Australian Literature 102: Joan Lindsay: Picnic at Hanging Rock

Joan Lindsay’s classic novel Picnic at Hanging Rock is a byword for Australian mystery - and a critically acclaimed film. What happened to the schoolgirls and their teacher who were seemingly swallowed up by their surroundings on a fated picnic at Hanging Rock? Writer, editor and publisher Sophie Cunningham and series host James Ley discuss this iconic story.

[@00lys00]

Great presentation of the novel and Joan Lindsay.

[@booksandallthatjazz1654]

Well worth watching the whole video to gain an added appreciation of the novel and the author.

[@benconway9010]

she needs to give this case to David paulides and the missing 411

[@siofraashling297]

yass

[@zaker721]

When I saw this---I may have been 13 or 14 when it first came to an art theatre in San Francisco, I am assuming about a year lag before it came to the states from back then in the pre-streaming age--- I don't know why but my vague thoughts were something to do with the rock being a living thing in some sense, almost an alien force that took the girls by keeping them perpetually a part of it. I didn't think in terms of "dimensions" but I know my thoughts were along that direction. If someone had uttered the word "vortex" and explained the concept I would have fingered that as being the thing that took the girls. Even to this day---and I'm 57 now---I wonder if I would have the guts to go on that rock by myself. Silly as that sounds, that is how much of an impact this movie made on me. Heck, I am probably more afraid that there would be NO magic and my heart would be broken. But can you imagine visiting the rock and unexpectedly coming across Anne-Louise Lambert visiting the scene of her old movie? That would be like a gift of magic from...dunno...the rock? And if the clock on my phone went whack at the same time, I would know something for sure. Now, as for the 18th chapter, I read that later, in my 30s and it was so choppy, confused, and I the only memorable thing about it was that it seemed bizarre and senseless---the sort of thing someone would write after dropping acid. Now I'm not saying it is impossible that Joan Lindsay could have written a wonderful book like Picnic and then turned around, become a druggie and created that 18th chapter. Such things are within the realm of human possibility---BUT, when we come to probability we have a problem. When I first heard that there were people who felt the 18th chapter was a hoax. I was so relieved. it made sense, spared me thinking that Joan was just a whacked out crank, and seemed the only logical explanation for the crab chapter which was so stylistically off that it was difficult to read and is still difficult to remember, even after just hearing it described! I don't think Irma was "in love" with Michael for the rest of her life either.

[@sanctuaryrain2010]

The 70's were a very strange decade, alot of bizarre movies made in this time. The only reason I watched this movie is I am drawn to the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Sophie did a very nice job explaining the book and author, I had a very hard time listening to the host with his heavy breathing and constant smiles... creepy.

[@Niven42]

RainGirl ... There's a significant amount of echo in the room where this talk was recorded - I agree it's very distracting.

[@BlueSkyBS]

He spends so much time talking over Sophie I started to get irritated with him.

[@birdbrain9625]

I always thought after 20 years of watching the movie that it had UFO abduction undertones like the red cloud, time standing still, missing time, shoes and stockings gone, everyone falling asleep, and Erma being sent back because unlike the other 3 victims she didn't have something special about her DNA so the aliens didn't need her for further study.

[@user-dx1jb4zq9e]

It seems obvious to me that David Lynch was inspired by Weir's film adaptation. The Miranda character in the film might remind people of Laura Palmer from Twin Peaks and the whole idea of it is very similar conceptually to many of Lynch's films, which are intended to be impossible mysteries. The more you attempt to interpret the apparent clues and red herrings, the further away and more obscure the answer to the mystery becomes.

[@sharongibbs9509]

I have my doubts that the "last" chapter was really written by Joan Lindsay---perhaps it was but all of the novel suggests a women of their New World would try to escape the boundaries that held them captive. Time slippage is not so far a reach, nor an Old Road To Bendigo impossible. Joan wrote a monumental work that excites us all. The ladies escape in a time warp could happen--why turn them into crabs? this is a mountain, not the seashore! And the idea that Mrs Appleyard made up the whole thing--is ludicrous--even in her own mind she would have to explain all the Many people who help her run this institution and deal with all that went wrong. And a Sci-Fi ending? Well, when in doubt, call in the aliens. This is all conjecture, but possible endings.

[@coralarch]

No, the book was not obscure at all- it was very straight forward and those who know how to read the clues will know what happened. Nothing supernatural at all. And if that "missing Chapter 18" was really written by Joan Lindsay, and/or considered a finished chapter, I'd be amazed. It was too bizarre and sci-fi-ish for words.

[@Kelaiah01]

What clues?

[@ursine121]

coralarch I've only really heard of the explanation but it seems to me that if the author really did write it, in my opinion she was being a bitch. Maybe she did write a masterpiece and made a lot of money from it but if she wrote the conclusion, then either she really couldn't be arsed or just wanted to end the whole thing with the most bizarre ending ever. Either way, she let down her fans a great deal. I would have been happy if she'd said they stepped through a curtain in time or even to leave it ambiguous really.

[@michelcouzijn5862]

I am happy to find that more and more people are finally uttering doubt as to Joan Lindsay's presumed authorship of that rather awkward 'secret chapter'. I find it amazing that so many serious people have believed in this, what I take to be a hoax. No serious material evidence has been presented that warrants Lindsay's authorship. No manuscript, no typoscript, no annotations, no diary entry, no letters by Lindsay, no notary act transferring the rights to her publisher, no ‘last will’ in which Lindsay says she wants the ‘missing chapter’ to be published - nothing of the kind. All we have is hearsay. Specially from her editor and/or publisher, who made quite some money of the ‘revelation’ of this ‘missing chapter’, which was conveniently published three years after Lindsay’s death, when she was not around to refute its authenticity. Lindsay herself was a firm and vocal advocate of her book being conceived and written as open-ended. She loathed the idea of her mystery to have some kind of practical ‘solution’. Such ‘solution’ directly undermines the literary and philosophical underpinning of this great Australian novel. It is high time some Australian philologist conducted some research into the matter and revealed it as the sham that it most likely is. The memory of one of Australian's finest writers deserves it.

[@saltcots8985]

Michel Couzijn Despite the frustrations, I heartily approve of an “unconcluded” ending. This is not the stuff Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot.

[@user-dx1jb4zq9e]

Ok, so what happened?

[@bosiewilder4945]

The book is obscure? Ha? The buggy trip isn't from Mt Macedon. Some of these writers are inarticulate when it comes to speaking. "She was very clear, sorry she wasn't very clear .."

[@mickthenick1]

Of course that "18th chapter" was not written by Joan Lindsay. No one has ever been able to prove it was. The burden of proof is on the editor who published it under Joan Lindsay's name, three years after Lindsay died. It is a stupid chapter, different from the style and content of the other chapters. It should be researched, and recognized as the sham that it most likely is. *If* it is genuinely written by Lindsay, it cannot be hard to prove it by presenting the manuscript, or any other material evidence of Linsday's authorship. Where is it?

[@itallia666]

Not many of you have mentioned th Aborigional history of their existence & creation of all there is. Im no great expert on this but have spent considerable time over th years studying Aboriginal art history & culture & one of th most facinating aspects for me is th Dreamtime, ( i sugest if u dont already know about the Dreamtime then please look it up online or as i still do alot, is read books! Its well worth reading about ) even th name Dreamtime suggests something or some events happened outside time as we know it. Th rock art, petroglyphs of ancient Aborigional history should NOT be missed. There are some figures, geometric designs, astronomical objects, that are unique to Aboriginals, as i like to say - AB Origionals as in th very 1st people of a certain blood group, i cant remember exactly what th real name that th Aborigionals were known as, it was not Aborigionals, they say that was a generic term applied to peoples of very ancient & intimately OUT OF TIME, & isolated on large land areas ie Australia surrounded by water to keep their culture & knowledge pure. Ho! Im writing this as sophie is speaking ALL ABOUT THE DREAMTIME ! brilliant

[@TheWaynos73]

i have this theory the girls treaded on sacred ground forbidden to women and punished or abducted by the spirits. Quinkins perhaps? much of aboriginal culture is forbidden to women.

[@e.b.6230]

OMFG! I don't know what it is about this lady's voice but it irritated me to no end. Her subtle pauses were out of sync with her talking. She was just out of flow and her breathing tells me she needs to expand her lung capacity with regular exercise.

[@shadowweaver3693]

Yea and too many "ummm"

[@blackbutterfly411]

It honestly got so distracting I had to stop watching 10 minutes in. The pauses and breaths at odd points totally throw off the flow of her sentences as you say. So disappointing as I’m sure she has some fascinating insight, but the delivery is just too irritating to watch.

[@yasamathighfive1741]

A lot of your facts concerning Lindsay are incorrect???

[@Salmagundiii]

So...did an editor's cut turn what would have been a mediocre, forgotten science fiction novel of the 1960s into a timeless allegory of sexual awakening?

[@filmefurfreunde8617]

That's like art works.

[@michelcouzijn6834]

Joan. Lindsay. Did. Not. Write. That. Dreaded. "18th chapter". Not.

[@michelcouzijn6834]

So Sophie Cunningham tells us that: - she doesn't know which editor allegedly proposed to cut that '18th chapter'; - would have made the same suggestion to cut that chapter; - believes Joan Lindsay was 'really nuts' to have written such chapter; - believes 'chapter 18' goes against the rest of the novel; - notices that 'chapter 18' stole lines from the real novel; yet she NEVER considers the rather logical solution that 'chapter 18' is a total fake? Not written by Joan Lindsay at all? Be more cunning, Miss Cunningham!