The Ghost of Engineers' Castle: Haunted Castle and Mysterious Disappearance of a Landowner

Table of Contents:
THE GHOST OF ENGINEERS' CASTLE STORY: 01 Castle of Paul; 02 The Ghost of Peter the Great; 03 Mock funeral; 04 Foggy twilight; 05 Cadet K; 06 Infectious fear; 07 Impossible silence; 08 Waking the dead; 09 Grey man apparition; 10 Ghost's cross; 11 General's widow; 12 The Ghost Theme Soundtrack; MY NEIGHBOUR RADILOV STORY: 01 Nobleman's Nest; 02 A Man of Mystery;

About the Author :
Nikolai Leskov, 1831 - 1895, a Russian journalist, novelist and short story writer. By many Russians he is considered the most Russian of all Russian writers. As a writer and journalist in the turbulent 1860s, he quickly established a reputation for being anti-nihilist. Anton Chekhov considered Leskov in some respects his teacher. For decades Leskov did not gain official approval, partly due to his religious themes and only in the 1950s Leskov has secured his position among the major classic Russian writers of the 19th century. Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev 1818-1883, a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright. His short story collection entitled The Hunting Sketches, is a milestone of Russian Realism, and his novel Fathers and Sons is regarded as one of the major works of 19th-century fiction. Turgenev studied literature, philosophy and philology at the Universities of Moscow, St Petersburg and Berlin and in 1879 received honorary doctorate from the University of Oxford. Turgenev's artistic purity made him a favourite of like-minded novelists of the next generation, such as Henry James and Joseph Conrad.

Review :
Ghost stories are often favoured for being first hand account or second hand records of true encounters. The Ghost of Engineers' Castle has the pristine feel of that kind of narrative. Victorian-gothic sort of manner of the style give additional flavour and sentimental feel to this production. Mary Fuller (UK) The story and the reading appeal to me quite strongly. I like 19th century ghost stories, and I got my introduction to them as a child from some old volumes to be found in the house where we used to take our family holidays. I also like what I think of as a distinctively Russian tinge to this narrative of a youthful attempt at playing at ghosts that finds itself abruptly in contact with the real thing. As much as anything else, I find the reader's voice particularly agreeable and different. David Bryson (UK) "Often, the most insignificant things produce more effect on people than the most important." Turgenev expresses his own view through these words of the young nobleman who meets landowner Radilov while shooting gamebirds on his family estate. The impact of the sketches is in the significance with which Turgenev freights simple detail, such as the fly Radilov observes on his dead wife's eye. Bollinger's engaging Russian intonation enhances this richly detailed creation of the daily lives of both landowners and serfs on country estates. Rachel Redford, The Observer, UK