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A review by ivyninareads
Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay
3.0
3.5 stars (that's my definitive answer, but I also want to rate it 3 stars and 3.75 stars, so work that one out).
An Australian gothic classic. This book definitely had the spooky vibes that it's been critically acclaimed for. The descriptions of nature were not only detailed but intense and foreboding. It felt as though the Australian landscapes described were murmuring with their years of delicate and deep-rooted knowledge and history. A pounding drumming that the girls describe within the initial chapters of the novel as they climb towards Hanging Rock seems to seep its way under the reader's skin for the rest of the narrative.
So what held this book back from rating better for me? Probably just the fact that although it is an interesting story, it is still quite a simple narrative with not many subplots and the subplots we did have (romantic developments etc.) didn't feel like they exactly fit. But whenever disaster struck in this novel, I was extremely compelled and interested. The ending especially felt like a grand crescendo to the incessant drumming of the novel. Jarring and nauseating in the best way. Also, the ambiguous ending really worked for me. It allowed the pervasive mystery of this novel to continue on past the end of the narrative once I had put the book down.
Can we also just talk about this edition of the book for a quick second? The design is literally gorgeous. Very proud of like, 13 year old me, for picking this up. Although it did mean that I didn't annotate the book like I usually do because I was too scared to ruin it. But like, the colour way, the fact that it's a hardback, the illustrations – BEAUTIFUL!
An Australian gothic classic. This book definitely had the spooky vibes that it's been critically acclaimed for. The descriptions of nature were not only detailed but intense and foreboding. It felt as though the Australian landscapes described were murmuring with their years of delicate and deep-rooted knowledge and history. A pounding drumming that the girls describe within the initial chapters of the novel as they climb towards Hanging Rock seems to seep its way under the reader's skin for the rest of the narrative.
So what held this book back from rating better for me? Probably just the fact that although it is an interesting story, it is still quite a simple narrative with not many subplots and the subplots we did have (romantic developments etc.) didn't feel like they exactly fit. But whenever disaster struck in this novel, I was extremely compelled and interested. The ending especially felt like a grand crescendo to the incessant drumming of the novel. Jarring and nauseating in the best way. Also, the ambiguous ending really worked for me. It allowed the pervasive mystery of this novel to continue on past the end of the narrative once I had put the book down.
Can we also just talk about this edition of the book for a quick second? The design is literally gorgeous. Very proud of like, 13 year old me, for picking this up. Although it did mean that I didn't annotate the book like I usually do because I was too scared to ruin it. But like, the colour way, the fact that it's a hardback, the illustrations – BEAUTIFUL!