An Instance of the Fingerpost

I began reading this novel for my book club, but was quickly disappointed in it. The idea was very intriguing, it is the story of a murder set in England during the 1600s and told from four different perspectives. The initial problem that I have with the novel is that the murder does not occur until after 100 pages into the novel and that the stories were told independently from one another. I was mildly interested in some of the medical and philosophical ideas discussed during the story, but not enough to be drawn into the actual action of the story. I finished the first section of the 700-page novel, but was not able to complete the second section because I was bored by the story, did not care about the characters, the murder and did not feel that the novel was worth the time or effort that it would have taken to complete the novel. I read nearly 250 pages before I abandoned it of other books. I cannot recommend this book to anyone because I found it dull and tedious.

The second issue I have with the novel is stylistically. Iain Pears is a contemporary novelist living in England and my issue is not only with his style, but the style of many contemporary English novelists. My of the them seem desperate to emulate the style of Charles Dickens which I find tedious. Anytime that an author is paid by the word the reader is punished by meandering narratives and the lack of concise descriptive writing. The real issue is that most living writers using this style to do have the talent to keep the reader engaged int he story. reading books written this way is like listening to the ramblings of a drunk, they are lacking in focus and plot. Unfortunately, this story falls into the category.