“Piknik di Hanging Rock” diadaptasi menjadi film yang luar biasa, yang saya tonton sekitar waktu perilisannya. Baru beberapa hari lalu saya menyadari bahwa di balik film itu, ada sebuah novel misteri yang menakjubkan. Saya baru saja menyelesaikannya dan sekarang saya ingin menonton filmnya lagi. Saya ingat bahwa Peter Weir, sang sutradara, berhasil menciptakan tampilan dan suasana yang fana, memesona, dan sangat cocok dengan ceritanya. Berlatar tahun 1900 di sebuah sekolah khusus perempuan di Me...

Saya rasa, `Piknik di Hanging Rock` karya Joan Lindsay adalah sebuah buku tentang misteri. Bukan hanya teka-teki plot tentang apa yang terjadi pada para gadis dan pengasuh mereka yang menghilang di Hanging Rock, tetapi lebih luas lagi, tentang bagaimana tidak semua hal dalam hidup dapat dijelaskan secara rasional dan logis oleh pemikiran manusia. Memang, di berbagai titik, teks ini dengan sengaja menonjolkan keterbatasan sudut pandang manusia: misalnya, melihat suatu lanskap sebagai kosong padah...

Pada suatu hari di musim panas tahun 1900, para siswi Appleyard College for Young Ladies memutuskan untuk piknik di Hanging Rock. Tidak semua kembali ke kampus.Saya jelas tidak termakan *hype* atau ikut-ikutan pujian untuk buku ini. Mungkin saya minoritas di sini, tapi saya menemukan buku ini S-A-N-G-A-T M-E-M-B-O-S-A-N-K-A-N. Para gadis hilang di awal cerita dan alurnya terasa sangat berlarut-larut. Apakah ada peristiwa metafisika? Apakah mereka tersedot ke dalam batu? Apakah ada unsur kriminal...

ah! dan di sinilah kamu, novel kecilku yang sempurna karya Joan Lindsay! Sudah lama sekali sejak kita terakhir berpelukan. Mari, kita berkenalan lagi. Tapi apa yang kamu katakan itu, begitu merendah? Apa yang begitu sempurna darimu? Sayangku, jangan malu-malu begitu! Kamu memang ciptaan yang luar biasa. Biar kusebutkan satu per satu...1. Misterimu tak lekang oleh waktu. Tiga siswi dan seorang guru menghilang pada sore Hari Valentine, tahun 1900, di Australia, di Hanging Rock yang misterius. Ke m...

Picnic at Hanging Rock must be my favourite read of this year so far. Explaining why I loved this novel so much feels like an impossible mission, for it has consumed me entirely. Lost in the landscapeA few girls and their teacher from a new but already prestigious boarding school go missing during their lazy and luxurious summer picnic on the day of Saint Valentine in a known unknown land of Australia in the year 1990. The highlight of their picnic is to visit a famous landmark called Hanging Ro...

Peter Weir’s movie and that haunting theme music have stayed with me since the 1970s. I finally got to read what inspired this triumph in Australian cinematography. I stumbled upon a worn copy, a treasure from one of those delightful roadside libraries.This novel was all I expected, and wanted. I was tantalised by the mystery, atmosphere and loose ends.As a throwaway to her list of characters, Joan Lindsay wrote:Whether Picnic at Hanging Rock is fact or fiction, my readers must decide for themse...

I’ve written before in some of my reviews about how much I hate books where an author teases us with a mystery (usually a disappearance or a murder) but then never gives us a satisfying solution because “that’s not how REAL LIFE works” or some such nonsense. God, the fucking arrogance of this stance. Yeah, I know that most murders are never solved in real life and that reality doesn’t get tied up in neat little bows, but you’re not doing anything revolutionary by drawing readers in with a myster...

Well, I'll admit, that I'm sitting here, rather perplexed, as to why this book is considered a classic. The book began well, it kept my attention and I was intrigued to learn what supposedly happened at this hanging rock. As the book continued, my yawns grew wider and longer, and really, I can definitely compare this book, to a homemade Yorkshire pudding, that failed to rise.There seemed to be many questions asked in this story, but very few answers were given. The story kind of went off track, ...

The first review I wrote got "eaten" by the web, so here is take two.This was a brilliantly written piece of psychological horror by an Australian writer. While reading this, I kept thinking about "The House of Leaves". I got the same eerie feelings I had while reading that story. The eeriness started to happen during the schoolgirls approach to the picnic grounds near the rock.I was glad I got the chance to read this story. I had been wanting a copy for years. And as soon as I heard that Pengui...

Australia is a harsh, unforgiving land where the seasons are inverted from what is usually experienced by the world at large, the flora and fauna belong to an evolutionary niche not seen elsewhere and the original settlers are the descendants of deported convicts. Yet over this, an English-ness has been imposed: the carefully cultivated gardens, the finely turned out ladies and gentlemen, the afternoon teas and the elevenses. This contrast often gives rise to a tension between man and nature whi...