022, Magazine Hall «Gorky-Media».
https://reading-hall.ru/publication.php?id=30279
http://detira.ru/arhiv/publication.php?id=30279
https://magazines.gorky.media/ra/2022/1/aleksandra-kryuchkova-skazki-prizrakov.html
А. Карпенко: «Верите ли Вы в призраков?»
Лирические новеллы Александры Крючковой никого не могут оставить равнодушным. Они повествуют о самом уязвимом и хрупком в судьбе человека становлении и распаде отношений между мужчиной и женщиной, о разных ликах посю- и поту- сторонней жизни. Рассказы Крючковой совсем небольшие, странички две, не больше, но как много переживаний выпадает на долю их героев!
Писательница использует эффект «детективной» концовки: все, как правило, заканчивается не так, как предполагает читатель. И высший пилотаж драматургии этих рассказов когда одна эмоция «перебивает» другую и переворачивает исход. Перевернутый исход вызывает у читателя подчас прямо противоположные, зашкаливающие эмоции.
Вторая и третья части книги написаны в духе мистических триллеров Эдгара По. Только в наше время призраки появляются не в старых готических замках, а, например, в фешенебельных офисах известных фирм (рассказ «Письмо»). Видите ли, им, призракам, абсолютно все равно, где появляться. Антураж помещения нисколько их не интересует. Они, как и в произведениях минувших веков, привязаны духом к помещениям, в которых погибли. Хотя, по правде сказать, мне больше по душе рассказы без «потусторонней» жизни «Пианино», «Кошачье имя», «До завтра».
Все без исключения новеллы Александры Крючковой написаны на высоком художественном уровне повествования и драматургии. В творческой биографии Крючковой много удивительного. Стихи и прозу она начала писать в 11 лет. И не просто начала некоторые новеллы, написанные Александрой в 14 лет, вошли в книгу рассказов, о которой идет речь в моей заметке. Об этом свидетельствуют датировки под произведениями. Рассказы не просто «вошли» в книгу, а заняли в ней достойное место. Давние произведения вундеркинда Крючковой, вошедшие в ее сборник, написаны рукой мастера. А еще говорили, что новых Лермонтовых у нас больше не будет виною тому якобы «медленное» взросление современной молодежи. Как бы не так! Когда читаешь рассказы Александры Крючковой, не возникает даже мыслей о том, что они написаны девушкой-подростком.
Я думаю, что столь раннее взросление Крючковой, как и в случае с Лермонтовым, вызвано преждевременной кончиной обоих ее родителей. Трагическое сиротство не могло не сказаться на детской психике. У Александры Крючковой это вылилось в неподдельный интерес к потустороннему миру. Драматизм жизни рано вошел в ее душу. Как и в случае с Лермонтовым, все узнали про вундеркинда Крючкову «задним числом», когда она уже выросла и стала известным поэтом.
В книге «Верите ли вы в призраков» представлены рассказы, написанные Александрой в юном возрасте. Они и сегодня не утратили своей первозданной ценности. А все-таки жаль, что в девяностые годы прошлого века стране было наплевать на гениальных своих детей. И что ранние рассказы Александры Крючковой опубликованы только через два десятилетия после того, как они были написаны.
Александр Карпенко23,
поэт и писатель
Газета «Поэтоград» 12 (113), 2014
https://www.reading-hall.ru/publication.php?id=9499
http://www.poetograd.ru/arch.html
A. Karpenko, «Do you believe in Ghosts?»
The lyrical novellas of Alexandra Kryuchkova cant leave anyone indifferent. They tell about the most vulnerable and fragile thing in human destiny the formation and collapse of relationship between a man and a woman, about different faces of this and Other World life. Kryuchkovas stories are quite small, no more than two pages, but how many experiences fall to the lot of their characters!
The writer uses the effect of a detective ending: everything, as a rule, doesnt end the way the reader expects. The aerobatics of the dramaturgy of these stories is when one emotion interrupts another and reverses the outcome. Such an inverted outcome sometimes evokes in the reader directly opposite, overwhelming emotions.
The second and third parts of the book are written in the spirit of Edgar Allan Poes mystical thrillers. Nowadays ghosts, of course, dont appear in old Gothic castles, but, for example, in the fashionable offices of well-known firms (the story «A Letter»). You see, they, the ghosts, absolutely dont care where to appear. The surroundings dont interest them at all. As in the works of past centuries, they are spiritually bound to the premises in which they died. Although, to tell the truth, I prefer stories outside the Otherworld «A Piano», «A Cats Name», «See you Tomorrow».
Without exception, all the short stories of Alexandra Kryuchkova are written at a high artistic level of narration and dramaturgy.
Kryuchkovas creative biography is full of surprises. She began writing poetry and prose at the age of 11. And not just began, because some short stories were included in the book, which is the subject in my note. This is evidenced by the dates under the works. These stories not only entered the book, they took their rightful place in it. The old works of the child prodigy Kryuchkova, included in her collection, were written by the hand of master. And they say that there will be no more Lermontovs because of the supposedly slow maturation of modern youth. However, it is not so! When you read Alexandra Kryuchkovas stories, you dont even think that they were written by a teenage girl.
I think that such an early maturation of Kryuchkova, as in the case of Lermontov, is caused by the premature death of both her parents. The tragic orphanhood could not but affect the childs psyche. For Alexandra Kryuchkova, this resulted in a genuine interest in the Other World. The drama of life entered her soul early. As in the case of Lermontov, everyone learned about the prodigy Kryuchkova in retrospect, when she had already grown up and became a famous poet.
Although the stories, presented in the book, were written by Alexandra at a young age, they have not lost their original value even today. And yet, its a pity that our country didnt care about its brilliant children in the nineties of the last century. And that Alexandra Kryuchkovas early stories were published only two decades after they were written.
Alexander Karpenko24,
poet and writer
The newspaper «POETOGRAD» No. (113), 2014
https://www.reading-hall.ru/publication.php?id=9499
http://www.poetograd.ru/arch.html
СКАЗКИ ПРИЗРАКОВ / TALES of GHOSTS
Автор выражает сердечную благодарность
всем персонажам и прототипам рассказов,
в том числе многочисленным призракам
и всем-всем-всем остальным!
The author expresses her great gratitude
to all the characters and prototypes of these stories,
including numerous ghosts and everybody else!
Эта книга посвящается каждому её читателю!
а также: моим родителям, бабушкам, дедушке и прадедушке,
сыну Андрею, нашей кошке Жозефине
и всем-всем-всем ДОБРЫМ существам и сущностям!
I. ЛЮБИ МЕНЯ СЕЙЧАС! / LOVE ME NOW!
The book is dedicated to every reader!
As well as to: my parents, grandmothers, grandfather and great-grandfather, my son Andrey and our cat Josephine, and all KIND creatures and entities!
0. Костёр
Я долго шла куда-то вдаль, в бесконечном густом тумане, пока внезапно не наткнулась на Мужчину.
Простите, извинилась я, пытаясь пройти дальше, но поняла, что там тоже кто-то есть.
За мной будешь, произнёс Мужчина.
За Вами в каком смысле? уточнила я.
В очереди
А за чем здесь стоят в очереди?
Каждый за своим
И долго в ней стоять?
Мужчина пожал плечами. Очередь чуть-чуть продвинулась. Я стала различать звуки голосов.
А Вы не знаете, что там, дальше? поинтересовалась я.
Не знаю, безразлично ответил Мужчина. Но говорят, что за туманом Город Солнца. Только не все смогут до него дойти.
А Вы из Города Солнца?
Не думаю, Мужчина усмехнулся. Скорее, из Темницы Страны Сновидений.
Значит, Вы атеист? предположила я.
Уже нет, вздохнул он.
Очередь снова чуть-чуть продвинулась.
Внезапно из тумана вынырнула Девочка лет пяти и, пробежав между нами, тут же исчезла.
А дети тоже стоят в очереди? удивилась я.
Наверно, ответил Мужчина и пожал плечами.
Девочка снова вынырнула из тумана, но уже с другой стороны, на мгновение остановилась рядом с нами и обратилась ко мне:
А меня там ждёт Кот! А тебя кто?
Не знаю, я пожала плечами.
Странно! задумчиво произнесла Девочка. Там каждого кто-то ждёт! Если бы никто не ждал, тебя бы здесь не было!
Я улыбнулась, и Девочка убежала.