An Instance of the Fingerpost

Rating:
Summary: Long and a bit tiresome but ultimately rewarding
Review: I started this book with enthusiasm, I was looking not only for a good portrayal of England in the 1600's (which it is) but of a clever murder mystery (which it sort of is).
Pears is very good in creating characters and narrating their point-of-view from a purely subjective style. The four parts of the book take upon a same incident, the murder of a priest and professor in the Oxford University and the execution of the perpetrator. Every narrator holds firmly on his truth and as that it should work, but something ratter odd happens. When we read Marco Da Cola's version of the story the perception of his subjectivity is very clear after a dozen pages, he is a fun and mannered character and keeps our interest for 100 pages. Then we are to read Jack Presscot's words, and things start to go wrong, because his character is so obviously in a particular far-fetched reality that after forty pages or so I became very tired of his discourse and begged for it to end, as his storyline slowly approaches the murder we even feel a little of his despair, he's so obsesed in his father's innocence that he repeats himself all the time thus reducing the surprises for the reader. The third part has the same problem, starts very interestingly but as soon we understand the particular distortion in Wallis point-of-view we start to distrust his perception and the reading becomes tedious.
It's of course the intention of Pearl to show us that Anthony Wood is the more objective of the narrators and therefore this part (and almost every review here coincides here) is the most readable and enjoyable of the book. The ending is very good and the historical background impressive.
The thing is, for this sort of structure to work we have to find (as we do in the amazing Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell) that every new narrator rewrites and illuminates what the previous said. This effect is diminished beacuse the oddity and subjectivity of the characters reduce their believability in the first place. By the second part we know this view is going to be challenged and therofore we distrust it, and reading becomes slow and tiresome.
This is a novel more apt for the Historic Novel reader that for the Mystery reader, but if you enjoy both genres go ahead.

Rating:
Summary: Rashoman comes to 17th Century England
Review: Fabulous mystery, a Rashoman story of a murder, trial and execution from four viewpoints...all with information to add to complete the picture of events that would not be recognized by any one of them alone.

Fingerpost is a great book. Rich in historical detail, the time and place of the story is as essential to the story's development as its characters. It's 1663 and much of the story centers on medical practice and knowledge -- and the book is filled with grizzly, sometimes nauseating medical detail. At the heart of the story is a fascinating woman who remains a mystery to all the narrators and the reader -- a woman whose mystery is augmented by the false perceptions each narrator has of her. I enjoyed every bit of this story with the exception of the mystical ending -- an aberration in an otherwise wonderful narrative -- and an aberration that can be discounted as historically likely due to the reliance on the supernatural during that time.

This is a smart book, a mystery of ideas and intellect as well as murder and mayhem. It's startlingly complete in its excellence: well-plotted, well-reasearched, well-written, well-disciplined. It's even more startling when compared to Pears other works who cannot claim even one of those virtues.

Rating:
Summary: worth every moment
Review: Oh I admit it, there were times when I wanted the book to just end, for goodness sake. How could this bring about the ultimate payoff? Yet, in the end, all I can say is READ THIS BOOK. Keep notes. The entertwining of characters is almost overwhelming, almost to the point you want to put the book down. But don't. The end section is worth every second you spend. While the ending is far-fetched, it's no more far fetched than any other perspective in the book--each perspective has its own motives, and you'll be left contemplating the construction of truth, memory, and motivation. Sure there's a murder mystery, but this book is about so much more. You'll start questioning your own view of truth and your own notions of memory. Welcome to the postmodern world set in Restoration England. Can't go wrong with that.

Rating:
Summary: I should love it, but...
Review: Somehow, Iain Pears never quite lives up to my expectations. He evokes an historical context very well, but the story itself isn't as captivating as some of the other authors I compare him to (Eco, Palliser).

Rating:
Summary: Still Cannot Believe That Ending
Review: I want to say right off that I really resent this book. I resent it for stealing so much of my time and for promising so much, then delivering so little. I'll be fair; usually I loathe mysteries, but An Instance of the Fingerpost isn't really a mystery as much as it's an exploration of the meaning of truth, and, on that level at least, I think it succeeds.

Each of the narrators of An Instance of the Fingerpost is concerned with the same story, yet each narrative is strikingly different. The individuals concerned choose to concentrate on different aspects; to assign to themselves more importance then what they are due; to tell their story in the direction best benefitting themselves. Although objective truth certainly does exist, we have to ask ourselves if any one of us is truly capable of seeing it, or, is truth always colored by our own objective interpretation?

It's obvious that Pears did much meticulous research regarding this book. Being a lover of historical fiction, I appreciate that. I found the interpretations fascinating, both individually and collectively. So, where's the problem? Why do I resent this book so much?

As I said, An Instance of the Fingerpost is primarily a study of truth, however, it is also a story, a murder mystery to be more precise, and I think Pears lets us down abdominally in the end. The resolution of this story, and its ultimate truth are so far-fetched they're laughable. I wasn't laughing, however, when I read the baloney Pears attempts to force us to swallow. After the initial shock, my only reaction was that surely Pears could have thought of a better ending! Surely, we didn't read the whole book just to be let down in that way. It took a few minutes for me to realize that yes, that's exactly what we did.

If you can put up with a trite and unbelievable ending, the rest of this book isn't too bad. Just don't say you weren't warned.

Rating:
Summary: Another View To A Kill
Review: I switched from scifi to mysteries a few years ago because my wife bought me a book of Christmas murder mysteries for (what else?) Christmas. Since then I have sampled widely. I quite liked John McDonald with his color mysteries - until I got to my fifth or sixth book and realized that ten pages into the story I knew exactly what would happen. I never had that problem with this book.

The story is set in a fascinating period - 1663 - and in an exciting setting - Oxford, England, during the Restoration. The plot revolves around the death of Dr. Grove, who is found dead by poisioning in his Oxford room. So far, so good. But the story is told from four different viewpoints by four very different characters. And none of them is exactly who or what they initially lead you, dear fellow reader to believe. Is the the Italian physician really so incredibly naive? The son of a traitor, the mathematician and cryptographer, Oxford antiquarian - each tells the same story, but each through their own very human view. And the title? I won't spoil the story if I say it is very apt. I have gone on from this book to read Iain Pears other works and become a real fan.

Rating:
Summary: Tough going but worth it
Review: This massive historical novel is as much like a Kurosawa movie or a Stoppard play as it is the much-compared-to Name of the Rose. Using the devices of a different, unreliable narrators combined with the necessary re-fitting of the facts with each new narrative, the book changes as you turn each page. I like that kind of inventiveness. Now, there's also a whole lot of Restoration history here, too, with some real and some fictional folk. It's occasionally too detailed for easy reading, but by the conclusion, it's definitely worth it. Memorable.

Rating:
Summary: Four sided story
Review: I'm not sure Mr. Pears knew whether he was writing a mystery, a historical fiction or a simple thriller. He has minor success in each genre but excels at none. Using the technique of the unreliable narrator he give 4 perspectives of the same events. Each perspective has it's own flavor and provides a nugget or two to keep you reading but frankly, the apparent mystery that we're looking to solve gets muddled in all the sub-plots the book examines. By the middle of the story I really didn't care who killed the old coot. However, there was ample incentive to keep reading and though it wasn't the atmospheric mystery I was looking for it was worth turning the nearly 700 pages to the end. I give it 4 stars but only because I like the historical mystery genre.

Rating:
Summary: Long Instance
Review: In reading previous reviews here, it seems the catch-word is patience. I can't agree more. This is a 700+ page book anyway.

But I don't speak for historians or other such intellectuals. This is without a doubt a work aimed at their acceptance and criticism, but I'm just a guy who loves a good story. And this is a good story.

I'm a newbie to the historical fiction genre. I've read plenty of suspense books though, and this one has held my attention, divided nicely into four separate accounts of the same demise.

Four narrators. All telling the same story, from entirely different points of view. Well, that's something.

I like the language, or the tone of the separate narrators. It is hard to imagine life in the 1600's, but Mr. Pears not only tells the story well, but allows his individual characters to adopt a narrative language that distinguishes them. The suspense is big, but the story is so much larger, and the narrative reflects that.

This is a good time travel trip. And a conundrum of a mystery to boot. This is one of those stories that you feel like you have learned something afterwards.

Or maybe that's just the sense of self-congratulation after finishing a 735-page novel. Big 3 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Very Intricate Mystery
Review: If you like a good mystery and have a lot of patience, pick up "Fingerpost". The narrative through all the different viewpoints was very interesting and Mr. Pears paints a very entertaining and descriptive picture of 17th century England. Writing how four different people pretty much in the same place at the same time can see the same thing so totally different was very nicely done.

It's downfall is that once you reach the fourth and final character, you can deduce who the "killer" is with still quite a bit of the book left to go. Having already read and disproven three different viewpoints, the climax to the book comes sooner than you'd like.