with her mystical thriller «The Island of Charon», submitted to the literary competition «Another Reality» organized in honor of mystical writers Leonid and Daniil Andreev, Alexandra Kryuchkova revealed herself to me in yet another capacity – as a deep and thoughtful prose writer.
The very title of the book makes it clear that we are not going to have a trivial turning over of mundane platitudes, but a journey into painstaking philosophical reflections. From the first pages, we are immersed in that very «Another Reality», where the earthly life and death of the main character are closely interconnected with invisible otherworldly Forces of Darkness and Light, and the plot unfolds on a mysterious island, where «everything is wrong», since it is located in the Astral World. But does an afterlife exist in principle? And if so, how is that World organized? What is it «the judgment» of a soul? What price does each of us have to pay for our deeds?
Unresolved tasks and unfinished works, mistakes made during life and affection for earthly things, and even unfulfilled dreams lead the soul to the island, whose lighthouse is the Wish Tree, but «The Wish Tree is a trap…»
And it is no coincidence that the owner of the Island lives in a house in the Cemetery of Memories – the reminiscences of dear to the heart people are haunting the main character.
Can the described by Alexandra Kryuchkova in «The Island…» be exactly like this in reality? We don’t know, but surely, each of us, approaching the last line, asks the same questions, to which the main character is looking for and finds answers. The author openly expresses her opinion on the possibility of cognition the Truth in a dialogue with Charon.
«…everything that surrounds you is an illusion. Only those who can refuse it will discover the Truth.»
«But the only way to understand completely what’s going on here is to go beyond what’s going on. So, theoretically, everyone who is here now needs to leave the Astral World?»
«Correct. The character of the movie will not see the whole movie until he moves himself in the auditorium.»
Unlike most incoherent and far-fetched fantasy, «The Island», emerged at the intersection of genres (love story, detective, mysticism and philosophy), keeps the reader in suspense from the first to the last page. The search for mutual love leads to the investigation of one’s murder in the spirit of Alfred Hitchcock’s thrillers and ends with unraveling of Charon’s secret to realize the transition of the soul to the next step of the endless staircase to the Sky.
In my opinion, one of the main goals of the book is to convey to the reader the importance of taking responsibility for his own deeds, since each person almost always has the freedom of choice,
«But… pay attention to the fact that the Creator doesn’t act against your will and never deprives anyone of the right to choose.»
…as well as the importance of forgiveness, because the main character accepts the Creator’s plan for her own death and eventually forgives her murderer.
«I don’t wish you any harm… You are right. It was necessary for some reason. Goodbye…»
There is nothing superfluous in the book. All the events and dialogues of the characters are carefully verified and thought out. There is no artificially built-in abstruse, «The Island of Charon» is easy to read, but at the same time it is a serious work that deserves attention no less than similar philosophical works in the field of so-called «Another Reality», from «The Little Prince» by Antoine de Saint-Exupery to «The Rose of the World» by Daniil Andreev.
According to the decision of the jury of the Creative Center «Clouds of Inspiration», Alexandra Kryuchkova was announced the winner of the «Another Reality» 2021 competition after Leonid and Daniil Andreev. We wish Alexandra inexhaustible creative inspiration and new victories on the Literary Olympus!
Sergei BERSENEV,
Honored Writer of the Moscow City Organization
of the Union of Writers of Russia, poet,
Head of the Creative Center «Clouds of Inspiration»
The newspaper «Literary News» («Literaturnye Izvestia»)
No. 3 (201), 2022.
http://litiz.ru/arch.html
https://reading-hall.ru/publication.php?id=30735
Б. Михин: «Сказка-детектив»
Ни в чём не стоит быть уверенным, ведь «Остров – у каждого свой», и не всегда это – именно остров, да и не везде…
Тогда что же такое «Остров» Александры Крючковой?
Сказка для взрослых? – Да, конечно. Полная романтики и грусти от Экзюпери и чувства «стояния на краю» от Макса Фрая.
Мистический детектив? – Безусловно. Классическая драматургическая «горка», трёхактная схема, держит в напряжении и неведении до самой кульминации.
Женский роман? – Тоже верно. Эмоции, скрытые под внешним спокойствием главной героини, зашкаливают! До последнего вдоха и даже после него она ищет земную любовь и познаёт реальность (ну, или не-реальность, – как вам будет угодно) не рационально, не «линейно».
«Остров Харона» Александры Крючковой «разномастен» и «многолик», но тем он и замечателен! Да и самые яркие творческие успехи обычно случаются где-то на стыке, а гениальность проявляется в нестандарте – в том, что выходит за среднестатистические рамки.
Хотя… ни в чём не стоит быть уверенным, ведь…
«Остров – у каждого свой»!
Борис МИХИН,
поэт, писатель, член Союза писателей России,
