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

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None of them is reliable in their recounting of the events. These men aren’t Adson von Melk or Matthew Shardlake. The term "fingerpost" is also an obscure synonym for prelate or priest, foreshadowing one of the book's main plot points. [3] He was playing a game with us all, and was confident of his success, and he was now underestimating his audience as I had underestimated him. He did not realize that I saw, that instant, into his soul and perceived the devilish intent that lay hidden there, coiled and waiting to unleashed when all around had been lulled into thinking him a fool.” John Wallis Fingers can be square-ended (such as in Cornwall and Norfolk), curved (as in Dorset) or triangular-ended (as is common in Somerset). Where timber was used for the fingers, place names are composed of individually affixed metal letters. Mileage is typically measured to the nearest quarter mile, with fractions being mounted on a separate ready-made plate, although measurements to the fifth or eighth of a mile are given in East Lothian. [7] Due to their age, some fingerposts have 'fossilised' the historic spelling of places which was dominant at the time of their construction. Examples include "Portisham", rather than the modern spelling " Portesham" and the pre-decimal "6D Handley" for Sixpenny Handley in Dorset.

An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears | Waterstones

Oh also, people did not write stuff like this in the 17th century, not even slightly. This is a wildly unrealistic smoothed down scrubbed and washed version of something no 17th century person would ever have written.after Arcadia which the author hyped as a complex novel needing an app and which to me seemed actually a simpler novel than his earlier 3 superb complex multi-layered novels (Instance of the Fingerpost, Dreams of Scipio, Stone's Fall), I decided to reread this one - as the one of the three I last read a while ago (some 10 years ago easily, maybe more) - to see if I maybe remember it wrong after all and Arcadia was indeed more sophisticated; 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. Plea Bargain: The guilty plea earns a 'merciful' death by hanging, before being burned (in contrast to just the latter).

Why you need an app to understand my novel | Fiction | The

Born in 1955, Iain Pears has worked as an art historian, a television consultant, and a journalist, in England, France, Italy, and the United States. He is the author of six highly praised detective novels, a book of art history, and countless articles on artistic, financial, and historical subjects. He lives in Oxford, England. to an uncertain throne. It is a time of sects, witch hunts and conspiracies. It is also the dawn of the Enlightenment. Iain Pears is a Coventry-born and Oxford-educated art historian and author of historical mysteries, and An Instance of the Fingerpost is his most famous novel. Good historians are not necessarily good authors and good authors are not necessarily good historians, but in Fingerpost Pears manages to strike a comfortable balance between both professions. I see your soul,” She said, her voice suddenly dropping to a whisper which chilled my blood. “I know what it is and what is its shape. I can feel it hiss in the night and taste its coldness in the day. I hear it burning, and I touch its hate.” I actually liked An Instance of the Fingerpost even better than the previous Iain Pears book I read, Stone's Fall, which I also found enjoyable and impressive and just a bit beyond me at times but not to the point where I couldn't appreciate the reading experience. In An Instance of the Fingerpost, we have four narratives of the same set of events. The first narrator hints that he may be unreliable by letting us know he's leaving out details he finds unimportant, but basically tells a cohesive story which includes a mysterious death. The second narrator casts doubt on the first narrator's version but also, increasingly, on his own. He is followed by a third narrator who does the same, and then a fourth who seems more reliable than the other three (though who knows, really?) and offers some astonishing revelations.The Oxford University of the novel is steeped in its own plots, schemes, and rivalries (think of the competition between Marco da Cola and Richard Lower, and Lower’s alliances with Robert Boyle, as well as the university fellows’ various reactions to the murder of Robert Grove). How does Pears use Oxford as a microcosmic reflection of the larger, more tumultuous society? The accounts are written in the form of memoirs by each narrator many years after the events they describe, after Thomas Ken gained his Bishopric but before the death of Henry Bennet. This dates them to 1685, the last year of Charles' reign. The fourth narrator is Anthony Wood, an antiquary and historian, best known for his diaries that were published long after his death. He gets Sarah a job with his parents and also recommended her for the job at Grove’s. He carries a torch for Sarah. Despite the risks, he has a night of passion with her that goes beyond lust and reaches the first hills and dales of love. My Girl Is Not a Slut: All of the narrators have pretty unenlightened attitudes towards Sarah because they think she is promiscuous

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

There are many beautiful passages, certainly, but the central aspects of the book would have been better treated in a study of real writers than in this oddly fictionalised form of scholarship. Jei kokiam istoriniam laikotarpyje yra laisva ir konvencijoms nepaklūstanti moteris, tai ji būtinai turi užsiiminėt laisvu (free-given) seksu ir dar būti LABAI graži, kad jos iškart visi nuodėmingieji užsigeistų :DMessianic Archetype: According to Wood's interpretation of the events, Sarah Blundy is a reincarnation of Jesus. I thank author Pears for enhancing my poor education. He recounts and alludes to the English Civil War and the uprising of religious sects (counter to the Chuch of England) which undoubtedly informed American Founders with their own nation-building in the next Century. II. Централно място в сюжета заема загадката около убийство в Оксфорд, която е разказана от 4 различни гледни точки, но същевременно се усеща духът на епохата, както и има философски размисли. Отделните персонажи, представящи своята версия за събитията, са все интересни личности, като на моменти си противоречат един на друг, което прави „Пръстът, който те сочи“ доста вълнуващо четиво. Книгата не успя да ме заплени чак колкото страхотната „Аркадия“ на Пиърс, но определено ми направи добро впечатление! in importance as the book broadens out to embrace more complex material -- so much so that when at last the murderer unmasks himself, his identity is oddly unimportant. There is no astonishment, no snap-of-the-fingers satisfaction at having he world of Iain Pears's new novel is the muddy, war-battered England of the 17th century. The civil war is over; one king has lost his head, another is newly restored

AN INSTANCE OF THE FINGERPOST | Kirkus Reviews

But whether I missed the clues, or the author simply didn’t leave any clues, doesn’t matter. An Instance of the Fingerpost is simply mesmerising; fascinating in its ability to show what life was like shortly after Charles II. was restored; how science was a subordinate part of religious beliefs; how political ambitions could elevate or destroy a person’s life. An historical fiction lovers delight. Someday I will likely read this again to try to trace how Pears did this slight of hand.We are in England in the 1660s. Charles II has been restored to the throne following years of civil war and Cromwell's short-lived republic. Oxford is the intellectual seat of the country, a place of great scientific, religious, and political ferment. A fellow of New College is found dead in suspicious circumstances. A young woman is accused of his murder. We hear the story of the death from four witnesses: an Italian physician intent on claiming credit for the invention of blood transfusion; the son of an alleged Royalist traitor; a master cryptographer who has worked for both Cromwell and the king; and a renowned Oxford antiquarian. Each tells his own version of what happened. Only one reveals the extraordinary truth. A fingerpost at Betchworth, Surrey. The additional orange arrow shows the route of a cyclosportive. More recently, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California has installed LED fingerposts which orient themselves to planets, missions, and exoplanets using data supplied by the Deep Space Network. [11]