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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
What an interesting book! Going into this, I basically knew the plot (because of being involved in a play version of it and watching the movie) but I still found it really interesting and enjoyable. I found all the characters and their motivations really engaging and the whole plot is just such a different and gripping idea. Obviously there are lots of hidden meanings and loads of symbolism in the book that I didn't get because I wasn't deeply analysing as I read but I still found so many things that appeared simple at first but then were so much more advanced than I had originally thought. I still don't completely understand what some of the characters were meant to represent (Is Edith representing not conformity? Probably also just youth and ignorance?) but the themes of colonisation and attempting to 'tame' nature were so clear and interesting! I did find some parts a bit slow, but overall I really enjoyed it!
slow-paced
This book. This book!
It's a slim read but one I dragged out over two months because I savored each line. It's a surprisingly bittersweet and chilling read about the aftereffects of a tragedy; in this case, the disappearance of three students and a teacher during a school picnic.
Opening on Valentine's Day, 1900, at a posh girls school in Australia, the novel spans three short, but devastating, months following the strange disappearance of three beloved students and a teacher at Hanging Rock, a local rock formation. The survivors are impacted in varying ways, from the school's steel-spined headmistress, Mrs. Appleyard, and her attempts to keep her school functioning, to Mike, a British transplant touched by friendship with a working-class
Lindsay's prose is stellar. She's just vicious and no one, from Mrs. Appleyard -- ...her high-piled greying pompadour and ample bosom, as rigidly controlled and disciplined as her private ambitions... -- to the sibling of one of her employees -- ...dank, pompous and half-baked...holding Views and Opinions on every subject under the sun from Female Education to the incompetence of the local Fire Brigade. -- is spared.
Lindsay makes this story sound as if it's based on a true story, but it's wholly fictional. Still, I was invested in discovering what happened to these girls, caught up in the ripples of pain and terror caused by their disappearance. (Unseen, unrecorded, the pattern of the picnic continued to darken and spread.) Bittersweet realism mixes with the utmost melodrama, and I loved every letter.
This edition was released for the book's 50th anniversary with an introduction by Maile Meloy. As with most introductions, read it after reading the book, for Meloy discusses plot points as well as Lindsay's what-really-happened chapter that was published later. (I agree with Lindsay's editors: it doesn't add anything to the story, and actually detracts from the oomph!) The jacket copy compares this to Shirley Jackson and Rebecca and the comparison is spot on: feminine, fierce, and unforgiving.
One million stars. I bought the audiobook to have a reread over the winter break! (It's going to make my Top 10 for this year.)
Initial Thoughts
Holy crap, this book was so good! I had a memory of it -- really, the ghost of a memory -- that I'd read it in school, and had been baffled by it -- but the book I just finished reading had nothing baffling there. A mystery, to be sure, but the real story is the horrifying, heartbreaking ripples caused by the mystery. Some ripples concluded, some still reverberating. Longer review to come but w.o.w. A favorite for 2017. Natalie Dormer to star in the new miniseries and I can.not wait!
It's a slim read but one I dragged out over two months because I savored each line. It's a surprisingly bittersweet and chilling read about the aftereffects of a tragedy; in this case, the disappearance of three students and a teacher during a school picnic.
Opening on Valentine's Day, 1900, at a posh girls school in Australia, the novel spans three short, but devastating, months following the strange disappearance of three beloved students and a teacher at Hanging Rock, a local rock formation. The survivors are impacted in varying ways, from the school's steel-spined headmistress, Mrs. Appleyard, and her attempts to keep her school functioning, to Mike, a British transplant touched by friendship with a working-class
Lindsay's prose is stellar. She's just vicious and no one, from Mrs. Appleyard -- ...her high-piled greying pompadour and ample bosom, as rigidly controlled and disciplined as her private ambitions... -- to the sibling of one of her employees -- ...dank, pompous and half-baked...holding Views and Opinions on every subject under the sun from Female Education to the incompetence of the local Fire Brigade. -- is spared.
Lindsay makes this story sound as if it's based on a true story, but it's wholly fictional. Still, I was invested in discovering what happened to these girls, caught up in the ripples of pain and terror caused by their disappearance. (Unseen, unrecorded, the pattern of the picnic continued to darken and spread.) Bittersweet realism mixes with the utmost melodrama, and I loved every letter.
This edition was released for the book's 50th anniversary with an introduction by Maile Meloy. As with most introductions, read it after reading the book, for Meloy discusses plot points as well as Lindsay's what-really-happened chapter that was published later. (I agree with Lindsay's editors: it doesn't add anything to the story, and actually detracts from the oomph!) The jacket copy compares this to Shirley Jackson and Rebecca and the comparison is spot on: feminine, fierce, and unforgiving.
One million stars. I bought the audiobook to have a reread over the winter break! (It's going to make my Top 10 for this year.)
Initial Thoughts
Holy crap, this book was so good! I had a memory of it -- really, the ghost of a memory -- that I'd read it in school, and had been baffled by it -- but the book I just finished reading had nothing baffling there. A mystery, to be sure, but the real story is the horrifying, heartbreaking ripples caused by the mystery. Some ripples concluded, some still reverberating. Longer review to come but w.o.w. A favorite for 2017. Natalie Dormer to star in the new miniseries and I can.not wait!
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
It's hard to write about this book, since it's still inside my head, but I think it's such a book which will stay there for a long time.
I love how the writer spun this web of stories and then pulled it into a noose at the end. The use of narrator's voice that takes distance to the events at times carries the eerie athmosphere throught the novel.
Extremely interesting is also the depiction of time, the idyllic Victorian world that meets the harsh reality of a totally different environment than where it started from. The English garden in the desert. And the 'unmentionables' that is, the Aboriginals who are only hinted at at a few parts of the book and seem to be equally dangerous with the threathening local nature.
I need a few day's rest after this with nice books. This was a beautiful book, but it feels like there are some things lurking at the edges of my mind that are better left alone.
I love how the writer spun this web of stories and then pulled it into a noose at the end. The use of narrator's voice that takes distance to the events at times carries the eerie athmosphere throught the novel.
Extremely interesting is also the depiction of time, the idyllic Victorian world that meets the harsh reality of a totally different environment than where it started from. The English garden in the desert. And the 'unmentionables' that is, the Aboriginals who are only hinted at at a few parts of the book and seem to be equally dangerous with the threathening local nature.
I need a few day's rest after this with nice books. This was a beautiful book, but it feels like there are some things lurking at the edges of my mind that are better left alone.
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Gave me a new appreciation for the Australian wilderness and bush. The mystery was very well written and felt as though it could’ve been written today, not the 60’s. the relationships with the women was heartwarming and realistic, and the feminine touch to the writing made the whole novel feel dreamy. Would recommend for someone looking to read more Australian lit.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
personally i found the movie more interesting...the movie was slow as anything but at least there was interesting cinematography and music..this book was just s l o w so i skimmed through the last 30 pages