An Instance of the Fingerpost (Unabridged) [Audio Download]

In setting his novel in Oxford during the 1660s, a period of considerable political ferment, Pears has created the ideal backdrop for a lengthy but highly enjoyable novel which combines the best traditions of intellectual scholarship and a plot with real drive. The murder of Dr Robert Grove, a fellow of New College, and the events surrounding it are narrated from four significantly different points of view; Marco da Cola, a Venetian Catholic doctor newly arrived in Britain; Jack Prescott, son of a Royalist traitor and desperate to clear his beloved father's name; John Wallis, one of the mathematical giants whose shoulders bore Newton and a cryptographer to the courts of both Cromwell and Charles II; and Anthony Wood, an antiquary. All of these narratives, whilst necessarily differing in terms of fact, are also clearly defined voices without being caricatured, and the novel is suffused with characters of real depth, whether historical or fictitious, such as prime suspect Sarah Blundy, daughter of a religious dissenter, her mother, and the likes of Lower, Locke, Grove and Boyle.
The main character in the novel, however, is historical Oxford itself. As easy as it is to take this depiction for granted, the consistent references to actual historical figures and contemporary developments in medicine and fashion, as well as the acute observation of the social mores and deep-seated insecurity at the time of the Restoration are, on reflection, simply breathtaking: the depth of Pears' research is astonishing, and never intrudes on the development of the plot.
It is the plot, however, which slightly depreciates the five-star status the backdrop to this novel unquestionably demands. Whilst the conflicting descriptions of the course of events are as skilfully handled as the voices which relate them, I did not find the plot as genuinely 'unputdownable' as other reviewers have maintained. The conclusion, with its inevitable twist, is a bold attempt to resolve the mystery surrounding the discrepancy between accounts, but ultimately evokes a curiously mixed sense of incredulity and dissatisfaction. As spectacular as the setting and the narratives may be, it is this unsatisfactory ending which remains in the reader's mind, a crying shame when much of the novel which preceded the 'instance of the fingerpost' was so utterly exemplary.

Where to start?

I suppose the most engaging aspect of this novel is the ability of Pear's characters to utterly and truly bring you in to who and what they are.

I found myself understanding why they acted as they did, why they saw events in a certain light despite being contradicted by others and even developing a bias for them!

The plot clicks nicely in to place with 'the instance of the fingerpost', Bacon's term for the true account. The revelation in the final part of the story touches, for me, the heart. It caused me to think when i read it and i still find myself thinking over what happened even now.

From da Cola's concealment, through Prescott's madness, Wallis' darkness and eventually Wood's love, this novel is a tour de force of how it should be done - a mixture of knowledge, witty observations, humour and how love and hatred can create two entirely different opinions from a shared incident.

Highly recommended.

What a feat. What an accomplishment! I've just waded my way through Iain Pears' Instance of the Fingerpost and those sentiments are the only way I can describe the feeling of my having got though it. Many were the times I came close to putting this book on the dusty pile of my literary outcasts (in fact there is only one other - 100 days of solitude - but that's another story) but something kept me reading and the last part of the four stories very much made up for it....thankfully. This is an intricate, layered, heavy and often tedious story. No matter what some of the other readers have alluded to - make no mistake - this is not a light breezy read and you will not (I repeat NOT!) be reading it by torchlight under your bedcovers. But - if you start - don't give up. You may well feel like quietly putting the book in the oxfam pile after the first part; you may feel like throwing the book off a balcony or tearing it up in a frenzy after the second; and the third might help you off to sleep....but the fourth culminates these parts into a wonderful tale and - in addition - the writing and effort that have gone into this book really are exceptional. If you haven't bought this book yet - think wisely before you embark. If you have - keep at it.