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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
I gave this 150 pages, but it was just boring me to tears. Maybe i'll set it aside and come back to it at a later date....
This was just messy, rollicking fun. If you don't take anything too seriously or get caught up in the morass of details nestled in the financial aspects of the intrigue, it's a terrific mystery in the guise of historical fiction (or the other way round?). The ending was a bit over the top and merited a bit of snorting and eye-rolling from this reader, but what the hey. It was all in good fun.
I listened to the audiobook, which might have changed my perspective, as it was read very well. Not in my usual genres, but drew me in quickly. Fun and interesting read.
Originally published on my blog here in February 2011.
Iain Pears has to be one of my favourite crime authors. The magnificent [b:An Instance of the Fingerpost|15888|An Instance of the Fingerpost|Iain Pears|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348769619s/15888.jpg|950198] is an incredible historical thriller, with three different solutions to the mystery being presented by different narrators, while the Jonathan Argyll series is an entertaining and amusing romp through the Italian art world. The two are very different sides to Pears' talent, and his newest novel, Stone's Fall is cut from the same cloth as An Instance of the Fingerpost.
Indeed, it uses quite a lot of the same structure. Stone's Fall is divided into three main parts, with a short introduction; they are arranged in reverse historical order. All are concerned with Edwardian financier John Stone, whose death falling from a window prompts his widow to employ a young journalist (Matthew Braddock) to investigate the strange bequest in his will to a child that neither she nor the will's executor knew existed, under the guise of researching an autobiography of Stone. The investigation becomes entangled with the finances of the companies owned by Stone, which are mainly armaments firms, with international politics, and with Braddocks infatuation with Stone's widow. He does eventually find a solution which convinces him, but that is only the end of the first part.
In the second part, we go back thirty years, and the narrator is now Henry Cort, a spy from the first part, now at the beginning of his career in Paris in the years after the Franco-Prussian war. This again involves Stone's (future) wife, and a plot to destabilise the Bank of England by discrediting Barings Bank, one of the biggest Victorian investment banks. This sheds further light on the personalities involved in the first part, and suggests that the convenient solution for Stone's death may not actually be correct. The narrator of the final part is Stone himself, as a young man in Venice in the 1860s; characters include Cort's father. Here we find out the origins of Stone's fortune - Braddock had wondered how someone without the training of an engineer had been able to set up a company to produce a revolutionary torpedo from a design he provided. And, again, new light is shed on Stone's death; he wrote the memoir just before his fall.
I did feel that the re-use of the tripartite structure, with a similar purpose to that in An Instance of the Fingerpost, reduced its impact. On the other hand, [a:Agatha Christie|123715|Agatha Christie|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1321738793p2/123715.jpg] finishes many of her novels with scenes where Poirot confronts the murder suspects as a group, and these scenes are so similar they almost follow the same script as each other (Poirot describes the evidence against someone innocent, they protest, Poirot agrees and skewers the real killer). That is not the case here; Stone's Fall is a very different thriller from An Instance of the Fingerpost, not just because it has a later historical setting. It just seems a repeat because of the striking nature of the concept. While in Pears' earlier novel, it seems as though the use of the device is making the point that it is possible to come up with multiple solutions as convincing as those most crime novels have, here his little reminder to the genre is that the kind of clear cut solution common in murder fiction are not the way that things really are; the truth behind most killings is more complex than just who did what when, and it can be the case that the roots of the death of a man like Stone could run many years back into the past. It is perhaps fair to say that Stone's Fall is concerned with emotional depth, while An Instance of the Fingerpost is about glittering cleverness. But in the end, the earlier novel was always clearly destined to be a classic of the genre, while Stone's Fall is just very good indeed.
Iain Pears has to be one of my favourite crime authors. The magnificent [b:An Instance of the Fingerpost|15888|An Instance of the Fingerpost|Iain Pears|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348769619s/15888.jpg|950198] is an incredible historical thriller, with three different solutions to the mystery being presented by different narrators, while the Jonathan Argyll series is an entertaining and amusing romp through the Italian art world. The two are very different sides to Pears' talent, and his newest novel, Stone's Fall is cut from the same cloth as An Instance of the Fingerpost.
Indeed, it uses quite a lot of the same structure. Stone's Fall is divided into three main parts, with a short introduction; they are arranged in reverse historical order. All are concerned with Edwardian financier John Stone, whose death falling from a window prompts his widow to employ a young journalist (Matthew Braddock) to investigate the strange bequest in his will to a child that neither she nor the will's executor knew existed, under the guise of researching an autobiography of Stone. The investigation becomes entangled with the finances of the companies owned by Stone, which are mainly armaments firms, with international politics, and with Braddocks infatuation with Stone's widow. He does eventually find a solution which convinces him, but that is only the end of the first part.
In the second part, we go back thirty years, and the narrator is now Henry Cort, a spy from the first part, now at the beginning of his career in Paris in the years after the Franco-Prussian war. This again involves Stone's (future) wife, and a plot to destabilise the Bank of England by discrediting Barings Bank, one of the biggest Victorian investment banks. This sheds further light on the personalities involved in the first part, and suggests that the convenient solution for Stone's death may not actually be correct. The narrator of the final part is Stone himself, as a young man in Venice in the 1860s; characters include Cort's father. Here we find out the origins of Stone's fortune - Braddock had wondered how someone without the training of an engineer had been able to set up a company to produce a revolutionary torpedo from a design he provided. And, again, new light is shed on Stone's death; he wrote the memoir just before his fall.
I did feel that the re-use of the tripartite structure, with a similar purpose to that in An Instance of the Fingerpost, reduced its impact. On the other hand, [a:Agatha Christie|123715|Agatha Christie|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1321738793p2/123715.jpg] finishes many of her novels with scenes where Poirot confronts the murder suspects as a group, and these scenes are so similar they almost follow the same script as each other (Poirot describes the evidence against someone innocent, they protest, Poirot agrees and skewers the real killer). That is not the case here; Stone's Fall is a very different thriller from An Instance of the Fingerpost, not just because it has a later historical setting. It just seems a repeat because of the striking nature of the concept. While in Pears' earlier novel, it seems as though the use of the device is making the point that it is possible to come up with multiple solutions as convincing as those most crime novels have, here his little reminder to the genre is that the kind of clear cut solution common in murder fiction are not the way that things really are; the truth behind most killings is more complex than just who did what when, and it can be the case that the roots of the death of a man like Stone could run many years back into the past. It is perhaps fair to say that Stone's Fall is concerned with emotional depth, while An Instance of the Fingerpost is about glittering cleverness. But in the end, the earlier novel was always clearly destined to be a classic of the genre, while Stone's Fall is just very good indeed.
I read "An Instance of the Fingerpost" quite a few years ago and liked it, so I was eager to read another Iain Pears. I picked this up at the library several times and wasn't able to finish it. Then I said, "This time I will finish." Once I got into the book, I couldn't put it down. I wanted to know how Pears was going to tie everything together.
The book is confusing in parts, because Pears jumps back and forth and switches narrators. It takes me a while to get in synch with a new narrator, but Pears did a beautiful job of tying everything together in the end. All questions were answered (something I require in a mystery) and everything was explained. I was pleased. Now I'll try another Pears. Any suggestions?
The book is confusing in parts, because Pears jumps back and forth and switches narrators. It takes me a while to get in synch with a new narrator, but Pears did a beautiful job of tying everything together in the end. All questions were answered (something I require in a mystery) and everything was explained. I was pleased. Now I'll try another Pears. Any suggestions?
Stone's Fall is a novel that defies the reader's expectations throughout. Upon finishing it, my first reaction was to flip straight back to the beginning and start again. It is rare for me to choose anything from the crime or mystery genre, but this was a truly fascinating read. Divided in three parts, each section is narrated by a different character. Moving backwards through time, the story shifts closer and closer to the enigmatic John Stone, a man of many secrets.
While reading, I was vividly reminded of Citizen Kane and The Third Man, this tale has all the marks of crime noir. However, while Stone's Fall was reminiscent of these other works, it is a unique and intricate mystery that lingers in the mind long after the final sensational climax. Although the ultimate end is known from the very beginning, in many ways Stone's Fall is three novels in one, with the tension remaining high throughout.
For my full review:
http://girlwithherheadinabook.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/stones-fall-iain-pears.html
While reading, I was vividly reminded of Citizen Kane and The Third Man, this tale has all the marks of crime noir. However, while Stone's Fall was reminiscent of these other works, it is a unique and intricate mystery that lingers in the mind long after the final sensational climax. Although the ultimate end is known from the very beginning, in many ways Stone's Fall is three novels in one, with the tension remaining high throughout.
For my full review:
http://girlwithherheadinabook.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/stones-fall-iain-pears.html
Read in a single Sunday of doing nothing else and given 9 on a 10 point scale only because I'm not sure I can give full marks to something where the last section only confirmed what I had already worked out.
As in [b:An Instance of the Fingerpost|15888|An Instance of the Fingerpost|Iain Pears|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166695893s/15888.jpg|950198], Pears has parts of a single story told by a series of unreliable narrators. To understand the beginning (rather that merely know, see above) one has to listen to them all and, having heard everyone out once, the temptation is to go back to the start and read again looking for clues that were missed the first time around but will be clear with the benefit of hindsight.
Mount Toobie is too high for me to justify doing that just yet ...
As in [b:An Instance of the Fingerpost|15888|An Instance of the Fingerpost|Iain Pears|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166695893s/15888.jpg|950198], Pears has parts of a single story told by a series of unreliable narrators. To understand the beginning (rather that merely know, see above) one has to listen to them all and, having heard everyone out once, the temptation is to go back to the start and read again looking for clues that were missed the first time around but will be clear with the benefit of hindsight.
Mount Toobie is too high for me to justify doing that just yet ...
Rich, to the point of saturation, in detail, I found the twist at the end more of a wrench.
This was a ponderous tome, but skillfully constructed and worth reading. A second-rate crime writer for the London paper, The Chronicle, Matthew Braddock is hired by Elizabeth, Lady Ravenscliff to write her husband's biography after his unexpected death. In actuality, Braddock is hired to track down a child mentioned in her husband's will. John William Stone, First Baron Ravenscliff, was a financial wonder in the days before World War I. He pioneered the concept of creating a complete line of ships, from manufacturing the steel to building the ships in his shipyards and then making the torpedoes that would be fired from the ships. It revolutionized the financial world. As Braddock digs deeper and deeper into the life of Lord Ravenscliff, secrets pile upon secrets and the web is slowly revealed. Intricate and complex, the first part of the book is slow-going, but a diligent reader will be well-rewarded.
It is interesting that I admired this book more than I enjoyed it. Everything was perfectly ployyed and masterfully put together, and yet it left me cold. I wonder if anyone else had that reaction?