Rating: 
Summary: Your Opinion Depends on the Denouement
Review: This is literate genre fiction, not literature. I was seduced by too many write-ups that suggested it was more. It is clever, I'll give it that, and the historical detail is strong. For a book that boasted so much of incorporating many of the 17th century's thinkers and doers as characters, I was surprised that Samuel Pepys didn't skulk by. Ultimately, I have a philosophical problem with how the plot is resolved, which taints my feelings for the book. Someone else may not have the same issues and thus may appreciate it more. To reveal more about my problem would be to spoil it for the next reader, so, like me, the reader has to take the risk to pay the price and stick it through nearly 700 pages.
Rating:
Summary: Plodding and repetitive.
Review: Well plotted, but I just wanted the characters to get ON with it.Honestly, seven hundred plus pages! How many trees died for this story?
Rating: 
Summary: Best "fusion mystery" I've ever read
Review: A superb blend of murder mystery, historical fiction, and novel of ideas--and superbly written: each of the four narrative voices is completely persuasive. Reading through the book's four narratives is like peeling the layers of an onion: lingering questions are answered one by one as the field of vision keeps shifting. In the end you have been thoroughly entertained, taught some history, and challenged to do some hard thinking about the nature of reality.
Rating: 
Summary: Not much of a mystery,...just "mysterious"
Review: But a good read, nevertheless. I was totally caught up in the tale in the 2nd "version" of events, and was anxious to see where Pears was headed with all this intrigue. I wasn't disappointed - the book is great historical fiction with very telling insights into social, religious, and medical morals of that time. Recommending this one is easy!
Rating:
Summary: A novel of misconceptions
Review: When I read the cover blurb of this book at my local library, I thought to myself, "Just the book for a winter's week". And in a way, I was not wrong, it was a good read but only for the first & last accounts. The second & third tales, although germaine could have been halved in length & then perhaps the book would not have been so tedious in the middle. However I am glad I read it & will look up more of Iain Pears titles at my library.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: Stick with it. When I started I thought to myself "what's all the fuss?" By the time I was half-way through I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. Great! Great! Great!
Rating: 
Summary: Why is this book getting such great reviews?
Review: I was so excited to read Fingerpost that when I was traveling in Asia I bought it there (they print first editions in paperback)and I have been saving it to read when I had the time. What a waste. I read the first of the four "stories" and I am halfway through the second point of view. I feel very misled - from all of the reviews this book was touted as a mystery which I think is untrue. This book is more of a historical novel with a touch of intrigue. I found Pears often rambling prose overburdened with unimportant descriptions which made it very difficult to follow. After reading all of the great reviews here I feel like I should take another stab at it (especially since I have already read 300 pages) but I know when I can consider a book not that good - I would rather read over other people's shoulders on the subway than read Fingerpost. If I do finish reading it and I change my opinion I will certainly let you know. But in the meantime beware - this book is not all it is cracked up to be (y'know like the movies that have reviewers comments taken out of context so that it looks like they are praising the movie instead of panning it?) Sorry - it just looked so good - I wish it was.
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing and Imitative
Review: An Instance of the Fingerpost is a clever amalgam of several different authors. What it most reminded me of was "Message to the Planet" by Iris Murdoch, which examined the question of what would it be like if Jesus Christ returned to earth in the 20th Century. Here Pears looks at what it would be like if Christ came back in the 17th Century. Well-written and clever, in the end I found the book too long and in the end not that surprising.
Rating:
Summary: Excellence!
Review: I cannot begin to praise this book enough! The writing is pure genius and flows smoothly without stumbling on errors.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely intriguing
Review: This is one of those books where the last chapter is the best. It does not fade, the book gets stronger as the end is reached. I really felt as if I had read something worthwhile. Great Book!
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