Reviews - Picnic at Hanging Rock

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1.77k reviews for:

I'm currently down a rabbit hole about disappearances, so this was the perfect time to read this book. It has a dash of a True Crime feel to it - the final sighting of the missing, the police statements, newspaper articles, and various mentions of the futures of some of the characters. It's an odd mix of gentle prose you'd expect from a modern classic about a picnic, with a bit of violence, and a little creepiness.
It's interesting that the story revolves around the characters who aren't there - the missing women - and the characters who are there feel sort of like side stories to the main events. I enjoyed the mix of the Victorian rules and propriety at the girls' college, and the reality of the harsh Australian wilderness where it was built. I liked the way we see how everyone's lives are altered by the events of the picnic - both for good, and for bad.

Spoiler

I was intrigued by the actions of Mrs Appleyard. The murder of Sara comes out of nowhere and was an odd thing to tag onto the end of the novel, along with Mrs Appleyard's suicide. I couldn't make sense of why she would do it, unless the implication is that she was in a drunken rage? I'll give it a pass though, as the discovery of the body was gruesome

I had never heard of this short, Australian classic until recently, but it was a good read.

selene_rose's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

abe389's review against another edition

4.0

mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

deep_in_the_reads's review against another edition

4.0

Esoteric, impenetrable, & increasingly mesmerizing, especially as characters begin to fully unravel in the wake of a mystery that defies explanation. Shows the transience of our society in the face of nature that can never be fully charted. Anatomizes the empty sense of real-life unsolved disappearance while criticizing the society it's set in: classism, sex/gender, miscommunication, propriety etc. Many will find it frustrating and dismiss it for subverting what you'd expect from a mystery novel, but the truth is there if you're willing to look for it, and examine things from a thematic point of view as well as a literal one. I really liked it. Will hopefully do a video review on it on my channel (see my profile for link) soon.