Interview with Joan Lindsay, author of Picnic at Hanging Rock

[@Jaqvander]

"Past, present and future is all around and i'm in the middle of it. Which is a very unscientific way of describing it." Little did she know. 🙂

[@ejsbxbeiaskd1770]

What a magical woman. I am so happy that her books exist in the world and continue to influence people, including the younger generation like me.

[@lanarenee7135]

I have visited Joan's home Mulberry Hill in Victoria. It's a wonderful time capsule and was very special to visit. And apparently there was a last chapter of her book 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' that the editor or publisher refused to include. Joan wrote about the girls at Hanging Rock disappearing into another dimension. That last chapter was not included because at the time it was considered to be an ending that people may not believe. Joan was ahead of her time! What an amazingly talented and wonderful woman. And to see the little room she wrote from was amazing. ❤

[@calistafalcontail]

Joan agreed with the editor to not publish it. I dont think he refused and forced her to publish it without it. They might have both agreed that the story would be more haunting without it and yeah..many people wouldnt have been able to wrap their mind around it.

[@incredingo]

the last chapter was eventually published as a single chapter years later.

[@lovelynothingness9759]

Yes. Chapter 18, I believe. Her editor released it after she died, even though she asked him not to. It is a mesmerizing read, though, so I'm kind of glad he did go against her wishes.

[@margaretbuckley9309]

ITS REALLY WONDERFUL TO FINALLY SEE THE AUTHOR OF THE BRILLIANT MOVIE PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK ITS A MASTERPIECE ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVOURITE FILMS I WATCH IT EVERY NOW AND THEN AND FALL IN LOVE WITH IT ALL OVER AGAIN BEAUTIFUL 👍👍👍

[@PeterShieldsukcatstripey]

Beautiful caring moments between Albert and Mike as they try to find those girls. Leda and the swan imagery throughout this novel paints a picture of a monolithic force (like chronos time) ready to destroy innocence (the swan).

[@mcouzijn]

"It was written as a mystery, and it remains a mystery, and I'm very sorry". That is what the author says about her most famous novel "Picnic at Hanging Rock". Unless you want to accuse Joan Lindsay of bluntly lying on camera, should we not agree that the posthumously published "secret chapter" with its "solution" is nothing but... a... hoax?

[@VegaVelecka]

unfortunately, we shall never find out.

[@mcouzijn]

@@VegaVelecka The history of literature is full of hoaxes. Fake texts attributed to famous authors. Scientists (philologists) know how to deal with that, and how to verify whether some attributed text is genuine or not. I think 'The Secret of Hanging Rock' deserves the same serious treatment as any other apocryphal text with a dubious attribution. I'm just waiting for the first courageous Australian philologist who would take on this job. Joan Lindsay surely deserves that. And her readership too.

[@VegaVelecka]

@@mcouzijn this 'secret' seems more like an elefant in the room thtat overstayed its welcome. fingers crossed that a serious scholar undertakes the job of finding out the truth and exposing lies.

[@sorchamusic]

“I’m a watch-stopper!” 😂 What a legend. She’s from another dimension for sure….

[@johnpauledwards3656]

Thanks for this. Amazing interview.

[@pureone26]

Interesting to know she was apparently a sort of mystic and had her own experience at Hanging Rock.

[@stephenwhite1372]

This woman lives in the infinite now where time stops!

[@chriscunningham8807]

What a fantastic interview. Joan Lindsey wrote a classic and had a marvellous eye for graphic detail.

[@PeterShieldsukcatstripey]

Such a humble lady.

[@CowboyJojosAdventures]

Well her book did fool a lot of people in believing the Picnic at Hanging Rock was a true story. Great interview.

[@calistafalcontail]

Its certainly influnced by mysterious events happening in this world in the wild/mostly untouched nature until this day. She did know about mysterious disappearances at the rock and she probably also knew about the dreamtime from the Aborigines. The entire story did not happen but the concept is based on the mysteries of this world.

[@CowboyJojosAdventures]

@@calistafalcontail Thank you, that is interesting Calista. Thank you for sharing that information.

[@jackreed7287]

"Some of it happened, and some of it didn't."

[@lanarenee7135]

And apparently there was a last chapter that the editor or publisher refused to include. Joan wrote about the girls at Hanging Rock disappearing into another dimension. That chapter was not included because at the time it was considered to be an ending that people may not believe. Joan was ahead of her time!

[@davidthomson7847]

Brilliant interview.

[@adam_ie]

Thank you for this. Fascinating interview.

[@PeterShieldsukcatstripey]

Lovely to hear Joan's first words as a little girl.

[@PeterShieldsukcatstripey]

My dad grew up near the convent.

[@helenestrada1913]

I love the Book!

[@melaniesheppard778]

missing 411 brought me here!

[@TheEldritchArchives]

I've heard about the disappearances in US nat parks. It's super interesting and creepy!

[@LycanVisuals]

Thank you so much for writing the book which eventually lead to that amazing film.

[@ohmcintyre2067]

Watch-stopper. That’s why she could write it.

[@Thestephouse1]

Fascinating to hear her speaking of time, anyone else a fan of The House on the Strand by Du Maurier?

[@arunkumar5710]

Thank you so much for it!

[@maxkaye]

Where did you find it btw?

[@TheEldritchArchives]

I found it on Daily Motion. As far as I can see its not copyrighted and I have no clue where it is from. Possibly a bonus feature from a dvd of the film, or maybe from a government archive. I know there are lots of interviews with Lindsay in government archives that aren't available easily to the public :(

[@arunkumar5710]

@@TheEldritchArchives Thanks again bro or sis whoever you are!

[@mcouzijn]

@@TheEldritchArchives If memory serves well, it is included in the Criterion release of the DVD.

[@sancho8521]

... I'm a book reader; never heard of this but I will check it out. Thanks....

[@David-h4z2s]

What a amazing lady ❤

[@lovelynothingness9759]

does anyone know what book she is referring to when she says at 11:31 "a marvelous book about the children in a haunted house with the governess and it was written as a mystery"???

[@TheEldritchArchives]

I believe it's "The turn of the screw"

[@lovelynothingness9759]

@@TheEldritchArchives thank you :)

[@wesleytillman9774]

Peter Weir certainly didn't want to disclose anything since letting the mystery remain had much more impact than any explanation. The school and the incident are fictitious and one might feel that as the school girls disappeared with all avenues for explanation conveniently closed off as is the accepted pseudo-rationality of the dream state. There are no traces of the girls even though Hanging Rock is very limited space to disappear, and when the two girls who managed to come back from the incident were questioned they failed completely to deliver any information on what would undoubtedly have been the most vividly ingrained episode of their entire lives. In a dream this is typical process but in reality a real world logic and evidence always remain on some level. Thus, thinking about the story a dream explanation is prominent, as it clearly demonstrates the logic of an event playing out in the slumbering mind and never intended to be restricted by the rules of the world we awaken to each day.

[@janedoll3237]

I really love this take on the story

[@PeterShieldsukcatstripey]

Career started on Chapel St.

[@terencegalland]

Mysterious time

[@nononame113]

Great to see, thanks for posting it.

[@MELONenSURPRISE]

Hot potato stuff 😂

[@johnmurie2251]

The Catch

[@James-kv6kb]

I like the edit it was probably the only way to get to get to the point

[@SaintMartins]

I think it was a "suicide pack". 1. Kids who are sent off to boarding schools far from their parents & siblings often get depressed & feel abandoned & not wanted. 2. Not living in the comfort of their own home & having to live with strangers & strict school employees can be psychological torcher. 3. Reaching puberty & being in an all girls school not interacting with boys can have an affect social skills. In the film the girls knew/planned their fate & allowed that 4th girl to tag along to witness. Remember what the girl was talking about before they disappeared. "doomed to die of course....the boys stood on the burning deck.." Then the girls walked up the rock & stood on top then jumped off.

[@Elizalustof]

In the film there’s no bodies found and surely Urma would have recalled a suicide pack ?

[@calistafalcontail]

The book has a final chapter and its revealed what happens. Its very abstract and spiritual. None of what you suspected is the case.

[@calistafalcontail]

@@Elizalustof Some people just dont mind to read the final chapter before throwing out boring theories without thinking about all the ins and outs.

[@laurencebeck7072]

Phillip Adams mention : 3:44