Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Book... and one small note..
Review: i loved this book... excellent...one thing however.. In theDramatis Personae Mr Pears the entry for Anthony Wood stats: ...Chiefly know throught his diaries and papers, which were not publiced until this centry. does not seem to be true.. (not a big deal! :-)) this book: CLARK, Andrew The Life and Times of Anthony Wood, antiquary, of Oxford, 1632-1695, described by Himself. 5 Volumes was published in 1891 by The Oxford Historical Society... g
Rating: 
Summary: Well-written period piece
Review: An extremely well written book, taking one back to the period in question. Name of the Rose is much less accessable. Overlaps in the story telling are very well interlaced and eventual secrets never known too far in advance. Only complaint is due to my lack of knowledge of the period , wasn't sure who was 'real' or not.
Rating:
Summary: The Finger Post Points to Truth
Review: An instance of the Fingerpost is a magnum opus of history and mystery all in one. An intelligent and enlightening work that bears "re-reading" over and over again. Ignore any negatives about this book and BUY it! You will be richly rewarded. After finishing the book I came away with a better understanding of cryptography, English University politics and the mysteries of 18th Century superstition. Another great book of this caliber is "The Unburied" by Charles Palliser.
Rating: 
Summary: Sorry to spoil the fun
Review: I bought this book soley on the recommendation that it was a good companion to The Name of the Rose. Excited I dove right in, but I was quickly struck but the complete absence of resemblance to the the great book mentioned above. Other than historical fiction I did not find many similarities. The Name of the Rose is one of my favorite books because it is extremely well written story, erudite and informative, with great insight of the times. Moreover, the facinating puzzle that unfolds for the reader has been rarely equaled in my reading. I found none of these qualities in Insistance, the characters annoying and one dimensional, the plot meandering, and little if any information about the 16th century I could not get out of short History Channel episode. In a word this book was disappointing. To borrow from "Rose," anyone suggesting a positive comparison between the two books should be guilty of heresy.
Rating:
Summary: literate mystery
Review: This excellent novel combines a vivid evocation of 1663 Oxford, with Restoration politics, period science and medicine and a murder mystery. When Dr. Robert Grove is found murdered, we are offered four perspectives of what happened to him from: Marco da Cola, an Italian physician visiting England; Jack Prescott, son of a disgraced traitorous nobleman; Dr. John Wallis, a mathematician and cryptographer; and Anthony Wood, a local antiquarian. As each tells his tale, we get additional layers of fact & fiction and intrigue, both grand and petty, until finally, the true story is revealed. A truly wonderful read. GRADE: A
Rating:
Summary: Much Better than Name of the Rose
Review: This is easily the best historical mystery I have ever read--far superior to Eco's novel, which has always annoyed me with its show-off erudition and philosophical meanderings. The setting is vivid and accurate, and even the unsympathetic narrators are certainly interesting. Best of all, the author doesn't play games with you, and leaves enough clues so that you can figure out who is telling the false tales, and even gives sufficient hints to figure out the end of the novel, if you know a bit of English history. As a personal note, I'll add that I read this book in labor, had my son, and then went on to finish the book the following day. If that isn't a book with narrative pull, I don't know what is!
Rating:
Summary: Well, three out of four ain't bad....
Review: I'm not so sure that I'd compare this book to "The Name of the Rose". That tale was way too intellectual for me, and I just couldn't get through all the philosophical and religious gobbledy-gook. While "Instance" contains a lot of philosophy and religion as well, it is much less highbrow and much easier for the average reader to understand. And to me, that makes it a much better book than "The Name of the Rose". Each of the four narrators of this book is a fully-realized individual. In his portion, da Cola seems to be a 17th century combination of a Renaissance man and Gomer Pyle - but things aren't always what they seem. As is the case with Jack Prestcott, who seems like a remarkably intelligent and sane individual - until you read Dr. Wallis' and Wood's account. Wallis is one of the most cold-blooded and frightening personalities I've ever had the displeasure of meeting; and in comparison to the other three, Wood seems like a sort of 17th century Everyman. Each of the four narrations adds to your knowledge of the general tale. You need to read them in order, but each narration on its own makes a fascinating read. However, I could have done without Wood's account of the final fate of Sarah Blundy. That part of his story is straight out of left field, and is the only reason I can't give this book five stars. It is completely unbelievable and doesn't mesh with the rest of Wood's narration - or with any of the others for that matter. Reading that particular part of the story I had to wonder what Mr. Pears was smoking when he wrote it. If you can put that part of the tale aside, "An Instance of the Fingerpost" is well worth your time.
Rating:
Summary: A book you love to hate
Review: A more annoying cast of characters has never existed in a book, frustrating, self-serving, blowhards, and with each instance of their chauvinist, ego-bloated revelations, I wanted to put the book down, and say, "Enough!!" But I couldn't - I had to read on, to discover the solution to a wonderfully spun mystery. From Di Silva on, each story teller was more obnoxious, but I just HAD to find out what would happen next, until the wonderfully fulfilling final weaver tied the entire tapestry together in the most fulfilling of ways! I warn you, do not set this book aside, because it will be your best read in a long time.
Rating:
Summary: Practically Perfect in Every Way
Review: I read this book while I was laid up with pneumonia, and unable to do much of anything at all, including pay attention to complex stories. So it is a true tribute to the story-telling powers of Iain Pears that not only did this book hold my attention, but it devoured all my waking interest, and I finished it in a remarkably short period of time, hungry to see where this fascinating story and these complex characters would go next. The exploration of truth here is incredible; Pears uses four very different narratives of a seemingly open-and-shut case to demonstrate that "truth" depends on the teller, and few situations are as simple as they seem. It succeeds not only at being philosophical, but also at telling a top-notch, extraordinarily Byzantine mystery that will surprise even the most astute of readers. Frequently, novels that are filled with "twists and turns" depend on improbable and shoddy storytelling, but in this novel, all surprises are solidly backed up by the airtight plot; it stands up to multiple readings. It remained in my mind long after I had finished reading, contemplating the way in which our perceptions of reality are distorted by the darkness of our own minds. Sometimes we see what we want to see, sometimes we see what we fear. Rarely do we see the truth.
Rating:
Summary: A Complete Waste of Time
Review: Or was my time completely wasted; or was what I wasted, time; or perhaps my waste of time was complete. In the time you would waste reading this enormous and enormously tedious book, you could read two or three really good ones. Do that.
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