April 2020 Group Read (spoiler thread): Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay

[Bill]

This is the thread for spoiler comments about Picnic at Hanging Rock.

Have a great April

[MissLemon]

Hi everyone , I hope you enjoy the book. This topic will contain spoilers so only read on if you have read the book ( or don't mind spoilers !)

I finished the book yesterday so that I could moderate this month. I will be interested to read what you think.

[Patty]

I’ve read through chapter seven, and am taken by Mrs. Appleyard. In chapter 5, she writes letters to the parents and guardian of the three missing girls, and the teacher. She takes into account the different personalities and statuses of each as she writes to them, tailoring these letters to fit, and keep the school in good stead.

She rues that’s this didn’t happen to Edith, Sara, or Blanch: three girls of less value and prestige.

We see that the school is more about her and money, than it is in the education of girls. It makes me wonder how this will affect her and the school as this goes on.

[Linda]

My respect for Mrs. Appleyard has increasingly dropped, especially as I near the end.

[Lisa]

Has anyone finished yet? Yes, Mrs. Appleyard is indeed a piece of work. This book was quite chilling in parts, and invoked a real sense of dread. I enjoyed the sense of place, and I was impressed by the author's skill in making this book feel like it was actually written in 1900, rather than just set in that time period. I would have liked more of a sense of the girls; they were described in rather superficial ways, save for Sara. And sometimes the text was so thick and wordy that I had to back up and reread. I generally liked it , but I think the author could have done more with less. I am fine with ambiguity, but, I do like at least some clue as to what may have happened.

[MissLemon]

Lisa wrote: "Has anyone finished yet? Yes, Mrs. Appleyard is indeed a piece of work. This book was quite chilling in parts, and invoked a real sense of dread. I enjoyed the sense of place, and I was impressed b..."

Personally I'd have preferred to find out what happened to the people that disappeared. That's just what I want from a mystery, I like trying to work out the puzzle. I'd have been willing to accept something paranormal or mystical. I'd even have been happy to disagree with the authors solution, but I wanted something more than I got. There exists this book: The Secret of Hanging Rock which was supposedly suppressed by the author and/or her publisher until after her death. I shan't be bothering with it as the reviews aren't good, but I suppose it shows there are lots of people wanting to see a resolution.
I agree about the atmosphere of dread, which sort of reminded me of A Passage to India because of the central incident in that happening in and around some caves. (Spoiler for A Passage to India (view spoiler)[ There is no real resolution to the mystery in Passage but I don't mind that because the characters are well developed and I care about them, even the unsympathetic ones (hide spoiler)]. I didn't feel like I cared enough about the characters in this, I agree they are mostly developed in a superficial way. I started to care about Mike and Albert (and to a lesser extent Irma) but they fizzled out.Albert is probably the most interesting character of the lot for me. I was shocked at the death of Sara but even that felt detached as it wasn't discovered for several days. Miss A probably got what she deserved but I didn't find myself cheering.

I don't know how I'd have felt about this book if I'd read it under different circumstances , but we are in such strange times it just wasn't what I wanted to be reading and if I hadn't nominated it and agreed to moderate I probably would have given up and returned to it later.
So I apologise to anyone who felt the same and don't blame you if you gave up part way through.

Stay safe everyone

[Patty]

I’m glad we don’t find out what happened to the missing. I read that they removed the last chapter that told this. It came out later as a separate book with commentary. I read what the ending was, and was disappointed. I think any end would have been a disappointment for me, because the book wasn’t really about the missing, for me. It was about those who remained.

Can someone tell me what happened with Michael when it concerns Irma? I must have missed something. I thought he was deeply attracted/drawn to her. He just left.

[Lisa]

Patty wrote: "I’m glad we don’t find out what happened to the missing. I read that they removed the last chapter that told this. It came out later as a separate book with commentary. I read what the ending was, ..."

Very good point about the book being about those who remained. And I was also wondering about Michael. Was she somehow tainted by whatever happened to her on the rock, and Michael's leaving some sort of self protection? If that's the case, though, why the long stretch of affection before leaving?

[Kathryn in FL]

I started to read it but I couldn't connect to the characters, none appealed to me and I came to see what others thought before trying to continue.

As I read through the thread, I saw Miss Lemon mention The Secret of Hanging Rock. I did some digging and found this interesting link.
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/lif...

[Jen]

First off, I'm so glad this won the poll this month since I've had it on my TBR forever. But sadly, I really didn't like it. I felt no connection to any of the characters, except maybe Michael and Albert. I'm ok with everything not tying up in a neat bow, but I would have like SOME resolution for at least one of the characters. I feel like the author made such a point of not resolving anything, that you sort of end up not really caring about it. If that makes sense? But I'm glad to finally have read it.

[Kathryn in FL]

Jen,
I felt the same way. I was also thinking, well if the author isn't going to give resolution (or the publisher) why should I be invested? I didn't identify with any of the characters. The atmosphere was very real (and similar to July in Orlando) but I already endure that annually so why should I read about it!

[Jen]

Kathryn in FL wrote: "Jen,
I felt the same way. I was also thinking, well if the author isn't going to give resolution (or the publisher) why should I be invested? I didn't identify with any of the characters. The atmos..."

Good point!