Curtis’s Reviews > An Instance of the Fingerpost > Status Update

Excellent end, despite me predicting one big twist very early. Enough twists to satisfy. Characters are all great, even the insufferable ones are interesting. Religious allegory, down to 4 perspectives like the gospels. Shows how biases of culture affect our behaviors, duty vs morality, challenging conformity/hierarchy. Sarah was great; subversion of 'virginity as virtue' trope. Slow parts but worth the read. Great!

Christ allegory, maybe a touch heavy-handed but very interesting. Because of superstitions of characters, perspectives are tinged with the supernatural--great way of immersing you in the time. Period also shows the rise of scientific method amidst superstition--someone uses medieval 'bleeding corpse' method to try and find murderer, analyses the way custom can act on a person's behavior, biases or conclusions.

3rd part better than 2nd! Lots of what's happened in the last 2 parts only gets full significance when given context of other parts, whereas part 1 worked almost like independent novel. Tough adjustment because of that, but I've come around. The tangled web that's developed is so big and encompasses so many people at all ranks that I started taking notes on motivations, actions, etc. Complex but engaging, if patient!

All perspectives revolve around finding truth in a chaotic world split between superstition & the dawn of enlightenment. All have defensive motives for writing besides the murder. Loving how scenes from earlier take on totally new meaning with each concurring perspective, how we can see the consequences of an action in one playing out in another, etc. Also continually impressed by depth of historical research here.

Holy hell, what a way to end Marco's section! His was a great intro to book--fish out of water made him discover the mood & manner of 17th century England along with reader. Also connected to the characters whose perspectives come later, but not so connected to see the whole picture. A lot clearly happens out of Marco's sight, especially near end of his section, so the author builds a need to see more. Very excited.

Love running joke about needing a corpse & how Pears inserts info on thinking of the time in humourous way (doctors tasting patient's urine). Also uses dialogue not only for character development but to show important ideas of the time (science versus religion, the new clashing with old ways). Also quite gory with medical procedures. Loving the set-up and atmosphere. Someone just died so the mystery begins!

Very atmospheric, great prose, love how pompous Marco is. History book I just read on the period is doing a lot to help me fill in the context of the setting & I'm picking up on a lot of references, though Pears does explain things too. This is a world of hierarchy/propriety, where manners are dictated by a person's rank compared to your own. Themes of 'pursuit of truth' likely to be important. Funny moments too!