Picnic at Hanging Rock
A 50th-anniversary edition of the landmark novel about three "gone girls" that inspired the acclaimed 1975 film and an upcoming TV series starring Natalie Dormer
With a foreword by Maile Meloy, author of Do Not Become Alarmed
It was a cloudless summer day in the year 1900. Everyone at Appleyard College for Young Ladies agreed it was just right for a picnic at Hanging Rock. After lunch, a group of three girls climbed into the blaze of the afternoon sun, pressing on through the scrub into the shadows of the secluded volcanic outcropping. Farther, higher, until at last they disappeared. They never returned. . . .
Mysterious and subtly erotic, Picnic at Hanging Rock inspired the iconic 1975 film of the same name by Peter Weir. A beguiling landmark of Australian literature, it stands with Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, and Jeffrey Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides as a masterpiece of intrigue.
My Review
The foreword by Maile Meloy was filled with some interesting back history about this book. In regards to how the author came up with the concept for the story and the "famous" ending to this story. Which I have to say, I am mixed in regards to my feelings on the ending. On one hand I thought the concept for the true ending was intriguing but at the same time, I found the missing ending to provide more intrigue and I liked that it left the ending to the imagination of the reader.
While, I did find this story interesting, I found the characters only mildly interesting themselves. There were not one character that I really connected with. Thus it kept me from truly committing to this story all the way. Despite all of this, I did find this book to be a quick read. Additionally, I want to check out the movie that this book inspired.
With a foreword by Maile Meloy, author of Do Not Become Alarmed
It was a cloudless summer day in the year 1900. Everyone at Appleyard College for Young Ladies agreed it was just right for a picnic at Hanging Rock. After lunch, a group of three girls climbed into the blaze of the afternoon sun, pressing on through the scrub into the shadows of the secluded volcanic outcropping. Farther, higher, until at last they disappeared. They never returned. . . .
Mysterious and subtly erotic, Picnic at Hanging Rock inspired the iconic 1975 film of the same name by Peter Weir. A beguiling landmark of Australian literature, it stands with Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, and Jeffrey Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides as a masterpiece of intrigue.
My Review
The foreword by Maile Meloy was filled with some interesting back history about this book. In regards to how the author came up with the concept for the story and the "famous" ending to this story. Which I have to say, I am mixed in regards to my feelings on the ending. On one hand I thought the concept for the true ending was intriguing but at the same time, I found the missing ending to provide more intrigue and I liked that it left the ending to the imagination of the reader.
While, I did find this story interesting, I found the characters only mildly interesting themselves. There were not one character that I really connected with. Thus it kept me from truly committing to this story all the way. Despite all of this, I did find this book to be a quick read. Additionally, I want to check out the movie that this book inspired.
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