Rating: 
Summary: It's All Relative
Review: A thought-provoking book. Interesting seeing the two intertwined stories from four different points of view. I am looking forward to reading more of Iain Pear's work.
Rating: 
Summary: This is an awful book
Review: Did the critics actually read this book?
First, the narratives are all way too long, not to mention boring and same-sounding. Prescott is obviously nuts and you'd have to be a fool to miss it even before we learn he is, in fact, in an asylum. The cryptographer jumps to wild conclusions based on nothing. And the deep point that people can see things very differently and be wildly unobjective is hardly news to anyone with eyes and ears who resides on the planet earth.In addition, the way the author uses silly sounding speaches to illustrate the thinking of the time is artificial and annoying, not to mention clearly smug and condescending. 2/3 of the way through one is bored to tears and doesn't any longer care how the pieces fit together and when we see hopw they do, we yawn, turn out the light and go to sleep, glad that the ordeal is over and we can turn our leisure hours to something enjoyable again. For those interested in the period, I suggest a good history book will be far more satisfying.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't loose the track
Review: The book has several 100 pages and the same story is told by four people from very different viewpoints. I at least could not well remember the facts as being told by the first narrator as I read over the other tales, let alone appreciate the more subtle variances of the story. Moreover Mr. Pears irritated me with his show-off attitude about the bizarre aspects of 17thcentury ideas. He let us have glimpses of medical treatments and "truths" about national and political sciences not to give us an insight into the times or into the relativity of "truths" but to provide an easy laugh at earlier stupidity. It would have worked the first two or three times but then it became tiresome, at least to me.
Rating:
Summary: A book that reminds me why I read fiction . . .
Review: I disagree with the reviewers who found the ending inconsistent with the rest of the book. It made sense to me the first time, and was even more of a pleasure the second time I read it. This is a book about history, about the stories you tell yourself and others when you try to get along in a complicated and unsettled world. The prose is gorgeous and worth your time. Pears has created one of the best historical mysteries of all time.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as it could have been
Review: Pears has a very clever idea here: present the same events from four different viewpoints, with increasingly intricate layering of the overall scope of events as each story is told. Unfortunately, he was unwilling to step out of the way and allow the story to proceed on its own. Pears is constantly name-dropping and placing silly little speeches in his characters' mouths and then winking at us as if to say, "Isn't it funny when Da Cola trashes Shakespeare?" As a result, there is no way to believe in these characters except as marionettes, dancing to the author's tune.
Rating:
Summary: A cultural pleasure
Review: Can you believe it? a mystery, an exciting background of Oxford in the 17th century, and doctors, philosophers, scientists, judges, crooks, rapists, witches, assassins, and other colorful (and often historically famous) characters (one of the people you'll meet here, for example, is John Locke). In addition, you'll be immersed in politics, religion, humanitarianism, social class issues, love and devotion; and, most important, you will learn of the multifaceted nature of truth.
One of the best books I've ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Fantastic!
Review: This extremely intellectual undertaking by Mr. Pears is amazing...the tales are richly woven, vivid, and suspenseful. The reader feels as if he were transported to the era in which this book takes place, and crawls inside the mind of each character. I enjoyed this book tremendously. It's comparison to Eco's The Name of the Rose are apt--though I believe An Instance of the Fingerpost more captivating. For those who enjoy Pears' Jonathan Argyle series, I do warn you: This endeavor is (by far) more intelligent, deeper, and thought provoking. This novel is also written at a level that may be above the "average" reading level of persons into mass-market paperback and thus may not be fully appreciated.
Rating:
Summary: Awful, worst book I've ever tried to read
Review: I must admit I was unable to finish this book. The main (only?) female character was being raped for 5th time and I just couldn't continue. I can't imagine reading this horrible book for enjoyment. Even books on the holocaust have a reason for being written, this is just gratuitous and totally unnecessary. It pains me to think that so many people could actually have enjoyed reading this. If you'd like to avoid numerous instances of rape and gory depictions of post-medieval medical practices...then you must avoid this book.
Rating:
Summary: Often Gripping, Occassionally Dull, the Ending Falls Flat
Review: The first two chapters of this book rapidly draw you into the seventeenth century life of Marco da Cola, an Italian merchant's son and student of medicine who travels to England after the sudden death of his father's business partner. The prose reads with incredible authenticity, and you feel as though you've picked up an actual early modern letter. Yet Pears includes numerous witticisms with as much punch today as 350 years ago. Thereafter, the writing slips comfortably into the modern mystery genre. At times, Pears allows philosophical debates to ramble excessively, but soon, the political and religious intrigue surrounding the bizarre posioning of an Oxford professor pushes you to read just one more chapter before bed. With four different accounts of the murder, representing different of Sir Francis Bacon's "idols" which skew our quest for truth, the book becomes engrossing and enlightening. Unfortunately, just as you begin to think this is one of the best books you've ever read, the murder is solved in a disappointing, summary fashion. 100 pages discussing occult beliefs of the time follow. The book concludes with a brief factoid about Charles II that you probably read in your high school history textbook. The novel has enough strong points to make it a worthwhile choice, but I wonder if the professional critics who called it a classic might have skimmed the last part of this lengthy story in a rush to get to print.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating historical mystery
Review: Pears has woven a complex but rewardingly clever tale of a series of interrelated events that occur at the time of the Restoration in England in the 17th century. It is fascinating to watch the plot unfold through the narratives of four separate participants, each of whom offers a completely different perspective. I thought the book was (almost) as good as "The Name of the Rose" by Umberto Eco. It can be a difficult read---a knowledge of 17th century religious issues and English history helps---but very satisfying in the end.
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