An Instance of the Fingerpost: Explore the murky world of 17th-century Oxford in this iconic historical thriller

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The idea that Sarah was a Messiah is what Wood believes, not real truth (even in-book). There can be natural explanations both for her resurrection and ascension, and even for her healing powers, if they truly exist. Jill wrote: "I was willing to go along with the suggestion that Nancy was the messiah, and that there was one in each generation, but the fact that she was resurrected without much opposition and then sent abroad did seem rather a wet squib ending. ." I assume the whole book is written in this manner. And as such, calling it a mystery or even an historical one is a disservice to potential readers. This is a literary novel about a mystery. And from what I am able to perceive is that it is severely wordy and overlong. I was not surprised to learn he is an Oxford man. His style strongly suggests it. The word pretentious resonates loudly for me.

Restoration Murder - The New York Times Web Archive Restoration Murder - The New York Times Web Archive

Forgotten the title or the author of a book? Our BookSleuth is specially designed for you. Visit BookSleuth The bestselling An Instance of the Fingerpost (1997) marked a new departure for Pears; far more structurally and stylistically ambitious than the Italian series, it suggested that he was developing his voice as a serious novelist, as did his move from HarperCollins to Cape. But, on the evidence of the new novel, it looks as if An Instance of the Fingerpost may have been a one-off. For the first time, she did want more. She did not know what she wanted, knew that it was dangerous and that she should rest content with what she had, but she knew an emptiness deep inside her, which began to ache.”I was thrilled when I found out Prescott was in Bedlam as he did not deserve the good fortune he thought he had and, hopefully, his letter denouncing Kitty did her no harm. I hated him when he wrote that letter; it was none of his business. An Instance of the Fingerpost ( ISBN 0-425-16772-0) is an historical mystery novel by Iain Pears which was first published in 1997. A murder in 17th Century (1633) Oxford is related from the contradictory points of view of four of the characters, all of them unreliable narrators. The four characters are: a Venetian medical student, a man intent on proving the innocence of his father, a cryptographer, and an archivist. The evidence appears to lead to Sarah Blundy who confesses to the crime and is sentenced to hang. The setting of the novel is just after the English Civil War, when the king's authority is not yet settled, and conspiracies abound. I missed Sarah's resurrection in my skimming but there were weird intimations earlier about her having messianic tendenc..."

An Instance of the Fingerpost by Pears Iain - AbeBooks An Instance of the Fingerpost by Pears Iain - AbeBooks

I began Arcadia – a novel conceived and written for an app – over four and a half years ago when a lot of people were musing about digital narrative. After working my way through three publishers, two designers, four sets of coders and a lot of anguish, I am no longer surprised that few others have done anything about it. I also understand why the NHS database could go five times over budget and not work. What should be a simple task – write story, create software, publish – turns out to be anything but in practice.

Was not Hypatia the greatest philosopher of Alexandria, and a true martyr to the old values of learning? She was torn to pieces by a mob of incensed Christians not because she was a woman, but because her learning was so profound, her skills at dialectic so extensive that she reduced all who queried her to embarrassed silence. They could not argue with her, so they murdered her.” Thom wrote: "Interestingly I never cared for the various series based on his books. I'd watch a few episodes and that was it. Talented as he may have been, I doubt he's a good one for me." It was interesting to learn towards the end that Prestcott was in Bedlam, which casts additional doubt over his narrative, but I didn't find his section very compelling, and Wallis's even less so. As the story evolved, so did the design of the app and that, in turn, influenced the story, even though I decided early on to be rather conservative. It has minimal graphics, no music and no animations. The reader does not choose outcomes or influence decisions, and there are no prizes or levels. You read the text; how you see characters depends on how much of it you read, where you start, and whether you read strand by strand, or hop from one to the other.

An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears: 9781573227957 An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears: 9781573227957

Iain Pears, like Stewart, is a respected academic, the author of a monograph on eighteenth-century collectors, but he's not too proud to publish crime novels under his own name. His Italian art-world romps have titles like The Bernini Bust and The Raphael Affair: they're light and ingenious and they sell well; and their success has encouraged him to move ever further into the mainstream. Mod Abigail wrote: "I gave up a little way into Prestcott’s narration. Am not surprised to hear that Sarah was not dead after the hanging because of all the blood da Cola described when he came in on the “autopsy.” If..."No single story provides the frame for the others, and we jump between historical moments every other paragraph. There's a lot of movement, but very little progression. The breathless thrills of An Instance of the Fingerpost have been exchanged for a lengthy meditation on cultural history, with characters as pegs for thoughts. The plot has more in common with an academic treatise than with a thriller. In fact, there are more exciting PhD theses. Olivier is purportedly a great poet, but the only fragments of his verse we encounter are '(in the wholly inadequate 1865 translation of Frédéric Mistral) "My eyes have stabbed my soul..." ' This is more than inadequate, it is an appalling cop-out. Manlius's classical wit is marked with a similar ellipsis: 'They swapped aphorisms about water, played with quotations from Pliny about his garden...' What aphorisms? Which quotations? And Julien's great intellect is evident only in his knowing silences. I thought both books are crafted thoughtfully - the monologue form in Portrait, and the well-integrated historical research here ranging from medicine to Restoration politics and religion - but I felt bogged down in all the minutiae and dead ends. One of the things I found annoying was when the narrator said something about what he had done or said that was a mistake which he would tell us about later. Immediately led me to think well that was obviously the wrong decision, but I will find out later, then if there was reference to it, it was just glazed over.