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

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Roman Clodia wrote: "Yes, seems to be a Marmite book as I'm the same as Jill on this one, and also struggled with Pears' The Portrait. The Seasonal Read...: Summer Challenge 2010 Completed Tasks (do NOT delete any posts in this thread) Da Cola is familiar with the heresy that holds that a messiah is born in each generation, and is betrayed, sacrificed and rises again (foretelling Sarah's fate), but I've been unable to confirm that it's a real historical heresy, even with the use of Google. Montanism is/was real, and a woman called Prisca was one of the leaders, but the bit about the regular appearance of Messiahs might be an invention (or might be that Pears has access to more information than Wikipedia!)

An Instance of the Fingerpost, First Edition - AbeBooks An Instance of the Fingerpost, First Edition - 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. IMO, much of Sarah's messianic character was in Wood's mind. The resurrection is explained by Lower's eagerness to get the body. Wood had no way of knowing if she arrived in America, particularly if she changed her name. The boat was so crowded no one would take accurate notice of the people debarking. And I assumed the mother lied about her conception. 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. Writing Arcadia did produce odd effects in ways that an ordinary book or ebook could not; scenes became more episodic and vignette-like; the demands of shifting from one point of view to another, and then to multiple ones in different worlds, required different ways of writing. Most peculiarly of all, I found that the story was most easily structured by looking at it visually; whole strands were expanded or even deleted simply to create a more pleasing shape in the writing program I was using. On every occasion, the more satisfactory the appearance, the better the story read, and I still haven’t quite figured out how that works.Forgotten the title or the author of a book? Our BookSleuth is specially designed for you. Visit BookSleuth 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. 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.

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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. The Seasonal Read...: 15.8 ("A beautiful thing never gives so much pain as does failing to hear and see it.") 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.”Yes, seems to be a Marmite book as I'm the same as Jill on this one, and also struggled with Pears' The Portrait. 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 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.

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Rosina wrote: "Each of the four narrators has a different mystery, and the killing of Dr Grove is perhaps the least absorbing, though I found the testing of the poison by Stahl - the early forensic science - most..." Rosina wrote: "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." 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."

I missed Sarah's resurrection in my skimming but there were weird intimations earlier about her having messianic tendenc..." 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. It can often be just as you say, a turn off. But then I have enjoyed some of those, notably some of the Bronte works, some of Austin, etc. It depends on whether their story and characters are interesting. I can handle slow and overlook over-wordy, and even at times the dreaded purple prose provided story/character work well. A fascinating book but I found it a slow read as the style reflects the period. I can not call it gripping and the murder mystery is not the prime interest, but I liked how the various narrators each interpreted, and reported, the facts from their own point of view. Even the final and most complete version is influenced by the narrator's feelings.