ah! and there you are, my perfect little novel! it has been some time since last we've embraced. come, let us reacquaint ourselves. but what is that you say, and so modestly? what is so perfect about you? my sweet darling, don't be so shy! you are indeed a wondrous creation. here, let me count the ways...1. your mystery is timeless. three schoolgirls and one schoolmistress disappear on Valentine's Day afternoon, in 1900, in australia, at the mysterious Hanging Rock. where did they go? did Nature take them, as revenge for all the injustices done against her? or perhaps she simply saw four enchanted individuals who belonged to her and not to the worldly world that they seemed to float above? upon their disappearance, a sad and tragic series of events unfolds and broadens, and so the mystery becomes larger... a pattern of sorts is created; many questions rise to the surface of a once-placid community. how do our actions impact others? how does a tragedy reverberate and affect all those connected, how does it resonate in others and bring forth emotions and thoughts and actions that they never knew could exist? the mystery at the heart of this novel is like a stone tossed in a lake: the mystery drops into the water, past the surface, not to be seen again... but the water ripples outward, concentric circles opening wider and wider, that reach so much further beyond that initial impact, that initial drop into the unknown. 2. your prose is lovely. not a single word is out of place. so artful yet never overly mannered, so charming yet never coy or affected, so dry yet never cold-blooded. you manage to be both dreamy and precise. your points are made with nuance and subtlety. you do not hammer away relentlessly but are instead content to murmur your sharp but rather ambiguous comments, all the better for your audience to contemplate them at leisure. you say more in your trim 213 pages than many novels that clock in at over twice your length.3. your narrative... a jewel box, so compact, and full of intriguing things. and even better, it is a magic box: its interior is larger than its exterior! in just a few pages, here and there, it outlines the lives and futures of a half-dozen characters, in a way that is clear and meaningful and real and often surprisingly ironic. truth be told, your story is an often cruel one, with little or no hope for several of its characters - and yet you note these twists and turns with the lightest of touches. this light touch does not reduce the stories to anecdote, but instead allows these lives, these deaths, these tragically missed opportunities and these happy endings to evoke a fable's simplicity. 4. your characters are only briefly (but efficiently) characterized, and yet they are indelible. here is the boy who is courageous and idealistic and who lives above the world, and who rescued the wrong girl - or at least the wrong girl for him. here is the girl who loved the world around her so much that she could not leave it, and so was rescued, and who then found that the love of her life - that brave rescuer - was not for her. here is the loyal friend, rooted in the physical, rough and shy, an ideal companion for a wistful idealist, a secret and almost unrecognized hero, one who is rewarded beyond his wildest imaginings. here is the tragic sister, a rebel, an artist, an orphan, alone in the world, roughly handled emotionally and physically, yet loved and cared for - but (alas) unknowingly, a wilting flower destined for a flowerbed. and there is our awful villain, Mrs. Appleyard the Headmistress, dour and dreadful and rather grand, a monster who comes undone.5. you leave me with that intriguing, unnerving feeling of Wanting To Know More. it is a wonderful thing, and there is so much to consider. most of all: why did those girls and their schoolmarm disappear? you throw out a bold red herring in your varied descriptions of nature being trampled underfoot by clumsy, unknowing humans. perhaps it is Nature's Revenge, you seem to suggest. upon a closer reading, you offer a far more ambiguous yet provocative interpretation, one based upon the nature of those who disappeared: they were not of this world, in spirit or in deed. with this reading, their disappearance becomes less of a tragedy and more of an epiphany... the girls and their mistress have moved beyond us all and our petty concerns; their lives were spent reaching beyond this mortal coil, and so... perhaps they have escaped it, and entered a new realm, a higher plane. but, in the end, i do not believe the mystery itself is the point of your story. i think that the tale of Picnic at Hanging Rock is less about what has happened and more about what does it all mean... is there a greater implication, a pattern even, to all of our little actions and to all of our little lives, one that exists beyond us, one that connects us to each other and to a world beyond?here, in your own lovely words, is where i found the true purpose behind your strange, thoughtful tale:"Peering down between the boulders Irma could see the glint of water and tiny figures coming and going through drifts of rosy smoke, or mist. 'Whatever can those people be doing down there like a lot of ants?' Marion looked out over her shoulder. 'A surprising number of human beings are without purpose. Although it's probable, of course, that they are performing some necessary function unknown to themselves.' Irma was in no mood for one of Marion's lectures. The ants and their business were dismissed without further comment. Although Irma was aware, for a little while, of a rather curious sound coming up from the plain. Like the beating of far-off drums."oh, the glorious mystery of it all! but, a person may ask, what does it all truly mean? what is the exact point, how does this all add up, what specific message are we supposed to glean? well never fear, you charming perfect book... i am not one to kiss and tell! your secrets shall remain safe with me.
Wow, this fascinating novel really made my brain, like, THINK a lot. So dreamy, yet edgy. I think you could say it's largely about the butterfly effect sending ripples outward from the mysterious disappearance of 3 school girls and one teacher in Australia in 1900. Or maybe it's about fate. I kept hearing Rasputina's song "Girls' School" in my head while reading this. The corsets, the languid hot summer, the girls all obsessed with the beautiful and kind Miranda, who was too perfect to survive reality. My husband gave this book to me as a birthday gift, and it came in a deluxe package with the movie on Blu-Ray. Now that I've finished reading the book, I will allow myself to watch the movie! Back to the book, though: I haven't read any critical essays or theories about it, yet, but it seems to me there is an obvious huge homo-erotic subtext going on between Mike and Albert, two young lads of very different social standings who are drawn into the mystery because they are among the last to see the girls going up Hanging Rock. Not to mention the girls and teachers who are all in love with Miranda to varying degrees of obsession. I love the tinge of the supernatural or mystical that Lindsay weaves throughout the story in just the right amount. Ghostly visions, premonitions, and lots of symbolism in nature. I'm surprised I'm not more pissed off by the lack of resolution. The more I think about it, certain things I do care about are resolved in satisfying ways. Maybe the two girls and the one teacher HAD to disappear mysteriously and forever, for all the other things to happen just the way they did. There's even a tragic twist at the end, foreshadowed by a dream. SPOILER ALERT for the next paragraph... Scroll down if you don't care about spoilers... Almost there. Don't peak if you don't want to know stuff! Okay- there an epilogue to the story in the form of a newspaper article 13 years after the disappearances and the whole scandal. What's most interesting, I think, is what's NOT mentioned in the news article. All it says about the death of Mrs. Appleyard is that it was "mysterious." Not that it was suicide, and not even that she jumped to her death from Hanging Rock. Does that mean her body was found elsewhere? It seems that would be too juicy a "coincidence" for a reporter to leave out, if they knew it was suicide, and that she did it at the rock where all her troubles began. The news article also says nothing of the murder of poor Sara, the orphan. Another detail seemingly too juicy to leave out of a news article. We do know, by way of a deposition included earlier, that her body was found at Appleyard College and reported. Was no one able to prove that Mrs. Appleyard killed Sara? And what about Albert? I'm assuming he's now living happily with his "mate," Mike, in Queensland, although the article doesn't mention him by name. Is that just because of his low social standing? Is that why neither he nor his sister Sara are mentioned, because their social status makes them beneath notice/interest? So, I have questions that will never be answered. And that's okay. It's good food for thought. P.S.- I love how Miranda is transformed into a swan after her disappearance, in Mike's dreamy visions.
Do You like book Picnic At Hanging Rock (1998)?
This is one of my favourite books; I've always loved the film and the mystery. The reader gets a wonderful sense of that period in history; including that of the differences in the class system. I enjoy Joan Lindsay's descriptions and her use of witness statements and newspaper articles as a way of telling the story.The girls disappearance causes a large domino effect, altering people's lives and displaying their true natures. The college girls are more horrible to each other in the book than in the film. The only fault was the use of coincidences. Certainly everyone's lives are affected and intertwined by the disappearance in one way or another, however some of the coincidences jarred me a bit. Then again, this may well be a 'red herring' thrown in by the author to help add to the mystery. A great read and highly recommended.
—Debbie Johansson
This is my second re-read of this book and I admit I loved it even more than the first time. There's just something so magnetic and resonating that I think every subsequent foray into it will further stamp it into my mind that this is an Australian classic. I feel the circumstances of the story - about a group of boarding girls and their governesses going on a picnic at the Hanging Rock and not all of them returning - is pretty much stamped into the Australian psyche, so I won't elaborate. What I will comment on is that the author has done a wonderful job, creating a complete story involving the events beforehand, during and the subsequent aftermath. At no point did I feel the story sag, lose tension or my interest. In the hands of a less capable author, I'm pretty sure the story would have jumped shark (LOL, I'm so eloquent) after the disappearances (especially as most will be aware it is an "unsolved mystery"), but I really wanted to read on to find out what happened to the rest of the characters, the author creating a beautiful, gothic atmosphere suggesting that the Hanging Rock has an almost mythical, quasi-psychological hold on everyone long after the girls have disappeared.Anyone looking for horror and cheap scares will not find it here. This is quiet horror in the sense of what lush writing and uncomfortable aftermaths evoke. Yes, there is a lot of over-description about Miranda and Irma being described as good because they are beautiful, whereas dumpy Edith is the class dunce, but I suggest a look at context as this is set in a 1900's boarding school. Plus no one has pointed out that Marion is a heroine, not because of her plain looks, but her clever studiousness. Hmmm?There were so many moments in this book that broke my heart. Lingers long after you finish reading. I love it.
—Eleanor
On Valentine's day 1900, young women from an Australian boarding school go on a picnic at the Hanging Rock. 3 Girls and a teacher disappear mysteriously. A week later, a young man finds one of the girls on a ledge with no memory of the events. I had originally seen the movie based on this novel a few years ago and really enjoyed it. It was a great mystery with no resolution and a hint that maybe something otherworldy may have occurred.The author says in the book that it doesn't matter whether it is based on a true story or not which I thought was amusing. And the truth is, it doesn't. The tale itself is very satisfying.
—Terri
