pontalba Posted January 3, 2007 Posted January 3, 2007 Hmmmm. Maybe Laughter in the Dark, or Pnin. Timofey Pnin is one of my favorite characters in Nabokovonia. Lets wait until closer to the event. Oh Yay! Quote
dogmatix Posted January 3, 2007 Author Posted January 3, 2007 It's a deal. Now I'm going to bed. review of IotFP tomorrow. G'Night. Quote
dogmatix Posted January 7, 2007 Author Posted January 7, 2007 Finised up yesterday. What an ending. Had I lost the book just 30 pages from the end I would have said "This was a god book" Since I read the last 30 pages I can say "This is a great book" May repeat myself here but anyhoo... Set in 1663(ish) England with the struggle between the Catholic and Protestant religions as a backdrop, An Instance of the Fingerpost seems to be about the murder of Dr. William Grove a fellow at the New Colege at Oxford and the susequent hanging of his servant girl Sarah Blundy. The book is written as a series of accounts describing the events surounding this terrible murder and questionable punishment. Each "author" imbuing his own take and interpretation on the events and hanging "meaning" on what he thinks are the key events and players. The skill of this novel is in how each section is in its own right a believable tale of the events, yet of course they can't all be right. The genious of this novel is that you as the reader will come up with your own interpretation based on these tales and you will be completely wrong! The characters (many actual historical figures) are the jewels here. Each is so fragmented within the sections, yet they're completely fleshed out by the sum of the separate parts. If you love a charcter driven plot, well it don't get no betta! I enjoyed this book so much so that it landed firmly back in my TBR pile. I'm so mystified by how Pears pulled of his ending that I want to go back and fill in all the gaps and see the links so craftily hidden in the story. As an historical mystery I would put this right up there with Ecco (one of my favorites), but much more aproachable. It's a masterful book and I strongly recommend it. Quote
dogmatix Posted January 7, 2007 Author Posted January 7, 2007 In reading my review Id like to add one other important aspect of this novel. I mentioned the backdrop of the struggle betwen the Catholic and Protestant churches but there's more to it than that. The book also touches on what peole will do in the name of their church, what is faith, and then there is that ending...... Too good for a spoiler sorry! Quote
pontalba Posted January 7, 2007 Posted January 7, 2007 Ohhhh! I have book in hand now, but am finishing up a few before I can get to it.....grrrrrrr! I really look forward to this 'un. Quote
pontalba Posted January 7, 2007 Posted January 7, 2007 I love the quote in the front.....from Cicero, my absolute favorite historical figure! Gonna use it in my signature. :D Quote
Purple Poppy Posted January 7, 2007 Posted January 7, 2007 I will HAVE to add this to my 'wanted' list. Thanks Dogmatix. Great review. PP Quote
dogmatix Posted January 7, 2007 Author Posted January 7, 2007 Yay! I love to hear what others think Please chime in all once you read. Quote
Louiseog Posted January 7, 2007 Posted January 7, 2007 I love the quote in the front.....from Cicero, my absolute favorite historical figure! Gonna use it in my signature. :D You must read Imperium, Robert Harris, its all about Cicero. My favourite Latin quote - sit vis vobiscum (may the force be with you ) Quote
pontalba Posted January 7, 2007 Posted January 7, 2007 I have Imperium in my TBR stack. Another I can recommend on Cicero is Pillar of Iron by Taylor Caldwell. I have read it, and reread it several times. One of my favorites of all time. Love your quote! Quote
Louiseog Posted January 7, 2007 Posted January 7, 2007 Love your quote! I teach Latin (badly) and there is a great website with quotes like that! http://www.cambridgescp.com/calendars2/choose_quotation.php?first_day_position=1&month=1&year=2007&picture_type=quotes Like the sound of the book too! I enjoyed Imperium easy to understand but with a great deal of detail about Roman life. Quote
Michelle Posted January 7, 2007 Posted January 7, 2007 I did Latin in school (again, badly!).. is Flavia still sitting under a tree?! (That was in one of the text books.) (Also, I really disliked my Latin teacher.. I hope it wasn't you! ) Quote
dogmatix Posted January 7, 2007 Author Posted January 7, 2007 I hated latin but my latin teacher was a peach. She really tried to make it fun. Quote
Louiseog Posted January 7, 2007 Posted January 7, 2007 I did Latin in school (again, badly!).. is Flavia still sitting under a tree?! (That was in one of the text books.) (Also, I really disliked my Latin teacher.. I hope it wasn't you! ) No!!! I've only done it for a year. Quote
Louiseog Posted January 7, 2007 Posted January 7, 2007 I hated latin but my latin teacher was a peach. She really tried to make it fun. Latin is quite fun actually (no really) best language ever, you don't have to speak it! Quote
pontalba Posted January 15, 2007 Posted January 15, 2007 dogmatix, Have you read Dream of Scipio by Pears? I just read up on it at Amazon, and ordered it. Here's hoping! /fingers crossed/ Quote
dogmatix Posted January 16, 2007 Author Posted January 16, 2007 No but If you think it looks good we could read it together. Just let me know and give me a couple weeks notice. Quote
pontalba Posted January 16, 2007 Posted January 16, 2007 OK, it'll be a bit before I get to it anyhow. Quote
Louiseog Posted January 18, 2007 Posted January 18, 2007 Finished Fingerpost yesterday. Did enjoy it can you see the but. Don't think I did it justice as I was very tired. Therefore kept forgetting who everyone was! Enjoyed the interweaving of the stories and the way that the story changed a lot to say about the nature of history! Quote
dogmatix Posted January 18, 2007 Author Posted January 18, 2007 Therefore kept forgetting who everyone was! Me too! Had to keep referring to the bios in the back. What did ya think of the last 20 pages? Quote
Louiseog Posted January 18, 2007 Posted January 18, 2007 Me too! Had to keep referring to the bios in the back. Oh that would have helped never found those in mine!! What did ya think of the last 20 pages? Haven't decided yet!! Still in thinking about it mood which means I must have enjoyed it!! Quote
pontalba Posted January 18, 2007 Posted January 18, 2007 Ohhh! Can't wait to get to it! Just received The Dream of Scipio yesterday, and now my TBR stack is...../groan/...I don't know if that's me groaning, or the stacks about to topple! Quote
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