Picnic at Hanging Rock

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Having completely loved the literary choice of last week, I decided to keep to similar realms this week and opted for Joan Lindsay’s Australian mystery classic, Picnic at Hanging Rock. What seemed like a good idea at the time, quickly turned into a spell of mystification, confusion, and wonderment, which I loved of course.

Picnic at Hanging Rock, written in 1967 with a statement charging the reader to decide whether the events are fact or fiction, is set in rural Australia in the year 1900 and considered a true classic mystery in Australian literature. It tells the story of a school excursion that ends in tragedy when three girls and a teacher mysteriously disappear whilst climbing the volcanic wonder that is Hanging Rock. One girl from the group returns in hysterics with no memory of what has happened to the others, and as no further clues are found to shed light on the mystery, the darkness and sinisterness of the affair begins to eat away at those involved with Appleyard College.

While it has been established that the events of Picnic at Hanging Rock are fictional, Lindsay’s geographical and period factuality brings an even deeper level of mystery to the already confusing narrative. As the tragic event of the disappearance takes place very early on, the remainder of the novel is devoted to how the mystery affects the girls’ college and those who work there. Gossip, scandal, and fear are the true villains of the piece, having some devastating effects on various supporting characters and causing the book to transcend the borders of crime fiction and mystery, into a whole new, undiscovered literary realm.

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The writing itself is blended impressively between poeticism and ‘Aussie’ crassness and brutality, perfectly depicting the country’s history of colonialism, culture clash, and class discrepancies in education, economy, and social etiquette; in short, an unbalanced cultural identity. This too, brings some feelings of authenticity and reality to the piece, making one wonder whether the events detailed are true or not.

While it certainly goes in the opposite direction to what I was expecting coming from Lord of the Flies, nevertheless I found Picnic at Hanging Rock to be a most intriguing and fascinating book and a must-read for any advocates of Australian literature!

Author: Joan Lindsay, 1967

Published: First published in Australia by Cheshire Publishing, 1967. First published in Great Britain by Chatto and Windus, 1968.